Could eat no fat,

His wife could eat no lean;

And so, betwixt them both,

They licked the platter clean.

Nowadays Jack would be called nutritionally challenged and Mrs. Sprat would be posing for Overeaters Anonymous. Long ago this rhyme poked fun at Charles I of England and his greedy wife, Henrietta Maria. When Parliament refused to finance Charles’ war with Spain and left him “lean,” he turned the tables and dissolved Parliament. He and his wife imposed an illegal war tax and forced the common people to house their troops. This original odd couple licked England clean to feed their own bloodthirsty appetites.