RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Nettie on Monday 12 January 15 14:05 GMT (UK)
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Yesterday, my birthday-celebrating 73yo mother declared my highly active and very chatty, 29 month old daughter must have been vaccinated with a gramophone needle. This led to a two part discussion. 1) how long before such a saying is lost forever? And 2) is there a modern counterpart?
Somehow, I think 'she was slapped with an iTunes gift card' doesn't quite have the same ring to it.
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Not sure about a modern equivalent but I do like your humorous attempt! I too have wondered about sayings not being understood today. Someone I was talking to recently mentioned the town of Keynsham at which my almost involuntary reaction was to say "spelled K E Y N S H A M". My subsequent explanation fell on stony ground!
maxD (of a certain age!)
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Stony ground here too Max :) What is K E Y N S H A M ?
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Keynsham rose to fame during the late 1950s and early 1960s when it featured in a long-running series of advertisements on Radio Luxembourg for Horace Batchelor's Infra-draw betting system.[12] To obtain the system, listeners had to write to Batchelor's Keynsham post office box, and Keynsham was always painstakingly spelled out on-air, with Batchelor famously intoning "Keynsham – spelt K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M – Keynsham, Bristol". This was done because the proper pronunciation of Keynsham – "Cane-sham" – does not make the spelling of Keynsham immediately obvious to the radio listener
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Well done Lostris, exactly right! What many may find difficult to understand is why some of us find it necessary to parrot "spelled...." whenever we hear the name - you had to be there I suppose.
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Bit off topic but Horace Bachelor's advert was always with the shampoo ones 'Brunitex' for brown hair & was it 'StayBlond' for blonde?
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Amazing. I listened to Luxembourg in my youth, but cannot remember "Caynsham" at all. Just goes to show how selective memory can be.
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I remember chanting Keynsham and then spelling it out along with the radio and it became a mantra.
How about....Pot calling kettle black....modern equivalent....Pot noodle calling Kettle chips junk :D
Carol
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How would you explain my mother's mantra . . "if ifs and ands were pots and pans we wouldn't need tinkers to mend them"
(with apologies to the politically correct among us!)
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To spend a penny
A 30 year old of my acquaintance was astonished to learn just a few days ago that once upon a time you had to pay to use a public loo, and that was where this phrase came from
::) ::) ::) ::)
Dawn M
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I remember having to use coins to enter the Flinders St Station toilets as a young child but never since in Australia. It still seems fairly common across Europe...at least in places we stopped on tour.
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Keynsham rose to fame during the late 1950s and early 1960s when it featured in a long-running series of advertisements on Radio Luxembourg for Horace Batchelor's Infra-draw betting system.[12] To obtain the system, listeners had to write to Batchelor's Keynsham post office box, and Keynsham was always painstakingly spelled out on-air, with Batchelor famously intoning "Keynsham – spelt K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M – Keynsham, Bristol". This was done because the proper pronunciation of Keynsham – "Cane-sham" – does not make the spelling of Keynsham immediately obvious to the radio listener
Oh now I know how to pronounce the town my great grandparents came from. I had been pronouncing it how it looked. Key-n-sham. Learn something new every day.
I can remember spending a penny at Flinders Street Station too Nettie. Some of the shops were the same.
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Just as well old Horace didn't come from Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch.
In my neck of the woods the saying " I'll go to the top of our stairs" was in common use but no idea why.
Today catch phrases seem to have taken over from sayings but don't seem to have the longevity.
Can you hear me mother.
TTFN.
Get out of that, you can't can ya.
Shut that door.
Allo, allo.
My own made up one is "if you can't hide it make a feature of it" which with a bit of imagination can be applied to almost any dilemma which makes me feel better about whatever misfortune I've visited on the family.
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I think it is a shame that no nicknames have been given to the decimal coinage, just that one the tiddler which is now gone, the decimal coins are rubbish anyhow no character design like the L S D.
See how many nicknames you can list on here for the good old £ s d, we have a Tanner to start.
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The best one of all
"It's yerself, is it?"
Regards
Malky
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I didn't know my old sayings where taken in by my American born grandchildren until one of them turned to her mother after seeing a waitress drop a tray and said "Trouble at Mill" .
