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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: IgorStrav on Friday 19 December 08 22:20 GMT (UK)
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Following up the thread about twang toed, I was reminded of an expression my mother (a native Londoner) used when something happened which was rather good.... she would say
"Well, that's better than a poke in the eye with a dirty stick!"
I have used this most of my life - I think it's quite expressive ;) - but a lot of people find it very odd.
However, I once met someone from Hull, and he said in his part of the world the expression was
"Better than a slap in the belly with a wet fish!"
which seems very appropriate for Hull.
Any other variants? Does anyone else recognise this one?
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We must be a bit crude where I come from.......It's better than a kick up the a***...... :o
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Well, of course there is always that one........ ;D
My mother was too refined for that one, although she was prone to say when she was very lively that she felt "Like 10 men, one after another!"
I still remember how shocked I was when I realised the implications...... :D
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I remember:
Better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick.
Better than a slap in the face with a wet fish.
Sorry, I have no idea why I remember them, or from where or when.
Paul
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very similar to Pauls' - It used to be 'better then a poke in the eye with a sharp stick'. I'm from Wales and my hubby from Shropshire - we both use the same saying!
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Better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick was one that I heard and used in Manchester
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better than charity and that's chilly, better than my poor willy! and he's been dead a fortnight, poor ba * *d!!
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Well, of course there is always that one........ ;D
My mother was too refined for that one, although she was prone to say when she was very lively that she felt "Like 10 men, one after another!"
I still remember how shocked I was when I realised the implications...... :D
when my grandad felt a bit lively he'd say " I cud bull a coo" (cow to non geordies.) ;D
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How about:
All my eye and Betty Martin
Up in Annie's room behind the clock
Joe soap from the roundhouse, lived in the middle one of them two and went upstairs to get down into the cellar.
Colder than a witches t*t
Rough as a bears a**e
When that worm turned it had an elephants foot
One sandwich short of a picnic
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Does anyone know where the expression "just a tad" comes from? I've looked and googled, and googled and looked, and absolutely nothing, but everyone knows the expression!
BumbleB :-\
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And another, and this one is truly weird - I'll give you the answer later?
What is a moggie?
BumbleB
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A moggie is a cat (usually black).
Back to the original question......
the Canadian variant is "A kick in the a*se with a frozen boot" ;D
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Hi BumbleB
Does this help??.....
tad
–noun Informal.
1.a small child, esp. a boy.
2.a very small amount or degree; bit
Origin:
1875–80, Americanism, for def. 1; 1935–40, Americanism, for def. 2; perh. shortening of tadpole
http://dictionary.reference.com
Sarah :)
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Strangest one I've heard locally ...... I feel deletion coming on!! ;D....
"what r u having for dinner?"
"pigs d@*k and lettuce" ie: haven't got a clue/nothing in!! :o
Sarah :)
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Thanks sem73 for "tad", well that's certainly how I understand it - a little bit, therefore a tadpole.
Sorry geniecolgan - wrong. That's a bit too easy! Everyone thinks it's a cat, except .....
BumbleB ::)
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You tease, you, Bumble ;)
Don't know what a moggie is except a cat.................
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Thanks sem73 for "tad", well that's certainly how I understand it - a little bit, therefore a tadpole.
Sorry geniecolgan - wrong. That's a bit too easy! Everyone thinks it's a cat, except .....
BumbleB ::)
I've got a different one from Suffolk for 'a tad' ...
"She's so mean she'd lick a tanner out of a tad"
meaning "she so mean she would lick a sixpence out of a cow-pat"
Well, you DID ask !
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A variant of that: someone so mean they would "skin a turd for a tanner"
Now that's really lowered the tone! :o
How about "black over Bill's mother's" meaning bad weather coming. I think the name of the man varies round the country.
Betty
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Hi: so no-one lives near Tamworth in Staffordshire?!
In Tamworth, believe it or not, a moggie is a mouse!!
You do get some funny looks when you talk about your pet moggie.
Have a good Christmas
BumbleB ::) ::)
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this should help maybe a tad too much
http://www.websters-dictionary-online.org/definitions/english/ta/tad.html
moggies CATS
http://www.flickr.com/photos/supermunchie/2876571958/
sylvia
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Yep - In South Yorkshire (or at least around Doncaster) in the early 60s, a moggie was both - a cat and a mouse. Makes for an interesting chase.
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Hi,
The word Moggie/moggy apparently was first used to describe old cows according to the below article( don't know how true it is) and may come from the name Margaret.
I use moggie to describe mongrel cats and of course the Morris Minor. It mentions in the article that it is used for mouse too
Just a wee tad here is the article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moggy
Kind Regards :)
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Moggie:
A Morgan car made in Malvern
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When asking "what is for dinner the Lancashire answer was "Pigs bum and cabbage". or an alternative the rude word for muck with sugar on.
Moggie depends on where you live, In South of Lancashire its a mouse, in North of Lancashire its a cat.
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Ad I'd never come across the term moggie meeting mouse until I came to live in Tamworth, I assumed it was very local. Now realise that it is widespread! We all learn something every day :-[
Dancing Master - my grandmother always, when asked what is for dinner, replied "chums". West Riding ?
BumbleB
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Im Starved,
any idea what that means here in Shropshire?
Pete :) :)
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I'm starved means I'm cold or at least it does in north herefordshire
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Hi Vic :)
What about " Mizzle "
Pete :) :)
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I 've heard that one but can't remember what it refers to i think it may have two meaning and one means a part of the male anatomy. partner knows but hes out.
he uses lots of radnorshire expression which i 've never heard of and we grew up only 10 miles from each other.
the one we both use is ( i won't spell this properly i know )
"you're a mucken grunt ." which means you're a dirty pig but its so onomatapiec its lovely to say.
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Colder than a witches t*t
Rough as a bears a**e
Warwickshire and my mum would refer to pop/soda that was no longer fizzy as "that's flatter than a witches t*t".
rough as a badger's a**e, is the version I've heard.
Sweet Fanny Adams - meaning 'nothing' as in "there's nothing for dinner"
Other's include
Face like a bag of spanners
Up n' down (the stairs/street/ladder) like a bride's nightie
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My husband says, "That's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick".
His grandparents were from the Wirral, West Kirby, Cheshire.
I had never heard it before my husband said it to me.
Regards,
Josephine
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feeling ' rough as a badgers a**e' ;D north east
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What's to eat ?? ........ Bread and spit and duck under the table !!!!!!!
A moggie is a cat in Liverpool ... as in " kicked a moggie down de jigger "!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D
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" kicked a moggie down de jigger"
I assume that's what we in Northants would call a 'jitty'
How about "bolsh" (to fling yourself down, esp. on to furniture)
I can hear my grandma now! "Dawnchiw bolsh down on that there sofa!"
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When we asked our mum what was for dinner she always replied
Bread and pull it, the further you pull it the further it will go.
Her other favourite, when we moaned that something was not fair, she would say
Well its market then.
