Bacon is cheap, so why is it a man is thought to have money if he "could really bring home the bacon."?
Sometimes the working class could obtain pork and would feel really special when that happened. When company came over, they would bring out some bacon and hang it to show it off.  It was a sign of wealth and that a man "could really bring home the bacon."
They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."

Why do they call it "Trench mouth"?
Most common people did not have pewter plates, but had trenchers - a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Trenchers were rarely washed and a lot of times worms got into the wood. After eating off wormy trenchers, a person would get "trench mouth."

Why are the rich considered the "Upper Crust"?
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests or nobility got the top, or the "upper crust".

In England at some point in time, they started running out of places to bury people. They started digging up coffins and would take the bones away and re-use the grave. In reopening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. People started tying a string on the wrist of the alleged deceased and lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tied to a bell. Someone would then sit out in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell. Hence on the "graveyard shift" they would know that someone was "saved by the bell" or was a "dead ringer".

Why does a "wake" seem like a party?
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock people out for a few days seeming like they were dead. For a few of days, they were laid out on the kitchen table, prepared for burial and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. The origin of the custom of holding a "wake" was to give a person a chance to wake up before they were buried.

"Unencumbered By The Thought Process"