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I love all the old sayings: well I am off an age -- and I do remember spelling K E Y N S H A M over and over.
I do miss my Uncles 'give us a buzzer' phrase...
But sitting here just now - have forgotten most of them.
remind me please, what is the one about the door - being left open - and jam jar... oh my..
remind me of as many as you can please :) :)
ps - where on earth do I get 'dolallytap' from?
xin
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When is a door not a door? when it's ajar!!
Regards
Malky
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I think it is a shame that no nicknames have been given to the decimal coinage, just that one the tiddler which is now gone, the decimal coins are rubbish anyhow no character design like the L S D.
See how many nicknames you can list on here for the good old £ s d, we have a Tanner to start.
Joey, Bob, Florin, half-a-dollar, quid, Ton, Monkey .... by no means comprehensive !
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Ah Yes -- thank you Malky remembering :)
xin
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I think it is a shame that no nicknames have been given to the decimal coinage, just that one the tiddler which is now gone, the decimal coins are rubbish anyhow no character design like the L S D.
See how many nicknames you can list on here for the good old £ s d, we have a Tanner to start.
I disagree! ;D
Here, on the Isle of Man, we get new designs on a regular basis!
The 5p design with golfer has almost disappeared?! - Taken by many golfers as markers ;D
And I quite liked the recent designs that made up the Royal Coat of Arms!
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I think it is a shame that no nicknames have been given to the decimal coinage, just that one the tiddler which is now gone, the decimal coins are rubbish anyhow no character design like the L S D.
See how many nicknames you can list on here for the good old £ s d, we have a Tanner to start.
Joey, Bob, Florin, half-a-dollar, quid, Ton, Monkey .... by no means comprehensive !
On the other hand, people still say "not the full shilling" rather than "not the full 5p" ???
And you still only get a penny for your thoughts, although I believe from reading other threads that tooth fairy inflation is rampant.. :)
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I remember chanting Keynsham and then spelling it out along with the radio and it became a mantra.
How about....Pot calling kettle black....modern equivalent....Pot noodle calling Kettle chips junk :D
Carol
I like your new saying Carol and could see it catching on ;D
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Xinia,I think "doolallytap" is something to do with the seaport from which British soldiers in India were sent back to Blighty if they had "gone mad" in the heat.
Some,not surprisingly, used to feign illness to get sent home.
As regards old sayings, "handsome is,as handsome does" used to puzzle me when young.Now, I think it's very true.
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Bykerlads has nearly got it. The Wikipedia entry on Deolali has an explanation of the army corruption into "doolally tap" or just "doolally".
Jim1 has a point when he says that most sayings are catch phrases, most
of which seem to come from TV advertisements (simples, does what it says on the tin) which is surely (and don't call me surely) not much different from them coming from radio programmes back in the day as most of Jim1's examples?
Another thought - we were initially talking about the present generation being stumped by things the older folks say - works the other way too! Can't understand much of my teenage grandchildren's language!
maxD
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eee by gum, getting there with these - lovely -
xin
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Every time I hear the William Tell overture , I want to join in with "The Looan Ranger"
I remember Horace Bachelor too, in K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M.
When I was at work, we were waiting for some material to work on. I happened to say we were "stuck for bobbins" Total incomprehension.... in a former weaving area!
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in Deptford and I'm not saying Deptford is better than anywhere else we had slang for money
ounce,duece,tray,rouf,jacks,cockle,score,pony,bullseye,longun,monkey,grand,
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We called a pound note a "Greenback" and a Theepenny Bit a "Threpenny Dodger" a shilling was a "Bob" and sixpence was a "Tanner" ..Two shillings was a "Florin"
Carol
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We called a pound note a "Greenback" and a Theepenny Bit a "Threpenny Dodger" a shilling was a "Bob" and sixpence was a "Tanner" ..Two shillings was a "Florin"
Carol
Florin is English spelling for the Irish word for Two shillings.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florin_(Irish_coin)
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Thanks for that Sinann...I never knew...you learn something every day ;D
Carol
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The old yellow metal three penny coin was a "thruppenny bit" or a "thruppenny Joey" ? No idea why. "Half crown was self-evident, being half of 5 shillings (A crown). "Wrenny" for a farthing, "Bob" of course for shilling, "Quid" of course for £1, but I don't really recall many more as proper names usually used.
