Bringing Home the Bacon

“Bringing home the bacon” originally referred not to money but marital harmony. In the 12th century, the church of Dunmow, England, offered a side of bacon to any husband who could swear before God and the congregation that he had not quarreled with his wife for a year and a day. Even today, the Dunmow Flitch Trials every four years awards a side of bacon (a “flitch”) to couples who can convince an unmarried jury.