Monday, May 19, 2014

How to Spit, 1651

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Boys Eating Grapes
and Melons
(detail), 1645 
"Spet not farre off thee, nor behinde thee, but aside, a little distant, & not right before thy companion: but if it be some grosse flegme, one ought, if it may be, tred upon it. Be-spet not the windows in the streets, nor spet on the fire, nor on a bason, nor on any other place where the spettle cannot be taken away by putting thy foot thereon." 
Francis Hawkins, Youths Behavior (1651)
The trick to public spitting is a nimble foot. It's preferable not to be-spet your companion, but if you do, just tread upon him discreetly.

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