By the way, recently I heard on television a complete mangling of an amount originally stated in guineas (£1, + 1 shilling) that came out as some ridiculous figure.
"OOp north" we never needed names for amounts above £5!
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We called a pound note a "Greenback" and a Theepenny Bit a "Threpenny Dodger" a shilling was a "Bob" and sixpence was a "Tanner" ..Two shillings was a "Florin"
Carol
Florin is English spelling for the Irish word for Two shillings.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florin_(Irish_coin)
Florin originates in the city of Florence and originally referred to a gold coin there (fiorino d'oro, 1252).
The name was then used in other countries - like a Dutch florin - and became the dominant currency in Europe.
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Thanks for that Sinann...I never knew...you learn something every day ;D
Carol
Thinking about it now I could be wrong, it might be latin or old English word.
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Thanks KGarrad.
It was the memory of it written on the coin that threw me for a while there.
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It's what comes of living in the Netherlands for 16 years, and drinking at The Florin & Firkin!! ;D ;D
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and in Dublin a penny was a "wing" (in my father's time, anyway!)
as in the song "The Waxies Dargle"
If you have a wing-oh
Take her up to Ring-oh
Where the Waxies sing-oh . . etc
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I was always confused in Ireland, when I visited to play croquet.
The toss of a coin at the start of each game was always accompanied by the call "Stags or Harps"!!
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Other sayings which seem to be local to north east Manchester:-
"I've got/had more.(whatever) .... than Soft Mick"
I've been stood here like piffy/ one of Lewis's (mannequins,in a department store that used to be on Piccadilly) Nobody knows who piffy or soft mick were.
Like cheese at fourpence seems to be more Oldham way .
Oh and on the programme about the young Inspector Morse, (Endeavour) his boss came out with the delightful northern expression "He's nowt a pound , and s---'s tuppence (he isn't worth bothering about)
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The toss of a coin at the start of each game was always accompanied by the call "Stags or Harps"!!
well, all our pre-decimal coins had animals on them . . do I remember a Stag??
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The toss of a coin at the start of each game was always accompanied by the call "Stags or Harps"!!
well, all our pre-decimal coins had animals on them . . do I remember a Stag??
edit: I don't see a Stag
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The toss of a coin at the start of each game was always accompanied by the call "Stags or Harps"!!
well, all our pre-decimal coins had animals on them . . do I remember a Stag??
Stag was decimal on the £1 coin.
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To spend a penny
A 30 year old of my acquaintance was astonished to learn just a few days ago that once upon a time you had to pay to use a public loo, and that was where this phrase came from
::) ::) ::) ::)
Dawn M
Once upon a time? Have you tried the loos in Kings Cross station? :o It's something like 60p :o Probably the same shocking price in the other London stations. When I felt the need I waited till I got on the train and had a free one. ;)
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"to spend a penny ..."
I remember seeing a wrist band once, it looked a bit like a watch, but it was a penny in a leather case, with the inscription ....
"Penny in case" ;D
If someone found that among their parents' and grandparents' effects, it would mean nothing .... unless they knew the original meaning and could appreciate the joke.
regards,
Bob
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Haven't seen three ha'pence (1 1/2 pence)
My beloved from the south was thrown by one or two expressions when he came north - for instance starving can mean cold as well as hungry. And was impressed by being asked 'would you jump into my grave as quickly' if he sat in someone's chair.
But one I have never sussed is my Gran's 'ditto brother chip' to someone having a go at her (my Mum told us of that one and she was puzzled too) Any ideas?
Derby Girl
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One came up in the pub tonight:
It's 7:30 and not a child in the house bathed!
The stag was definitely on the 1 punt coin!
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One came up in the pub tonight:
It's 7:30 and not a child in the house bathed!
I still say that, although I say washed not bathed.
'Stop the lights' for stop quickly
and 'got a fifty' for getting stood up on a date.
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My grandad used to tell me that my hair was straight as a yard of pump water. Or rather he probably said 'watter'! :)
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It's 7.30 and not a pot washed!
