This brush with history not really the tooth

Dear Annie: A number of years ago, I saw an old ad from the 1800s in a book on soap making. The ad said that this particular brand of soap could be used for everything from washing your clothes to cleaning floors to brushing your teeth. This apparently was before toothpaste was invented. Is this where the expression “washing your mouth out with soap” came from? Grandma

Dear Grandma: We doubt it. While some folks may have used soap to brush their teeth, it wasn’t necessary. Toothpaste in one form or another has been around since before the Romans. It was supposed to have a pleasant taste, or at least be tolerable. Soap was never meant to be ingested. Some soaps contain ingredients that are harmful to the mouth, throat or stomach lining. Washing one’s mouth out with soap is a specific punishment, usually in response to using profanity or other inappropriate language. We know parents used to do this, although we don’t recommend it. Thanks for providing an offbeat topic.

Dear Annie: I read “Hermitage, Pennsylvania’s” diatribe about the elderly white-haired man who rudely butted ahead of her at the grocery store. Maybe he wasn’t feeling well and had to get out of the store quickly. He’s not going to say, “Excuse me, madam, but I am about to have an accident. May I go ahead of you, please?”

I found Hermitage’s reaction to be insensitive and downright mean, a common trend in our young people today.

Judy from Omaha

Dear Judy: There is no excuse to jump ahead of someone without at least saying, “Excuse me.” That is simple courtesy, regardless of age.

Annie’s Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column.