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When we asked our mum what was for dinner she always replied
Bread and pull it, the further you pull it the further it will go.
Oh I forgot that one, my dad always used to say it - well, in the context of that's what he was going to eat himself.
I remember Sunday evenings when my grandparents would be out and it was just me and my dad, he'd make bread and pull it then. It's where my love of crusts came from.
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H i JustKia :)
Did you know where the saying " Sweet Fanny Adams " Came from ?
www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/341000.html - 9k
P.S, this site contains a few swear words,
Pete, :)
P.P.S mizzle is light rain around here
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Well, no I didn't know it referred to a real person. I always assumed someone must have had the name seeing as neither first nor last were particularly uncommon, but not that it specifically referred to someone (in such sad circumstances too).
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When we asked Mum what we were having to eat she invariably said "two jumps at the cupboard door and a bite of the knob" which was so daft it infuriated me. I can also remember her telling me -and I fell for it for years_ "go and stand on the front step and look for the man with as many noses as there are days in the year" I stood for hours expecting to see someone with lots of noses, I must have been very easily fooled as she only said this on New Years Eve!!!!!!!
Mum would give us a smack if we had been naughty and when she had brought tears to our eyes and we were skriking -crying to any Southerners- she would then say " shut up or I will give you something to cry for" When Dad was hungry he`d say he was" ravished" which was hungrier than famished and worse than ravenous he also described cheap jewellery as "shikeling" -sparkling and shining but I think there is a yiddish word similar in sound which means the same although Dad was not Jewish. Happy Christmas to everyone Viktoria. :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( cryfor
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Stop that skriking or you'll get some at to skrik for..
Liverpool has always had its own words totally different for the rest of Lancashire. Where we would say grandma it was Nin in common usage in Liverpool I believe this is from the Welsh families who settled there.
And I think the expression "Fur Coat and no knickers was common in various places , meaning all top show.
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All RED HAT and no knickers it was in my location - London.
Definitely stop that crying, or I'll give you something to cry for.
One of my favourites, though not from my own childhood, is the call of his grandmother to a friend of mine, when he'd pick up the pet cat under the front legs, and try and "walk" it along..................
"Don't schlep the cat!"
Now that IS a Jewish expression.
:)
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Liverpool again
Lace curtains on the window, no sheets on the bed.
When I was teaching it always amazed me how many different words are used for the same thing in different locations.
Pumps, gym shoes, plimsolls, sand shoes is just one that comes to mind.
Any others?
Olly
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How about
"That's life in a blue suit!"
My OH says about life, he was in the Navy maybe it comes from there!
Abiam
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When I bothered my Suffolk grandmother for something, she would reply "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride!"
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I still want to know who Gordon Bennett is?
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for Gordon Bennett info
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/gordon-bennett.html
Suz
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Olly,
Another word for gym shoes = "daps"
Having moved to South Wales -and my son tarting school there -he arrived home stating he had to have a "dap bag"
I had no idea what this could be -so asked one or two other mothers what did they use a dap bag for -was told "to keep daps in""
When asked what "daps were" I was told "you know DAPS"!!!!
no wiser I enquired where to purchase one - and was told "we usually make them"
It was a couple of weeks before I realised he wanted a PE bag to keep his gym shoes in!!!
Suz
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That's reminded me of the words you used when you wanted to step out of a game for a moment
We used to say "Vainites" or "Vains", which meant that whoever was chasing you (or whatever) had to stop for a moment.
I think there are lots of local variants aren't there? Does anyone remember theirs?
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In Sth Manchester, we used to say "barley" or "barleys" if you had to stop in a game for a moment and you didn't want to be caught.
A phrase of my mother's was "Stop mithering me" if we were pestering her.
And if you wanted to reserve something for yourself, you could "baggsie" it
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Yes, I remember bagseying the desks next to the radiator at school ;)
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Yes, when I was kid we used to bagsey things, my children still do now! My dad tells me up north in Newcastle they were 'cruse' to keep them safe when playing a game of tag etc. I remember we were always 'cree' when we were in Cardiff. Don't know why or where it came from. You just couldn't be caught if you were cree.
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Yes, I remember bagseying the desks next to the radiator at school ;)
That's brought back a dim and distant memory. Whilst on school holiday (think I was 9 or 10yrs old) I was staying with a relative, we went to visit the grave of her son. There was a playmate with us and I can remember just before we tended the grave saying to my friend "Bags I do this side". Boy did I get told off.
One expression I still use a lot is "Two's up" when I want to be next to borrow something.
Jean
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Oh I love all this...
It's funny isn't it how the affection comes through even though we were threatened so often - my mum used to say 'stop skriking or I'll give you summat to skrike for" ; ' sh** wi' sugar on' for tea etc.
How about 'he could eat one tater more than a pig'
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What did we say Feynies sic. for? Can't remember!
No-one has picked up on 'That's life in a blue suit' where does it come from ant ideas?
Abiam
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Vains, or Vainites was when, for example, you'd tripped up and hurt your knee in a chasing game, and you were telling your pursuer you weren't in the game for a moment. I've heard it as Fains from elsewhere.
As for Life in a Blue Suit, well, that's the first time I've heard that one! Probably from the Navy as you say. What did it mean..............well, there you go?
Also, another one, when there was something particularly dramatic or melodramatic on the tv, my Mum used to say "kee, bly". Anyone else heard of that? I think it was a refined version of cor bl.imey, but was reserved only for melodramatic moments.
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for Gordon Bennett info
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/gordon-bennett.html
Suz
Nice one, thank you :)
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Hi all: Having spoken it all my life, I thought I knew my English...until I read this thread. Go figure, as they say while schlepping around New York.
I did look up "tad" (meaning "small amount") at the Oxford English Dictionary Online. The first written citation comes from 1940 and was recorded in volume 15 (1940) of American Speech, a scholarly journal. I was able to find the journal online at an academic library. "Tad" is included in a collection of expressions from late 1930s Tennessee.
Considering that the word was first recorded in Tennessee, but its use is being discussed on a website that is located in the U.K. and used in large part by people from the U.K., I think what we have here is an example of the chicken coming home to roost. That is: many of the early settlers of Tennessee were Scotch-Irish (as we call them in the U.S.) and English. When they settled in Tennessee, many of them lived in isolated rural areas, and I think the word is a relic of the early settlers, brought across the Atlantic. The other Oxford English Dictionary definitions of "tad"--such as a small boy--are recorded much earlier, although all of them do originate in the U.S.
I've attached edited images show the beginning of the article and the end of the article, with "tad" and many other Tennessee expressions.
Oh, yes, where I grew up in the U.S. (Pennsylvania) we also described low-temperature days as "Colder than a witch's t*t in a brass br*."
Regards and a Happy 2009 to all,
John :o :o :o
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They're fantastic John!
I just love "ankled" for walked!
;)
We also have "colder than a witches' t*t" in the UK. My Dad used to say that.
Or Brass Monkeys!
