Have you ever wondered?

So, we have this friend Blakey-boo. My best friend, my brother, Blake and Rumpy were on our way back from dining at what was at one time (and may still be) the highest volume In-n-Out in the chain. (BTW--The URL is in-n-out.com. I typed something else in once and got an eyeful.) Out of nowhere (as is often his wont) Blake asks us...."Hey guys, why do they call it 'The Clap'?" This in a car full of Mormons.

After a pause to absorb the non sequitur-ness of it all, there was some speculation...maybe in olden times people had to clap to warn others they had the disease, like a leper with a bell, someone suggested. Well, we Googled it. Apparently back in the 17th century there was a woman named Mother Clap that ran a homosexual brothel in London who was put on trial. And also, according to Wikipedia, it could derive from the Old French clapier meaning "brothel", which itself derived from the Provençal for "rabbit burrow."


See, learned something, didn't you? We love you, Blakey-boo.