Up the wooden hill to bed(fordshire) Or , when we were reluctant to go to bed and patience was exhausted " Gerrup them dancers NOW! (Dancers = Ginger Rogers and Fred Astair...stairs)
What can you do with a child in your arms and its father in jail? when faced with an insoluble problem.
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One came up in the pub tonight:
It's 7:30 and not a child in the house bathed!
I still say that, although I say washed not bathed.
Same here. Just the time of day changed.
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How about....Pot calling kettle black....modern equivalent....Pot noodle calling Kettle chips junk :D
Carol
Fits the title perfectly, Carol ;D
re spending a penny, I remember reading a quip when the euro was introduced, that you no longer spend a penny but euro nate :P
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;D euro nate ;D
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Of course in greek the word pronounced "euro" does actually mean "I micturate".
Refers to the whole economy there.
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Lancashire "nobbut" (nought but = only) as in "She's nobbut a lass" = "She's only a little girl".
Not sure that we ever said "There's trouble at t'mill". It sounds more like a comical take-off of a northern accent, though of course we heard that "t" in front of lots of words all the time instead of "the".
"Yes" & "no" were frequently replaced by "yeah" and "nay" and older folk said "thee" and "tha'"(thou or thy). "Owt" and "nowt" for "something" and "nothing".
Astonishment on the part of my small nephew and me (both Lancastrians) when my Londoner husband told him to "stop grizzling" - apparently it meant to stop making a fuss and crying unnecessarily. My Dad would have said "I'll give you something to cry for" in those far off pre-PC times.
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Whenever my mother had been relaxing, but needed to get on with things, she'd sigh "Well, this won't get the baby a new bonnet", then she'd put down the book she'd been reading (or the crossword, or whatever) and bustle off to do the washing or the ironing or whatever.
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"This is neither fishing nor mending nets" was used to mean doing nothing, usually followed by standing up and doing SOMETHING. Today's youth would have trouble with either concept. "Hanging out" doesn't quite fit.
My mum has always used the verb "pinder" to describe the fat on bacon becoming crisp. Not in any dictionary I've come across. They all go on about collecting stray sheep, but the bacon fat situation is otherwise just crying out for a proper word. I'm going to carry on using pinder.
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Whenever my mother had been relaxing, but needed to get on with things, she'd sigh "Well, this won't get the baby a new bonnet", then she'd put down the book she'd been reading (or the crossword, or whatever) and bustle off to do the washing or the ironing or whatever.
And my mum (and I've followed her :P ) used to say "well this won't get the baby bathed"
:) :) :) :)
Dawn M
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Thank you, JED.
After all these years I now know the origins of " you just get up them Dancers" meaning " get upstairs to bed"
Rhyming slang used in West Yorks in the 1950's.Amazing.
( and woe betide you if you didn't move quick and get to bed!!)
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We used the term "Dancers" but my Dad used to often say..."Off you go up the apples and pears...lay your head on the weeping willow and get some Bo Peep" ;D
Carol
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I'd heard the term "Get off up them Dickie-Dancers" used by an elderly man to a child many years back, but no-one seemed to know who or what "Dickie Dancers" referred to..
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We called a pound note a "Greenback" and a Theepenny Bit a "Threpenny Dodger" a shilling was a "Bob" and sixpence was a "Tanner" ..Two shillings was a "Florin"
Carol
Florin is English spelling for the Irish word for Two shillings.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florin_(Irish_coin)
No, a Florin is a Florin in British Money. A victorian 2 bob bit said "One Florin" not "Two Shillings"
Florins would be in circulation in Ireland before Irish Independence when an Irish Florin was struck
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Thanks for the explanation., I always wondered why it was referred to as a Florin.
Carol
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My mother used to say, holding up a a rather worn out garment, "this is more holy than righteous".
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A word rather than a saying...grand.
My mother has been in Australia since 1967 and over my lifetime I have rarely heard her using the word grand in conversation. However, five minutes on the phone to her sister who still lives in Dublin and everyone and everything is grand.
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My mother's alternative to that was 'champion'. :)
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Grand and champion were words regularly used when I was a child, especially by my dear old grandad.