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Hi IgorStrav and others: Since you liked "ankle," here are the middle columns of the article I posted above. I'm partial to "crawling dandruff."
John :o :o :o
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Crawling Dandruff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Pumps, gym shoes, plimsolls, sand shoes is just one that comes to mind.
Any others?
In Glawstersher an' Brizzle, em 'as daps.
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1) In Sth Manchester, we used to say "barley" or "barleys" if you had to stop in a game for a moment and you didn't want to be caught.
2) And if you wanted to reserve something for yourself, you could "baggsie" it
1) I think I've they use something like reases/creasers for the game "immunity" round these parts (Glos).
2) In Lincoln, the verb was "to bags" as in, "I bags the seat by the window".
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All me eye and Peggy Martin - I've never followed this one up, but I'm sure someone will know who she was.
Then there's sky blue pink with a finny haddy border.
My gran used to use these way back in the fifties in Liverpool.
Yes, I used barley for taking a break in a game and bagsy for wanting something when I was little.
Olly
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Then there's sky blue pink with a finny haddy border.
we say sky blue pink with yellow dots !
Steve
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Our local version of 'Vainites' was 'Kings'
If anyone was really mean with money, my dad used to say 'Tight as a mouse's earole', only I think he might have used a different part of its body if he was at work! ;D
Mother hated anyone asking what was for dinner, and her answer was always 'Wait- and- see pie'
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We used to say "Skinch" which was supposed to be a corruption of sanctuary
aberdein
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My Essex family say "Wattice" instead of "What's it" when asking what something is.
Scran is Liverpool for food.
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When asked what was for tea, my mother used to say Paddy Shot It :-\
Took me years to work out that Paddy never shot anything lol
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'All my eye and Betty Martin' comes from one of the Anglo-Spanish wars and is the English soldier's version of the Spanish war cry : 'Mihi Beathe Martine' (may not have got the spelling right . . . .), which didn't help them as they were defeated.
Hence it means something absolutely useless - usually prefaced by 'that's'.
Michael.
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of a miserly relative my dad would remark,
" if he was a ghost he wouldn:t give you a gliff" (fright)
pete.
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For a mean person "short arms and long pockets"
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Completely useless
as much use as an a*** pocket in a vest
a chocolate fireguard.
Olly
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someone mean "as tight as a fishes bum", which is airtight"
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someone mean "as tight as a fishes bum",
I've seen a fish have a pee! :)
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A wot yee druv - some Sussex dialect. I dont know what it means.
Aw yew gettin' arnn? - Norfolk speak
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Here in Shrewsbury, anybody that comes from the sticks sourounding us, mainly South Shropshire way, are classed as " upper wammers "
Pete :)
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I just googled "druv" and it means driven, ie as driven to do something.
"I wont bee druv" says a Sussex farmer.
Ben
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Pete Edwards! Upper Whammers indeed!All those wonderful people - the farmers, lead miners and the Ag Labs, especially the lead miners who feature very prominently in my family history. they walked miles to work and then a long way underground to reach the actual seam, descending and ascending by vertical ladders hundreds of feet ,then walked home and tended their smallholdings to make a reasonable standard of living and when the mine s closed they had to buy their little cottages or become homeless. It was all pretty heartless and when you think one of the largest land owners who had mining rights was The marquess of Bath!!!!!!! Well- I am very proud to be descended from such people whose health was ruined by Silicosis by the age of forty (and no compensation in those days) yet they walked miles to worship at the chapels on their one day off .There was almost no trouble in the little villages and hamlets around The Stiperstones area. They were really decent people and not stupid either.Upper Whammers-consider yourself told off young man. Viktoria.
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My husband, born in Sheffield, always said when asked by our girls what was for dinner - 'duck under the table'.
Anyone with a less than beautiful face is said to have a 'face like a bag of maggots'.
Yes, he comes out with 'sky blue pink' as well, and when the weather looks like rain - 'it's black over Bill's mothers'.
When amazed he used to say 'well I'll go to the foot of our stairs'. (not said that for some years now after living in Oz for 40 years with no stairs).
A bit of Sheffield dialect from his father - 'don't put your dannies in your mussie'. Which means - 'don't put your hand in your mouth'.
Keep it up chatters, I'm enjoying all the chat.
Cheers,
Dot.
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Words like Barley and Fainites are truce words. I can remember you also had hold up crossed fingers for them to be valid.
Information about them can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truce_terms
I remember a phrase my mother used to use when things went wrong and that was 'It makes you want to spit balls of blood'.
Magrat
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Here in Ireland when my children want to say something is good they say it is savage, or if it is really good fierce savage, in my day back in England it was cool.
As a southern English woman we used to say a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Also my husband who is Irish has never heard of the phrase poorly to say someone is ill. We saw some cards in the shop the other day with the phrase on and i told him i wasn`t the only one to use it. The reply well it is an english chain (Tesco)!
Sarah
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I am always saying myself
"Well it's better than a kick in the head"
And I think that's from the South West
Although on another vein - I did have a teacher in the 1970s - who used to say in exclamation - "Well! Chase my Aunt Fanny round the static water tank!
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someone mean "as tight as a fishes bum", which is airtight"
Tight as a ducks ass! Watertight!
Woody.
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Yes, Woody, that duck's one is well known in our family!
I always thought 'poorly' was a Yorkshire expression, but maybe it is widespread.
The first time I visited Sheffield with OH we were in a small zoo with my in-laws when my mother in law saw a deer with a bandage around its antler. "Oh, he's got a poorly horn" she said, and I nearly cracked up!
Cheers,
Dot.
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It's horn's badly.
Woody.
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Derbyshire we refer to someone being "poorly" - but if they look ill the saying is "he looks as badly as a fowl"
Suz
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Here in Shrewsbury, anybody that comes from the sticks sourounding us, mainly South Shropshire way, are classed as " upper wammers "
Pete :)
Whooo hooo I'm an ex-upper Wammer then!
(lived by Craven Arms years back!)
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I use to hear
Aw go frame ya sen! = sort yourself out
cooz is oot = cows are in the field
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Frame thissen.
Woody.
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Was just thinking - as I was lying in bed this morning not getting up to do the chores - my mum always used to say in such circumstances
"Well, THIS won't get the baby washed"
She didn't have any babies requiring washing as far as I know.
Anything similar anywhere?
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Igor - that reminds me of a phrase my grandparents still use.
"well, this won't buy the baby a new dress" - very similar, same meaning. I think it was picked up from my grandfathers parents, so that would put it Warwickshire/Midlands
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My dear old Dad often said, if anything surprised him "Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs!"
And if nothing could be done about a problem "Well, that's it and all about it!"
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Was just thinking - as I was lying in bed this morning not getting up to do the chores - my mum always used to say in such circumstances
"Well, THIS won't get the baby washed"
She didn't have any babies requiring washing as far as I know.
Anything similar anywhere?
My Mun & Nan always used to say, "This wont get the Baby it's bottle".
