“Knocking” began as a term for serious flirting circa 1800. Originally it was because you were knocking on the maiden’s “door” trying to “get in”. Understandably, this reference quickly changed to the actual act of “getting in” because beds knock against walls. If you leave your boots on, literally done at that time, you are “knocking boots“- a Southern U.S. term. Around 1813, the term “knocking up her boots” was common. A reference to the “missionary” position. By 1830, “knocked up” began as a reference to what we now know it as today. Sadly, it was a reference to a slave woman who became pregnant. {This can be verified via “Bing” search, and through searches of various history sources for; African-American History, Southern & Western U.S. History, Women’s History, etc:}www.answers.com
Author Adrienne Morris 
14 responses to “Knocked Up”
Good Lord…could you imagine what it must have been like to be pregnant in those times?
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I wasn’t much of a good sport when I was pregnant. I guess the worst part would be no air conditioning. Or maybe the fear of death.
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Interesting read. Along the lines of ‘dirt poor’.
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So is there a story about dirt poor?
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Wow you must be quite a hit at parties with all these tasty tidbits of information. 🙂
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The last party I went to was at my husband’s old job with a bunch engineering techie people. They cornered me to ask why on earth I’d want to write historical fiction when obviously science fiction was SO much better. 🙂 I wish I had known about getting knocked up–that would have swayed them, I think.
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No I don’t think that would have swayed them. Perhaps some Star Trek trivia. Anyhow I am working my way through your book. Chapter 38 or something. I am so glad you write short novels :-).
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Haha–I’m one of those weirdos who want to spend A LOT of time (a lifetime maybe) with characters. The next book is shorter (and not quite so tragic), but that’s because it continues into a few more books after that!
I’m a strong believer in writing exactly what you want to read yourself 🙂 Even this reply is long! Thanks for reading!
All the best~
A
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Well, I’m glad you covered this delicate topic so I won’t have to in my “Why We Say” series. Sometimes the literal crosses quite loudly into the figurative, doesn’t it?
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Are there delicate topics? I’m bad at figuring out which ones are 🙂 I love knowing the crazy ways people come up with sayings!
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Pregnancy is one of those topics, depending on the era. Makes for interesting social commentary.
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Try as we might to ignore gender differences, pregnancy’s always there. 🙂
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Interesting reminder of the phrase.
Personally I prefer the usage of “knock” in “knock, knock, knockin’ on Heavens’ door”.
🙂
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(I know, I know, i have a weird sense of humour!)
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