it's not so bad when you know it's origin.In t'middle ages, when people nicked stuff off people, the thiefs mates would be hanging around. When the shout of 'stop thief' was, erm, shouted, the thiefs chums would shout out 'hot beef' to cause confusion among those who might otherwise have joined in the chase.
So there you go.
/edit - I got that information from my book 'red herrings and white elephants' so it must be true.
(,
Sat 10 Sep 2005, 15:58,
archived)
So there you go.
/edit - I got that information from my book 'red herrings and white elephants' so it must be true.