I can picture him now - a lovely chap with such a positive view on everything.
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I adopted "grand" a few years back and now use it automatically where I used to use things like "OK".
I was very pleased when "A Grand Day Out" introduced Wallace and Gromit to the world.
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Everything was "Smashing" when I was growing up.
Carol
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When I complained to grandma about her de-tangling my hair or tying tight rags for ringlets she would always reply "pride must abide, and we being quality must bear it!!"
I haven't ever heard of this outside our family so haven't any idea where it came from .
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A phrase I've used for years - came from my mum- "Its as broad as its long", meaning obviously there is no difference!
Does anyone else remember being told to " get hold of my danny" when you were little - meaning get hold of my hand?
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But one I have never sussed is my Gran's 'ditto brother chip' to someone having a go at her
My Gran used to say "ditto brother smut" to someone who was like a pot calling a kettle black. She came from Yorkshire and had quite a lot of unusual phrases.
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One that sprung to mind, seeing as how I'm feeling today!
I feel like Death warmed up. ;D ;D
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"Gradely" for good, feeling good, went well, or similar?
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in Bristol, something that is very nice indeed is "Gert Lush"!!
Gert from great
Lush from Luscious!
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We (all the kids) would play in the streets in Harlesden,N.W.10 often to the annoyance of the residents. "If i catch you I'll cut your tail off " was often heard. What would be cut off these days ?
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I love all the old sayings: well I am off an age -- and I do remember spelling K E Y N S H A M over and over.
I do miss my Uncles 'give us a buzzer' phrase...
But sitting here just now - have forgotten most of them.
remind me please, what is the one about the door - being left open - and jam jar... oh my..
remind me of as many as you can please :) :)
ps - where on earth do I get 'dolallytap' from?
xin
Were you born in Havant? Have'nt what ? Doors
Put wood in t' ole. Born in a barn? Born in a field?
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I love all the old sayings: well I am off an age -- and I do remember spelling K E Y N S H A M over and over.
I do miss my Uncles 'give us a buzzer' phrase...
But sitting here just now - have forgotten most of them.
remind me please, what is the one about the door - being left open - and jam jar... oh my..
remind me of as many as you can please :) :)
ps - where on earth do I get 'dolallytap' from?
xin
Were you born in Havant? Have'nt what ? Doors
Put wood in t' ole. Born in a barn? Born in a field?
My fathers saying was: were you born in a tent with the flap up?
When you were in the way it was: you make a great door, but a rotten window.
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"Tha wurn't made i' Saint Helens" to somebody blocking the view.
A reference to that most famous of the town's products - window glass.
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"That spud ill see ya through the winter" trying to peel a potato with many many eyes.
"There's nowt as queer as folk"
"Your so sharp your tongue will cut ya"
"Its a lazy wind" one that blows through you rather than round
"Dinna mither" don't moan and groan
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Aussie Roy: It was a sort of Christmas cracker level joke:
"When is a door not a door?"
"When it's ajar" (A jar) (Rolls about convulsed with laughter?)
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My mother came from a small mining village in Co. Durham & from her my sister & I inherited
'broken winded cuddy' (worn out horse) for being out of breath or too tired to do as we were told and
'It's like the moor edge' when the door was left open
Hephzibah
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We (all the kids) would play in the streets in Harlesden,N.W.10 often to the annoyance of the residents. "If i catch you I'll cut your tail off " was often heard. What would be cut off these days ?
I don't know about cutting anything off but my mother frequently used /uses the terms 'I'll reef you' and 'I'll murder you'...phrases that seem common to that family line when I visit them in Dublin.
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I'll have your guts for garters.....often heard when we were causing mischief ;D
Carol
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Two contributions:
Regarding “spend a penny”, I was quite confused for a while when a rather upper crust girl in Oxford said she was going to turn her bicycle round!
And, I have always been partial to the Scouse expression “I’ll marmalize you!” meaning I will beat you up.
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Two contributions:
Regarding “spend a penny”, I was quite confused for a while when a rather upper crust girl in Oxford said she was going to turn her bicycle round!
