Ever wondered where some expressions came from? Well in medieval times in England, the floor of dwellings was dirt; only the wealthy had some other type of floor, hence the expression “dirt poor”. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in wet weather, so they spread “thresh straw” on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until, when the door was opened, it would all start to slip outside. To prevent this, a piece of wood was placed in the entrance way; this was the “threshold”.