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If anyone complained about meat being tough, my Mum used to say "Tougher where there isn't any".
Also, at school we used to say Paxies when asking for a truce in a rough game. I imagine it comes from the Latin pax for peace.
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If my mum and her sisters were talking about someone who was illegitamate they used the phrase "He/she came from across the fields"
and
if it looked like rain it was "looking black over Bill's mothers"
if a patch of blue sky appeared through clouds it was "enough to make a sailor a pair of trousers"
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My gran used to say about people who were nosey
"They want to know the ins and outs of an old nags a**e"
Dogs were referred to as "wammels"
Jackie.
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a Burnley expression:-
She's got a face like a pair of odd clogs
James
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Being brought up in the Midlands near Coventry/Birmingham, by a family of Scots and Cumbrians (Carlisle) my language was a cause for hilarity - at school the odd words used for things in the family drew blank looks, and vice versa when I returned home!
Odd things from home:
"Mythering" was whining;
Searching through boxes/cupboards was termed "ratching" (or wratching? I never saw it written !);
"Whist!" - not the game, but a northern term meaning "Do be quiet!";
"Jai" (pronounced to rhyme with "my") - meaning crooked or unbalanced. (We think this word was "invented" by an aunt as no-one else in the family ever heard of or used the term!);
On the subject of funny sayings: whenever anyone commented on how hard the rain was coming down, my father would respond "Well, I'll sign the pledge when I see it going up!" - this, from a man who was practically tee-total!
Stoney
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Dogs were referred to as "wammels"
Jackie.
Wasps were referred to as "Wobbies" by my Nan
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When I was a lad (many moons ago) and I came in from playing and I was dirty my dad would say to me "You're as black as the earl o' hells waistcoat".
Ritchie
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Is this the place to ask if attercop is still used up North? I once used it in a poem which needed several different words for spiders, which I looked for in dictionaries. Apparently it was also used for a peevish, ill-mannered person.
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Hi Roger
You may get a reply here to your Attercopy query - on the other hand you could post a separate thread headed
ATTERCOP UPDATE REQUESTED
or some such.
That should get people's attention! ;D
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When I bothered my Suffolk grandmother for something, she would reply "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride!"
I heard an interesting item on Radio 4 a while back that mentioned this phrase and how by changing one word and swapping two around you get a whole new meaning, think about it...
One way, "If wishes were horses, beggers would be riders"
and "If horses had wishes, riders would be beggers"
Kind of beautiful, I think.
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(Going) all round Will's mothers - used for either talking all round a subject and not getting to the point, or taking the long way to get somewhere.
Lazy wind - strong, bitingly cold wind, ie one that was too lazy to go round you so went straight through you instead.
hodmedods - snails
Totty Fay - woman who was overdressed &/or had excessive make-up on.
Fainites or pax for a break in a chase game.
mawther - cheeky or forward girl
old boy - elderly man as opposed to a little old boy, a small male child
Robert
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Another favourite of mine was a reference to a bowlegged man who could not stop a pig in a ginnel
:)
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Mention of ginnel reminds me gunnel (both presumably derived from general as in general access). Jitty is fairly common and the Nottingham equivalent is twitchel.
Other odds and ends I've heard from my days in Nottingham include:
A word in your shell-like (your ear)
Mardy (easily upset or sulking)
A blind man would like to see it (the job or quality of finish will do)
A gnat's (a very small measurement; in full, a gnat's boll***)
Sarnie (sandwich) for your snap (lunch) in your snap box
Cob (southerners say roll, others have balm or bap)
Shiny ar** (suit-wearing manager)
Ankle biter (baby, crawling infant)
Playing hookey, capping off (truant)
Jagging off (leaving work early when job done)
Were you born in a barn? (shut the door)
A croggy (a ride on the crossbar of a bicycle)
Mash tea then let it brew or get a brew on (suspect many variants on this)
What goes round comes round
Nesh (feel the cold more than an average person)
Rag up (clean your tools and prepare to finish the day's work)
Give it a coat of looking at (inspect a faulty item)
Bread and lard island (West Bridgford, an area south of the Trent, thought to be "posh")
Sherwood
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A couple more, bait = food and dockey = lunch - hence dockey bag, what you carried your lunch in.
Robert
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Mention of ginnel reminds me gunnel (both presumably derived from general as in general access).
You're nesh (you feel the cold more than an average person)
Sherwood
LOL At work the other day someone called one of the younger staff members "Nesh" ........... it seems theres now an age divide as well on local slang - all the younger ones didnt have a clue what it meant, those of us about 30 & over understood completely!
We have ginnels here in Manchesters - also knows as 'Backings' or 'Backies'
Riding on the crossbar of a bike was a 'crosser' when I was a kid, and sitting on the seat while the rider pedaled the bike was getting a 'Backer'
"a blind man could see that" meant something was obvious
'Pegging off' - Bunking off school
'Black as the ace of spades' meant you were filthy dirty.
Cant think of any more right now!
Gaille
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My daughter spent three years in Sheffield at university - she has now accquired the term "cob" meaning to "add casually", as in making a stew "....cob in a few carrots...."
Not sure if this is a Sheffield term or something she picked up from one of her house mates who hailed from the Wirral!
Stoney
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If a child (especially a small one or a baby) was upset and crying/grizzling/sulking and there wasn't much of a reason to, My Granny (maybe Grandad too) would always say:
"What a pity to poocha about!?"
Always said in an exaggerated, jollying way - never cross - designed to take the mind off whatever was the matter.
Falkland Islanders also would say, "Poocha Man!" to express amazement, disbelief, or strong expression etc - as , in "Poocha man, that was a rough night!"
I started my own, too I think (unless I've picked it up someplace I can't recall) whenever daughter (5) asks "What are you doing?" when she cas see what I'm doing - I say "Swinging on the light singing hallelughiah". Heard her say it to her father on the phone the other day, straight face, and totally matter of fact.
Cheers
AMBLY
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I'd like to throw in a few of my Mum's expressions here, she attributed them to members of her family so we're talking North Wales here...
When Nelson gets his eye back ( in other words, never)
I've seen more meat on Lester Piggot's whip
I've seen more meat on a butcher's pencil
They'd spoil another couple
If your Aunt had balls, she'd be your uncle ( I also heard an American version of this one, if your Aunt had wheels she'd be a trolley bus)
He couldn't stop a pig in a poke
Face like a smacked arse
She considered many thinks to be "better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick" but in more ribald company the stick would be coated in something more offensive that rhymed with gritty!
If we kid's were in a "can I have" mood we were told to stop mythering.
Poking around nooks and crannies for treasure was mooching
If you couldn't go out without a coat on, you were nesh.
Also being from Shropshire, the phrase "all around the Wrekin" is one I'm familiar with although I was gobsmacked the first time I heard a Brummie use it, as I had often had to explain to them where Shropshire was and whenever I address a Brummie with "Ow bist kid?" they think I'm speaking German!!
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Love those, Cad!
I just thought of one my mum used to say, after a particularly tiring day out......
