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Shambles - Definition and Overview |
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Shambles is an obsolete term for an open-air slaughterhouse and meat market. There are streets named "The Shambles" in some English towns (e.g. Worcester, York). which got their name from having been the site on which butchers killed and dressed animals for consumption.
During that period there were no sanitary facilites or hygiene laws as exist today, and guts, offal and blood were thrown into a runnel down the middle of the street or open space where the butchering was carried out. Moving through the resulting mess must have been unpleasant — but then, all forms of household waste were commonly thrown in the street anyway, so perhaps it was less disgusting to the people of that age than it would be during the present era. Thus you can see why any scene of total disorganisation and mess is now referred to as "a shambles". The word is probably derived from the Saxon language.
See also
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