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  • Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Adjective Phrase 29. Today we're actually

  • going to cover two adjectives phrases that have nearly the same meaning.You

  • could either say dirt poor or piss-poor. Okay. Let's take a look at the note here.

  • If someone is dirt poor he or she is extremely poor or destitute. Kind of like

  • third-world poor. Some people claim the origin of this phrase refers back to

  • former times when very poor people actually had dirt floors. Only wealthy

  • people could afford other material usually wood. However, there are others

  • who dispute this claim. Because this claim goes back to like more like the

  • Middle Ages like 1500s, 1600s, 1700s. You know, around that time. So that might even

  • be more like during the Renaissance period. But there, there really were poor

  • people that truly did have dirt floors at that time, So that part is actually

  • correct. Others believe the term may have come about due to the Dust Bowl of the

  • 1930s. Yeah. That was during the Depression but there was some certain states that used

  • to suffer from this. There's a Dust Bowl that came around and if you know, you

  • lived in that area , it made you even extremely poor. So the dust of course

  • would refer back to dirt. Many say this phrase did not start to appear until

  • around this time. During the 1930s. So that's another reason why they think that it's

  • more likely to be from the Dust Bowl than before. Okay. Let's take a look at

  • piss-poor. Piss poor also means extremely poor and we have another story for this

  • one. Some, some claim the origin of this term comes from the fact that at one

  • time urine you know, pee, urine was used to tan animal skins. Now this is true.

  • They claim families used to pee in a pot every day and it was brought to the

  • tannery to be sold. Yes. So yes every day it was brought to the

  • tannery to be sold. They say the poorest families could not even afford the pot and this

  • is where the phrase someone does not have a pot to piss in actually comes

  • from. I don't know if this one is is really completely true too. But it was true

  • that they used to tan clothes from urine at one time. Okay. And I guess they did

  • actually have to buy pee at one time. However, this is also disputed. So some

  • people also say that maybe this is not really correct.

  • They say ... others say that the word piss used to be an intensifier. Even though I

  • don't really hear it so much used as an intensifier right now. But we still do use

  • some of those words. Just simply to mean very or extremely, as in the words piss

  • poor or piss ugly. Yeah . I have heard that before.

  • So in that case piss ugly just means very ugly or extremely ugly. Well. Piss

  • poor would just be very, very poor. Okay. Anyway, we just have several examples

  • here to cover this. All right. So example number one. Many

  • families in Third-World countries are dirt poor. Yeah. Okay.

  • Or number two. Her life story is a rags- to -riches story. Remember that's usually

  • somebody was born really poor and then they become rich later. She was born piss

  • poor and eventually became wealthy. Okay. Good. And the last one is the idea of

  • like we say a pot to piss in. You can start. You can, you, you probably you

  • shouldn't. You shouldn't start a business with him. He doesn't have a pot to piss

  • in. So that means if somebody doesn't have a pot to piss in it means they have

  • no money at all. Okay. Anyway, hope you got it. I hope it was clear. Thank you for your time.

  • Bye-bye.

Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Adjective Phrase 29. Today we're actually

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