And, I have always been partial to the Scouse expression “I’ll marmalize you!” meaning I will beat you up.
Mick the Marmalizer - one of Doddy's Diddy Men. "Ah'll marmalize ye, Ah'll marmalize ye!!"
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If you left the door open, my Mum would say "were you born in a barn?"
My OH, Roger, quite often comes in and goes out leaving the door open. My children complain that he has 'Rogered the room'.
Doolallytap was a common expression of hers for someone idiotic.
She'd tell me, when I did something silly, that it 'was a good thing your head's screwed on, you'd forget it otherwise'
'Toots weet' was her instruction when she wanted doing something quickly - took me till 11 when I started learning French to find out what that came from.
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""Ah'll marmalize ye, Ah'll marmalize ye!!""
We were sweet pacifists.
All that we would say is "I'll marmalade ye, I'll marmalade ye" ;D ;D
Regards
Malky
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We were brought up to always tell the truth and to support this we always had to say "Honest to God" and we never said this to a lie...We weren't sure what would happen if you told a lie and said "Honest to God"
But my Father would often say that we were being "Economical with the truth" if we tried to tell our own version of the truth but hid the real facts... ;D
Carol
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srp0ctI6YSU
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"This post is a natural hand made product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws."
Love your footnote, deebel :D :D :D :D :D
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When "mithering" (pestering) "what's for dinner (lunch) mid morning "Put your finger down your throat you'll feel your breakfast"
Or "What's for tea?" Leilos for meddlers (????) dyu want a pennyworth?
Or 2 jumps o'er t'buthery (buttery ie pantry) der (door) and a bite off t'knob a bit of old Lancashire there.
Do they have "nonsense" words for similar situations these days?
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"This post is a natural hand made product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws."
Love your footnote, deebel :D :D :D :D :D
Thanks, i like it but do not claim it as mine.
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When the meaning dawns after broad but criptic hints mum would declare"put the flags out" son says "small coin of the realm has fallen with a clang" for the same situations.
"He's Pie eyed or one over the eight" Mum about a drunk
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IgorStrav’s comment on “Toots weet” being French brought to mind a phrase string of Army/French origin.
“Sweet FA” is the same as “Sweet Fanny Adams” which I think comes from “San Ferry Ann” and its French origin “ca ne fait rien” meaning “it does not matter” or “it is nothing”. My father thought that this phrase was picked up in the Army in WW1 France, which is better than other things they may have picked up!
On a different note, we are used to the phrase “six of one, half a dozen of the other” meaning “these two choices are the same”. I find it interesting that my very Welsh wife uses the phrase “six or two threes” for exactly the same meaning.
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Mum in law from Gateshead "The tea's cald ,and the coffee's cald T"
Notice in DIY shop in Brighton "Frosted glass reduced to clear!"
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On a different note, we are used to the phrase “six of one, half a dozen of the other” meaning “these two choices are the same”. I find it interesting that my very Welsh wife uses the phrase “six or two threes” for exactly the same meaning.
I used to have a Scottish workmate who said "it's six and a half" for 'six of one and half a dozen of the other' :) :) :)
Dawn M
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IgorStrav’s comment on “Toots weet” being French brought to mind a phrase string of Army/French origin.
“Sweet FA” is the same as “Sweet Fanny Adams” which I think comes from “San Ferry Ann”
I recall it as Toot Suite which was then shortened to Toot for Toilet. ie the Toot Suite .
Umm I have another derivation of SFA ...but not on here ;D :-X
In Australia a sixpence was/is a zac and this moved to Indoor Cricket arenas in the 80s to denote a six off the back net.
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a shilling was a "Bob"
'' Aussie saying is '' its as shonky as a 2 bob watch'' ie not reliable , you get what you pay for.
From a time when decent watches were always expensive from the earliest times. They were family heirlooms, purchased from high class jewellery shops and were awarded to employees of many years standing.
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When we, as kids, were pestering my mother to do something for us, she used to say
"I'm not your bell-hop!"
Would anyone under 50 have the faintest idea what a bell-hop was?
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At those moments Mum would say "Did your last servant die of shortness of breath?
...oh for a servant just to help pick things up after the family don't think too many of us have a useful maid these days
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I just though of "go and tell your mother she wants you!"
