Hier wel een goede uitleg

quote:
“A pinch and a punch for the first of the month”
Some claim the saying originates back to when people thought that witches existed. Apparently salt would make a witch weak (erm that sounds highly illogical to me, but whatever), so the pinch part refers to a pinch of salt, and the punch part was to banish the witch (how that banishes a witch I have no idea).
It’s also pretty unclear as to why this became associated with the first of the month - but again, we’re English - embrace our unique brand of eccentricity to our faces, then laugh at us behind our backs - works nicely for everyone.
What also makes us very English is our love of rules. So, you’ll be pleased to know that there are some very strict rules governing the usage of this strange little custom of ours. Again these are often argued upon, but according to Nanna the rules are as follows:
You can only do the ‘a pinch and a punch’ thang before midday - not sure why - it’s just the rules damnit, you respect my Nanna!
If you elect to do the ‘a pinch and a punch’ thing at all you would be well advised to include at the end ‘and no returns’. If you forget to say ‘and no returns’ you may find yourself subject to ‘a flick and a kick for being so quick’ (and kicks hurt more than punches)
As an alternative to ‘a flick and a kick for being so quick’ you can say ‘a flick in the eye for being so sly’ (we weren’t allowed to say that or indeed do the action lest we blinded each other)
If you find yourself on the receiving end of ’a pinch and a punch’ you have two possible opportunities for recourse:
Hope they forget to say ‘and no returns’ and instead administer ‘a flick and a kick for being so quick’ or, ‘a flick in the eye for being so sly’
Alternatively, before they’ve finished their ‘a pinch and a punch’ spiel get in there quick with ‘white rabbits’. If you say ‘white rabbits’ you get to administer the punch - pretty cool, huh?