" Home, James, and don't spare the horses!"
and another one, which is related to an old comic song, and both my parents used to say, a propos of nothing:
"You can tell a man what boozes by the company he chooses"
And the pig got up, and slowly walked away.
And I suppose nobody here knows the tale which starts
"There's a firm in the Strand called Twinings, Tea Merchants and Bankers. Old Mr Twining had three sons........."
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Having to do something you'd rather not do. 'I'd rather have me a**e rubbed with a brick'
Paul
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Up here in Eastern Scotland your packed lunch or sandwich is a "piece" and you carry it in your "piece poke". I'm told this comes from the time when it was common to take a portion of cold solidified porridge for your midday meal. Also an expression which I heard when I moved up here, and I hadn't come across for many years since my childhood in Manchester, was going for your "messages" meaning going shopping. A cold biting wind is a "snell wind". If someone is looking miserable, ie with a long face, it can be said that "his face is trippin' him". To cry or weep is "to greet".
Chirp
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I wish I had a pound for every time my Mum said..."Be careful...you'll have sombody's eye out with that"... ;D ;D ;D ;D
Carol
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'She's got a face like bad fat' - somebody who is in a mood!!
or
'She's got a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp' - not the prettiest of faces!!
Rosemary
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From downunder: - some of these may be variations on sayings brought over by our ancestors? Some of them also seem to have different meanings, depending on where they're heard.
"Born in a paddock with the sliprails down" (= Close the door!)
"Got a 'roo loose in the top paddock" (= crazy)
"The elevator doesn't go all the way to the penthouse" (*ditto*)
"Don't come the raw prawn!" (= "Don't lie to me")
"Flat out like a lizard drinking" (* the meaning of this varies: - sometimes it means really busy, and other times it means bludging instead of working *)
"Mad as a cut snake" (= Really angry)
"More paint than a battleship needs, and enough powder to blow it up" (*that one's pretty obvious, I think*)
"If his brains were dynamite, he wouldn't have enough to blow his hat off"
And .. the mother of a friend of mine used to say, when asked what was for dinner .... "Pig's bum and booligum". I've never found out what booligum was.
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"Born in a paddock with the sliprails down" (= Close the door!)
Where i'm from, the south east, we usually ask "were you born in a barn?" if someone leaves the door open!
My dad, a Londoner, always says' It's better than a kick in the teeth!"
We use the already mentioned sayings for being hungry but we still say quite a rude version for being thirsty! It's very rude I warn you but we say "oh i've got a mouth like a nun's....."
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My Nan (from Hull) when asked what was for tea always replied 'S*** with sugar on'.
Another expression that used to puzzle me as a kid, was, when she didn't believe what we were saying was 'that's all my eye and Peggy Martin'.
And if I'd been naughty I'd be threatened with 'Icky the Firebobby' - whoever he was!
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When someone knocked at the door and a person indoors would say 'Who's that' before opening the door. The reply would be Icky the Firebobby!!
We also heard All my eye and Betty Martin, meaning something wasn't quite true.
She's all fur coat and no knickers :o meant someone was putting on a front...trying to be something they weren't.
No better than she ought to be meant a girl who had low morals :o
Twopence short of a shilling...not quite sane :D
He's got all his chairs at home meant he knew what was what
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Something a family friend used to say was 'Old Timer's Disease' she meant Alzheimer's disease of course ;D
I think that's called a Malapropism though rather than a family saying.
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here's a one
when going into a dark room "you can't see a bat's eye" !!! ;D ;D
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here's a one
when going into a dark room "you can't see a bat's eye" !!! ;D ;D
Or it was as black as a coal heavers armpit :P
Paul.
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A few years ago I took my place in the family line up for my grandad's birthday photo. Grandad came out with "You wouldn't stop a pig in a passage" - a reference to the fact that I am somewhat bow legged! Bless him!
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More from my husband - born in Sheffield -
"She's got Face On" (usually when someone is in a bad mood or sulking etc)
"Nesh" this one has been on here I see (feels the cold and complains about it)
"Mardy" (someone who whines ALL the time about nothing)
My father-in-law said to our elder daughter when she was only a toddler (much to my mother-in-law's disgust) "Don't put your dannies in your mussie" . Meaning, I think, keep your hands out of your mouth.
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I think being nesh must be a northern thing, because I recall it from my childhood in Liverpool and my late hubby knew it from his childhood in Manchester, but when we moved South nobody seemed aware of it ???
If we asked 'what's for dinner' my mum would often say 'A run round the table 'til you're fed up' meaning there wasn't much available :(
If there were black clouds in the distance, my gran would say 'It's stormy over Fred's mother's' No idea who Fred was or his mother ;D
I wonder what our children/grandchildren will remember about us :)
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Never heard of "Nesh" before ??? ..interesting...on the subject of dinner...if we asked what we were having my Mum would say "If-fit"...If it goes round the table you get a bit ;D
Carol
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Here are a few scouse sayings;
to give someone 'down the banks' meant a good telling off.
Someone was 'gammy handed' or 'cack handed' if they were left handed.
a 'gezzunder' was a chamber pot cos it goes under the bed
'Gorra cob on' in a bad mood.
S/He was 'made up' meaning very pleased.
Its 'cracking the flags' meaning its very hot -flags being flagstones or pavement.
'carry out' packed lunch
'muck in, yer at yer Grannies' Bon Appetite!
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Nice one L.L...I'm a left hander and was called..."Cack-Handed" or "Golly-Handed"...we also had a Gazunder....so called because it "Goes under the bed"...cracking the flags is a new one to me though.. I have heard of the rest 8)
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Here are a few scouse sayings;
to give someone 'down the banks' meant a good telling off.
Someone was 'gammy handed' or 'cack handed' if they were left handed.
a 'gezzunder' was a chamber pot cos it goes under the bed
'Gorra cob on' in a bad mood.
S/He was 'made up' meaning very pleased.
Its 'cracking the flags' meaning its very hot -flags being flagstones or pavement.
'carry out' packed lunch
'muck in, yer at yer Grannies' Bon Appetite!
These take me right back to my Liverpool childhood, although I have to admit I'd forgotten some of them ;)
'Cum 'ed our kid' ....come along or come on then usually to make a smaller child hurry up ;D
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Of a courting couple neither of whom were very nice looking ," best they `re together then neither of`um ull spoil another pair " Viktoria.
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Love that Viktoria ;D
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I mentioned in my earlier post that my mum used to say "they'd spoil another couple" although she'd use it to describe a pair who were nutty rather than ugly, or a couple who deserved each other, I think we all know what that means!
Mum was also one for spoonerisms, our cars were always old bangers and one day when Dad came home with a Moggy Miner, she announced that we should hang on to this one as one day it would be a "colliters ectum", this became a family saying.
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Although I've heard cack-handed means left-handed, I've always used it to mean clumsy, in fact I called His Nibs that only today! I think it's because cack means crap in Welsh, at least according to my Granddad it does!