Today some might say someting like Get Lost.... Or some such uncouth remark that I can't put on here!!
:) Jeanne
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If you get one them annoying spam phone calls, say now't and listen for 5 seconds , then you say !- " Is that you I'm talking too, its me, me and her are going on a 3 month vacation " - then put the phone down.
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Not quite in the spirit of the title but as a grandparent I find some of the expressions used by daughter and grandchildren initially incomprehensible. An example (or is it a regional thing) when I were a lad (fake northern accent) we would invite friends simply to "come to my house" or "see you at your house". Now it is "come to mine", "see you at yours".
(must just mention the relative of my then future wife who was referred to as Harry Von. Found out much later it was Our Yvonne - we (in the south) never said "our X and our Y"
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;D ;D ;D reminds me of this 1881 census entry for an ancestor
Phillipa BRAY Head W 54 Cornwall Stawsell *
Now that took an age to work out where she was from but bear in mind the lady was living in Gateshead but had a heavy Cornish accent
turned out she was from St Austell
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And I've always thought that particular town was pronounced as "Snozzle"?!
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Similar in 'Erts is Snorbuns (StAlbans)
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The old wild west dance used to be called a Doasido aka Dozidoe
Always wondered where the name came from.
The dance "caller", in effect, is saying
DO AS I DO
DUH
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omm we are getting a bit off topic but if does eat oats and deer eat oats and little lambs eat ivy a kid 'll eat ivy too can become dosey dotes and...kiddley etydo etc! ;D
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Mis-remembered
Mares eat oats and does eat etc
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Well done thats the one still a good giggle the children just can't fathom iy out
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At those moments Mum would say "Did your last servant die of shortness of breath?
...oh for a servant just to help pick things up after the family don't think too many of us have a useful maid these days
We've always said, 'What did your last slave die of?'
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I thought that the Dozey Doh was a corruption of the French 'Dos a dos' meaning back to back.
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I thought that the Dozey Doh was a corruption of the French 'Dos a dos' meaning back to back.
Or two by two?
Mr Wiki says you are correct. Dos a dos as opposed to vis a vis (face to face)
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I thought that the Dozey Doh was a corruption of the French 'Dos a dos' meaning back to back.
Or two by two?
No, that would be deux a deux :)
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Everything was "Smashing" when I was growing up.
Carol
Everything was "dead good" when I was a teenager. It used to drive my dad mad, he kept saying how can it be good if it's dead?
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“Sweet FA” is the same as “Sweet Fanny Adams” which I think comes from “San Ferry Ann” and its French origin “ca ne fait rien” meaning “it does not matter” or “it is nothing”. My father thought that this phrase was picked up in the Army in WW1 France, which is better than other things they may have picked up!
We used to say "San Fairy Ann" and when I mentioned it to a teacher when re-learning French many years later, she said that by saying San Fairy Ann, it made the pronunciation correct.
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When I was a child and couldn't find something I would ask my Mum where such and such a
thing was! Sometimes she answered "hanging on a hook behind my ear". But not always! Maybe I was pestering or something, I can't remember that far back, but I certainly remember her saying it! Can't even think what the equivalent of that might be today!
Jeanne ???
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Mis-remembered
Mares eat oats and does eat etc
My aunt Em was always singing this
a novelty song composed in 1943 by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston. It was first played by Al Trace and his Silly Symphonists. The song made the pop charts several times, with a version by the Merry Macs reaching No. 1 in March 1944.
The song's refrain, as written on the sheet music, seems meaningless:
Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, Wouldn't you?"
However, the lyrics of the bridge provide a clue:
If the words sound queer and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey,
Sing "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy."
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How many of you have been singing along to this thread??
I'm putting my hand up! My Mum and Dad used to sing it to me when I was a wee girl, and it was years before I worked it out! :)
Jeanne
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Love to reply all :)
But I must go for a " George " ( I really hope its not izel in there :'( :'( )
P.S. if you Google " Sweet Fanny Adams " you will find the saying has its origins in a really macarbe event,
Pete,
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Oooh! No! That's awful. :o To think such a saying would come from such an event! Makes me shudder! I'll never say it again, although still hear it used on occasion! Next time I hear someone say it, I'll tell them what it means. Oh no, don't think I want to do that, I'll tell them to Google it too!!
