Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles 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.
A2 US piss poor pot claim ugly dust English Tutor Nick P Adjective Phrase (29) Dirt Poor and Piss Poor 6 0 anitawu12 posted on 2019/09/07 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary