Another story is the origin of the Dutch saying "being ladderdrunk"
In the middle of the 15th century the Utrecht towerwatcher ,who lived with his family in the tower, made some extra money having a little bar in his
house (aprox. 11 meters high). To reach this bar you had to go through the housing of the pastor who was not very amused when people walk trough his
house. When he omitted the use of his house, the only option to reach the bar inside of the tower was with the help of a ladder. As you understand
going up was normally not such of a problem, buth going down with a lot of alcohol in your blood is quite a different story. Since then, people who
are very drunk are called "ladderzat" (ladderdrunk). Amazing is that it is still used nowadays and not only in Utrecht but troughout the
country. BTW when visiting the tower you still go trough the housing of the towerwatcher. (without climbing a ladder)
[Edited on 2-11-2010 by DED] |