Granddad was from that generation of Welsh whose parents actively discouraged their children from learning the language even though it was their own first language.
Great-Granddad used to say "I speak three spokes, English, Welsh and rubbish".
Apart from cack and the usual Welsh everyone knows, the only other Welsh that crept into his vocabulary was "wedi mynd", used when something was unfixable. Mum told me it meant "gone west" actually wedi means past and mynd means go, does that mean the Long Mynd in Shropshire is Long Gone? !!
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Growing up here in NZ in the 60s used to here some of those expressions, particularly from my maternal grandparents.
When asking what was for dinner you would get told 'Dimplets", which meant S**t with sugar on usually .
'Mad as a meat axe' was another one
My paternal grandfather had one expression 'Silly as a two-bob watch'
Ian C
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This reminded me of another family saying.....
about as genuine as a 9 bob note...meaning someone was not as sincere as they appeared to be, and used in the days of 10/- notes of course. Only those of us of a certain age will know what I mean ;)
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Bent as a nine bob note was the one i always used to hear
When i used to complain about being bored my Mum would always say sarcasticly "What do you want, a song & dance"
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"Sharp as a bowling ball"
"A few tinnies short of a slab" (tinny = can of beer, slab = case of beer, us. 12 or 24 cans)
(When playing cards) "I've got a hand like a foot"
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My mam used to say I had 'more clothes than soft Mick' when I was younger. Not the case now - not up-to-date anyway, I tend to recycle nowadays :)
Who is Soft Mick anyway?
Rosemary
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That face would curdle cream!!
The lights are on but nobody's home.
A few pennies short of a quid.
Just like Mulligan's dog - when we had something but didn't want to share. (But who is Mulligan?)
Mad as a two bob watch
When we asked "what's that"? the answer was often "a wigwom for a goose's bridle"
When it was something strange that nobody recognized the answer was "a dingus"
For something the wrong way round - a**se about face
"What's for dinner?" - Bread and duck under the table
Fizzle - to describe someone who didn't have a very happy expression (and I have no idea where that came from)
If the wind changes your face will stay like that!!
And one of the most annoying memories from my childhood is when I asked Mum if I could (whatever) she would say "We'll see". That could go on for days!!!!!!!!!!!
Alternatively - ask your father, who would then say "ask your mother" - grrrr
Probably many more, but that's all I can think of at the moment.
Philippa
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I think perhaps 'fizzle' comes from 'fizog', which is short for Physiognomy (something about studying faces)
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Well that certainly triggered a memory and I think you could be right.
There was one person Mum used to refer to as "FizzGig" and that was later shortened to Fizzle!!!
An easy step from one to the other, I think.
:D
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Some more as most of what I remember has already been told:
Freeze the b**lls of a brass monkey
Don't get your knickers in a knot
the inevitable in answer to why? Why is a crooked letter and can't be made straight
Mutton done up as lamb
Bev
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Hi, I've got a couple for you.
"Thick as two bricks"
"A sandwich short of a picnic"
"As useful as a pocket on a singlet"
"As useful as teats on a bull"
Responding to 'how do you feel' - "Like three penneth of Gawd help us"
I could go on and on, as I had an Uncle who spoke mainly in ozzie slang, and we just had to try and keep up.
Eddo
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There was one person Mum used to refer to as "FizzGig" and that was later shortened to Fizzle!!!
Fizgig: a frivolous or flirtatious girl (Collins English Dictionary)
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I'm now reminded of a couple more.....
When talking about someone who was mean with cash.....
There's no pockets in shrouds or You can't take it with you!
And recently a friend wasn't at all well. When I phoned to ask what was wrong she replied 'Oh I've got 'there's a lot of it about' ;D
Love these sayings ;D
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There was the one I learned when I lived for a year in deepest Suffolk ...
'She's so mean she'd lick a tanner from a tad'
... a tad being a cow-pat !
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Hope it hasn't been done before.
Long pockets - short arms!
Bev
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Don,t know if these have been done before but. Got a dab on. meaning you are very hot. As much use as a chocolate fireguard. (useless)
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Love this thread - it makes me laugh a lot.
Geoff-E - my mother was so good at making up words to fit both people and situations that I would never have thought to check up one of her "specials" in a dictionary. Just goes to show I should not doubt everything she ever said. :D
Another favourite - if brains were ink there wouldn't be enough there for a full stop!!!!
Philippa
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I've spent the afternoon with some very good friends, one of whom has recently had a new kitchen and bathroom installed. She is also having her front drive re-laid, so naturally enough we spoke about the cost of it all. She replied 'Hang the expense, throw the cat another kipper' ;D I haven't heard that for a very long time.
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For someone who is very clever: He (she) could tell you the square root of a bicuit tin but wouldn,t know how to get into it.
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There naebody in but the fire and it,s oot.
An Isobar short of a weather chart.
Fur coat and nae drawers.
2 vouchers short of a pop up toaster.
If the wind changes you will be left wae a face like that.
If a don,t see you soon ahll see you through the windae.(window)
You would cause a fight in an empty house.
(Glasgow childhood.)
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This is fun ;D Let's hope these phrases can survive ::)
Apologies if someone's covered this, but I remember (South London) my parents using "not as green as he's cabbage-looking" - meaning cleverer than you think.
In London, I remember working alongside a quite refined australian woman (a semi-professional opera singer). Occasionally she would come out with some uncharasteristic belters which didn't need any explanation:
My mouth's as dry as an arab's sandal
Made the hairs on your chest crack like stock whips!
Keep 'em coming
JULIAN
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Moto GP commentator Charlie Cox describing the inclement weather.
This wind's strong enough to blow a dog of It's chain ;D ;D
Paul.
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My Mum and I have had a good giggle over this thread - it's great!!
A little one of from Wilts?? It's been used in the village I grew up in for as long as I can remember, but does get some confused looks now
Anywhen - any time, (come round anywhen)
Anywhere - where ever (it could be anywhere)
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Yes, I have a friend who was born near Corfe Castle and 'anywhen ' was a standard reply from her :)
Love this thread, it tells us a lot about local areas and the language used by our ancestors that has continued over the years.
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A few more
going all round the five fields - not taking the direct route
furkle (possibly Bristolian) - poking around looking for something
four fifths of bugger-all - self explanatory! (and that one is within the last 10 years)
going arse over tip - to fall over (used by my grandmother who came from Co Durham)
black's white and yeller's nae colour (same grandmother) - not quite sure what this meant. Any offers?
This thread could go on forever - I hope
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He/She is well-oiled (West Scotland expression for pretty drunk)
If ye don't stop that girnin (crying) I'll take you up the nearest close and you'll get something to girn about. Happy to say that threat was never carried out.
