Thursday, October 18, 2012

Knock Knock!

     In modern English, the phrase "knocked up" is a less than proper way to say that a woman has gotten pregnant. However, during the industrial revolution that phrase had a completely different meaning.

     Timeliness has always been important, and never more so than since the start of the industrial revolution. Sure the machines were there, but if no one was there to run them, they did their owners little good. In order to ensure that they were awakened early enough to be on time for work, many people who lived in the heavily industrialized areas of England relied on the services of their neighborhood knocker-up man.

     The knocker-up man was a man that would go from house to house, knocking on doors and windows to "knock-up" the occupants. Since no one had alarm clocks at this time this would be how you could ensure that you would get up on time. For a small fee each week, the knocker-up man would go up to your door and beat on it with his truncheon until you awoke and opened the door. If you preferred him to knock on your window, he would use a bamboo rod to tap on the glass until you awoke.

     Often times, he knocker-up men were older gentlemen, but women and police who were already in the area on patrol were known to be knocker-up men to earn a little bit more. The knocker-up men weren't always independent  Many plants and mills employed knocker-up men for just their workers.

     As time moved on, eventually the knocker-up men were all put out of work as alarm clocks made their way through society. However, while the job has moved on, some people still retain the less modern usage of the phrase. In some smaller hotels in England, the desk clerks sometimes ask their lodgers if they would like to be knocked-up in the morning. Understandably this has been known to cause some confusion.


1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knocker-up
2. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/48753
3. http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?pageid=1291&language=eng
4. http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/11mido/til_that_before_alarm_clocks_were_invented_there/c6nrwq2

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