Years ago,there were two things in common in every American home. In large cities or small towns,and even rural area's. One was the lack of indoor plumbing, and the other was intersecting fences in the back yard. Those two things, coupled with the fact that most folks did not openly discuss intimate details, even amongst husbands and wives,made for a lot of euphemisms,which though thinly veiled the truth, served to keep ladies from having to suffer the embarrassment of speaking words to the man in their life, which she often blushed just to think of in her own mind. So, that when she set out on her mission to unburden herself, with her Sears catalog under her arm, when being given a questioning look, would say only, " I'm going to visit with Mrs.Murphy." Presumably, the neighbor she chatted with over the back fence. Had her husband been meddlesome, doubtless he would have been shocked to find out that every woman had this same Mrs.Murphy with whom she chatted, morning, noon, and night! Mrs. Murphy really got around, or had a huge, huge family that was quite far-flung!
Eventually, of course, there were just enough meddlesome, adventuresome husbands who went investigating to find out that the woman of whom their wife spoke was not named Mrs.Murphy, but Mrs.Olsen or Mrs. Goldberg; and so emboldened that he had been lied to, the next time followed his wife, only to discover that she was actually visiting the privy! Some had to actually fling the door open and shout AHA!...only to be confronted with the spectacle of their dainty wife seated there calmly tearing off pages from the catalog to understand the truth of it, but most got understanding without such a shameful instance, and slunk away, ready to allow the deception to go on unencumbered.
If you had to seek out this answer you must be one of the suspicious ones, so "AHA!" YOURSELF! Now shut the door!
Oh, and why Mrs.Murphy? This began during the time of the great potato famine,when there was a dizzying number of Irish immigrants,and where I am certain there were an awful lot of Kelly's and O'Dells, the most popular name was Murphy! Furthermore, even when there was a huge influx of men with no jobs waiting for them, the daughters and wives of these Irishmen were not just willing and able, but anxious to take jobs in big houses as cooks, washerwomen and maids to feed their families...and it was not beneath Mrs.Murphy's dignity to take out the slop jars....see stew? BTW. I know this because I am descended from a long line of Murphy women myself. Daughter of Irish Kings. Heir to a couple of castles I shall never see, and dang proud of the fact that Murphy women were never too grand to put in an honest days work!
OUI?
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