Would you put that bit of wood in that hole (Mother asking someone to close the door
When very thirsty my Mother in law used to say she couldn't spit sixpence (W.Midlands)
Cuthie
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I'm from west yorkshire and use these regularly,
frame y'sen - get on with it/make an effort
framing like a man wi no arms - you are useless
sat there like cheese at fourpence - not moving
i can't get on for getting off - i keep getting interrupted
wan a mi arse - useless (i have no idea what i'm actually saying, but ?)
you don't know your arse from your elbow - you are talking rubbish
you could ride bare arsed to china on that -- your knife is blunt
;)
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This one could run and run!
Some really great sayings
Do you remember, when young, people used to write a series of letters on the back of an envelope to convey a secret message to a loved one.
I know many of them were famously a little ......well, you know what I mean, but I always loved this one
YTTDFATCCSH
Yours Till The Deserts Freeze And The Camels Come Skating Home.
aaaaaaah
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Oh yes I remember those days ;D
My hubby (then boyfriend) was in the RAF and we used to write every day. The back of our envelopes always carried the initials S W A L K....
Sealed With A Loving Kiss....how sweet was that ;)
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Another one from my mother -
You are going so fast, you'll meet yourself coming back!
Bev
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Just found it again ..
You'll need a packed lunch and a water bag .. (going a long way)
Bev
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Another one from my mother -
You are going so fast, you'll meet yourself coming back!
Bev
Similar to this.....
my parents always used to say of someone quick witted that they were
"all there, and halfway back"
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aw there an a dod mair
all there and a bit more=clever
(Glasgow)
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God willing and the crick don't rise - Meaning if at all possible (crick is how we say creek in the south :) ).
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I have really enjoyed reading the local expressions.
Here are some from my Liverpool, Irish, Mum.
Hands like shovels and feet like ferry boats.
A voice like a fog horn on the Mersey
So tight he wouldn't give you last night's Echo.
Dressed up like a dog's dinner.
Someone had a face that would frighten the cows.
A face so long it would trip them.
Muscles like knots in cotton.
Someone who was known as very light fingered.... He would take the eyes out of your head and come back and spit in the sockets.
Someone who was very happy was said to be like a dog with two tails or two d---s.
When I asked for anything she would say, "when Dick docks". I don't know who Dick was.
I'll buy you two in case one makes you sick. or most annoying "I will knit you one."
When I didn't listen....I'll put you in a corner with your ears tied back. ...She never did.
By the way Dancing Dolly was part of a song she used to sing. I think it was a skipping rhyme.
Dancing Dolly had no sense,
She bought three eggs for eighteen pence,
The eggs were bad, Dolly went mad,
Pit, pat, pepper.
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I've spent the afternoon with some very good friends, one of whom has recently had a new kitchen and bathroom installed. She is also having her front drive re-laid, so naturally enough we spoke about the cost of it all. She replied 'Hang the expense, throw the cat another kipper' ;D I haven't heard that for a very long time.
Mother25 - that's one of my husband's. ;D
We went to a play last week at our local theatre - the play was based in Lancashire in 1920s.
The young wife was about to give birth and after the interval when we returned to our seat, I automatically said 'Oh they've brought the bed down'.
Flashback to youth, when in our 2 up-2 down houses, the bed being brought downstairs meant serious illness or similar.
heywood
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Yes indeed, heywood. The only proper memory I have of my grand-dad is of an old man in bed in the corner of the front room. As he was only 42 years of age when he died, he obviously wasn't old at all, but he had cancer so I suppose that aged him, and I was only 3 myself ;)
When my mum burned her leg from sitting too close to the fire, the bed was brought down so she could rest as much as possible, as she still had 4 children to see to :o As a child she had Infantile Paralysis (Polio) and had no feeling in the affected leg at all, hence she had no idea her leg was so badly burned :(
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oh...memories.
The front room became my grandad's bedroom but he was in his 80s then unlike your poor grandfather.
I could just hear neighbours saying,' they've had to bring the bed down..' when I saw that and obviously haven't thought of it for years. ;)
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Stop that skriking or you'll get some at to skrik for..
Liverpool has always had its own words totally different for the rest of Lancashire. Where we would say grandma it was Nin in common usage in Liverpool I believe this is from the Welsh families who settled there.
Just read through the thread and found this one didn't have answers - never heard skriking or Nin (I live in North East Wales, about 40 miles from Liverpool) but I'd guess skriking might come from sgrechian (Welsh - to shriek/scream) and Nain is North Welsh dialect for grandmother.
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I'm from Oldham and you can still hear 'skrike' used for crying /screaming.
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Do you remember, when young, people used to write a series of letters on the back of an envelope to convey a secret message to a loved one.
There are a couple of those in this Alan Bennett sketch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUDxnkIPAh8
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Yes, I remember N O R W I C H ;) ;D
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Thought you might like these, culled from A.E Jenkin's book on life in Titterstone and the Clee Hills, Shropshire, "Everyday Life Industrial History and Dialect"
E annu got a bit a mat on him - He's very thin
Sur/re int e norru gutid - Good gracious isn't he thin. (narrow gutted, love that)
Sur/re, the assnu of got sum chollop - Good gracious you've got plenty to say for yourself
Gis a cherper - give us a kiss
There the bist the sist - there you are you see
So lung fer now!
cad
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Oh Cad you have brought back memories- I can remember round the Stiperstones area people always said "How bist you?" for "how are you?" All negative word such as couldn`t ,wouldn`t, hadn`t and shouldn`t,didn`t,were ---Couldna, wouldna, hadna, shouldna , didna, . To say someone is not becomes--- isna---- " Her isna gonna town today" ie "She is not going to town today"" Her anna got much money"ie "she has not got much money"The answer Yes to a question was always "ah."" I Don`t think so "became " I dunna think so"I don`t know why I said was, it still is." I dare not " is "" I dursent" > You jogged my memory very pleasantly. Thanks .Viktoria.
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Thanks Viktoria, glad to be of service, if you haven't already you should read Mary Webb, especially The Prescious Bane or Gone to Earth (which is based in the Stiperstones area), I think you'd enjoy them.
Lissum, meaning lithe is still my favourite Shropshire word.
Cad
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Thanks cad, I have read all Mary Webb`s books and was there when "Gone to Earth" was filmed up at Lord`shill Chapel above Snailbeach. I met most of the stars except the one I was dying to meet---David Farrar. He was exactly like I imagined Jack Rreddin to be.That was superb casting but I thought Jennifer Jones was mis-cast.Many of my friends and neighbours were extras in the film and one relative .I had gone back home to be with my parents after being evacuated to relatives of my paternal grandmother but always went back to Snailbeach for my long school holidays and it coincided with the filming. Such lovely music by Eric Eastham.I have a copy of the film which was sold at the pub at The Stiperstones after a programe had been made and filmed about the making of G.T.E.The scenery is breathtaking.. Her stories are a bit maudlin and mawkish so much so that Stella Gibbons wrote "Cold Comfort Farm"as an antidote!,
Mary Webb tried I think to write as Thomas Hardy did and whilst she did not have his genius never-the -less she had a great insight into human nature.After Squire Reddin has seduced Hazel and she is having his baby he decides he may as well get married, (he`s getting on a bit and there should be an heir for "Undern", )as if he`s doing her a huge favour, M.W. writes " and he never understood just exactly what he had done"That`s my favourite of all her books and to know that one tree is mentioned in it which is still growing at Lord`shill is amazing to me, having relatives buried there. But thanks very much , had I not known about the books I would have been pleased you were kind enough to mention them to me. Viktoria.
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Wow Viktoria,
I remember when growing up we would laugh our faces off watching that film on the telly, everytime it came on!! Especially that chase scene at the end where she chases her fox the length and breadth of shropshire whilst chased by the hunt, one minute it's the meres the next it's Caer Caradoc! How guilty I felt when I discovered the films of Michael Powell a few years later, all classics. It's also remarkable for being filmed in the original setting of the book, how many other novels filmed at that time got such respect?
Here's some more pillaged from the book..
Look at that od Kov/i
Int e a klink/er?
Dunt our Tum minse is fit/tl
Dust/nu want a nog/gin a chas?
Maybe I don't need to translate!
here's me slopin off
cad
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Do you know "The Callow" that is Bromlow Callow> The ring of trees at the top was getting a bit thin and there has been some re-planting. I asked my uncle once why was it there- he said during the first world war the whole hill was covered with trees and the landowner sold them or was forced to sell them to The War Dept. for use as trench supports and pit props when there was a lot of tunnelling under the German lines. Sadly his son was killed just before the hill was totally cleared and he asked that the crown of trees should be left as a memorial to his son. I have mentioned that from time to time but no-one seems to have heard it . I suppose the land owner could be identified and if he lost a son. If it is a memorial it`s a lovely one being a distinct landmark for miles and miles and therefore such a pity the young man`s name has entered oblivion. Pity I didn`t ask.Viktoria.
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Hi Viktoria,
Interesting story, not one I'd heard before but my old stomping ground was the Ironbridge area and when I googled Bromlow Callow I recognised the view immediately from car journeys. I have a book called Trees of Shropshire by Andrew Morton, I was convinced such a notable landmark would be in that, alas not. There is a mention in Michael Raven's excellant Shropshire Gazeteer...
"It catches the eye for many miles around. Turn a corner and there it is, the distinctive clump of pine trees on the hill called Bromlow Callow. It was originally planted, it is said, as a drover's landmark and we are quite prepared to believe it. Bromlow means 'the broom covered hill', and Callow is from the Old English calu, meaning 'bald' and hence 'bare'. It is a very scattered community in a country of small hills and dales."
It would seem that the hill has born it's little pine toupee for a good deal longer than your uncle's story suggests. Such a detailed story though, I wonder if it applies to a differant clump of trees, would pine even be suitable for use in tunnels
Gone off topic here so I'll sign off with a few more words...
Woont - mole
wolet - owl
blaw - blossom
choober or choob/bin/kez - football
dan/di/pats - slippers
donni - hand
golden chan - laburnum
granch - chew noisily
klet - having no money
must quit me larrup now,
cad
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Hi cad I suspect your story may be the true one as no-one else I have asked knows the one uncle told me .Bromlow callow was "Hunter`s Spinney" in G.T.E.
Try to get a book called "Never on a Sunday", a delightful read full of local expressions from the Stiperstones district.
To get back on topic, here in the North of England people say "He`ll have your guts for garters"---You are in deep trouble with someone.
Ast a bin agate?--have you been out and about
Art throng?---are you very busy?
Art reet?---are you alright?, a way of saying hello.
If you offer to help someone and they don`t want it,they`ll say "your reet, ie no need to bother..
Cheerio. Viktoria.
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I'm from Oldham and you can still hear 'skrike' used for crying /screaming.
LOL I was just about to post the exact same thing, hello fellow Oldhamer!
My dad told my Nephew to quit Skriking yesterday cos he was being a mardy & crying every 2 inutes for no reason (Mardy = softie/baby around here)
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Hi all,
Do we have here before us the first Rootschat ' hand book' to Local expressions!
It is fascinating reading ,keep them coming.
Billy.
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Someone mentioned 'It looks black over Bill's mother's' -- that's Black Country as far as I know. From the same neck of the woods (where I grew up), there's a wealth of expressions that use the verb 'bost' (cognate with Standard English 'burst', I think):
bost as a verb (simple past and past participle also bost) = break, as in "Yow've bost it", "It day work, it's bost", "Gerron with it or Oi'll bost yer 'ed"
bostin as a present participle/adjective = excellent, very good
bost off as a verb = move quickly, get a move on
The latter in particular tends to be misinterpreted by people from elsewhere -- it's not a synonym for various other four-letter words followed by 'off', meaning 'get lost'; you might say to a driver who's sitting at a green light "Goo on, bost off!", meaning "Get on with it!" rather than anything stronger.
And you might call the dozy driver saft (= soft in the head) if he doesn't bost off to your satisfaction. :)
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Derbyshire
"bost" = burst
I'm fit to bost =I'm very full
Suz
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I'd forgotten this thread, a great re-read, such interesting local expressions.
I remember an old lady of my acquaintance who had a simple reply when asked the question why? (particularly by a child) to which she either didn't know the answer, or didn't want to give it - she used to say
"because which."
Can't do much with that one. :D
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I remember a saying---- rather unkind really--- used by neighbours when an engaged couple, neither of whom were particularly attractive came into view . " Ah well, at least neither of them will spoil another pair".
It`s really cruel isn`t it!! Viktoria.
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What a funny thread, I have just read the lot. ;D
I remember so many of my grandparents sayings things like:-
Tha rattles like a can o'mabs.... you rattle like a can of marbles.... meaning you talk too much/too loudly
She's got a face like the back end of a tram smash
Sit on that cold step and you'll get kill cough!!
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I'm from Dorset. if you leave a door open when leaving a room (so letting in a draft) you get accused thus: "Close the door, anyone would think you were born in Bridport!" or "what were you? Born in Bridport?" (said in broad Dorset accent of course ;D )
I have NO idea why being born in Bridport should mean you are likely to leave doors open!!
A jasper or waps is a wasp...
Shrammed is being really cold.
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Yes 'bost' is used in an old potteries saying......
"Cos chuck a bow aggen a woe, yed it, kick it an bost it!"
When it is said it is much more difficult to understand.!!!
Any ideas......I'll give the answer later!
Also I always understood the Bill in 'Black over bill's mothers's" referred to William Shakespeare
Bill
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Just put last post on here and what should be on Radio 5 live now but phone in with the etymologist about phrases and expressions
spooky??
Bill
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Chuck a ball against a wall, head it ,kick it and boot it---- is this anything like? Viktoria.
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what about these,they make me smile
he'll neither work nor want- he's a bit lazy
he wouldn't work in a iron lung - he's a bit lazy
give iz a shuggy - push me on the swing
give iz sum scranchims - when ordering fish n chips
i think i'll have a plodge - when at the seaside
i am up to me oxters - the snows a bit deep