Jeanne
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"It's snowing in Paris"
When under-slip was showing
Jackie
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"It's snowing in Paris"
When under-slip was showing
Jackie
Our saying for that was "Charlie's dead"
Apparantly it originates from the time of Charles 11 death - Charles was know as a ladies man so when he died ladies as a mark of respect lifted their skirts slightly to show their petticoats (I suppose this was the ladies version of flying the flag at half mast!
Suz
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"It's snowing in Paris"
When under-slip was showing
Jackie
Yes, we used to say "Charlie's dead" too - I had completely forgotten that till this thread ;D
Our saying for that was "Charlie's dead"
Apparantly it originates from the time of Charles 11 death - Charles was know as a ladies man so when he died ladies as a mark of respect lifted their skirts slightly to show their petticoats (I suppose this was the ladies version of flying the flag at half mast!
Suz
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" Fools and kids shouldn't see things half done."
Often said by Dad, but whether it was one of his sayings, or a Geordie saying, I do not know.
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Mis-remembered
Mares eat oats and does eat etc
My aunt Em was always singing this
a novelty song composed in 1943 by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston. It was first played by Al Trace and his Silly Symphonists. The song made the pop charts several times, with a version by the Merry Macs reaching No. 1 in March 1944.
The song's refrain, as written on the sheet music, seems meaningless:
Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, Wouldn't you?"
However, the lyrics of the bridge provide a clue:
If the words sound queer and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey,
Sing "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy."
Have to admit to singing this too between the giggles ;D
I also remember ...Hut-Sut rowlson on the rillarah and a brola brola suey...still don't know what it means.
Does anyone else remember it ?
Carol
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I just googled that Hut Sut song, it's on you tube! And a big Wiki on it too.
Re the petticoat, we used to say "it's snowing down south"
Jeanne :) :)
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WARNING! - Earworm
I made the mistake of looking at the Internet Archive film of the 1940 version of the Hut Sut song by Soundie https://archive.org/details/soundie_1
Now I can't get it out of my head - massive earworm!
maxD
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We're enjoying a thunderstorm right now and I just declared "its coming down in stair rods" to the bewilderment of the young folk. When did you last see a stair rod?
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Never heard the one before.
Raining cats and dogs, Coming down in buckets and P*****g down, I'm familiar with.
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We're enjoying a thunderstorm right now and I just declared "its coming down in stair rods" to the bewilderment of the young folk. When did you last see a stair rod?
That was a common phrase when I was young, and we did have stair-rods. Can't remember the last time I saw any though.
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It's raining its pouring, the old man's snoring!.
Jeanne :)
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He bumped his head on the end of the bed
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And couldn't get up in the morning
(memo to self - must find something useful to do!)
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;D. LOL
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Perhaps someone here has heard of the following... My mother was born and raised in Crumlin, Dublin in the 1940s-1950s. When my daughter was born, she was singing her lots of different rhymes and ditties, one of which she couldn't remember in its entirety but I didn't feel was appropriate for a baby.
1, 2, 3 the boys are after me
4, 5, 6 they're after me with sticks
7, 8, 9 they're skinning me alive
...
Any thoughts?
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Perhaps someone here has heard of the following... My mother was born and raised in Crumlin, Dublin in the 1940s-1950s. When my daughter was born, she was singing her lots of different rhymes and ditties, one of which she couldn't remember in its entirety but I didn't feel was appropriate for a baby.
1, 2, 3 the boys are after me
4, 5, 6 they're after me with sticks
7, 8, 9 they're skinning me alive
...
Any thoughts?
A variant of:
To the tune of Old Lady Leary.
One, two, three
The devil's after me
Four, five, six
He's always throwing bricks
Seven, eight, nine
He misses every time
Glory, Hallelujah, Amen!
Nine, eight, seven
I'm on my way to Heaven
Six, five, four
There's always room for more
Three, two, one
The devil's on the run
Glory, hallelujah, Amen!
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Thanks, Mike. I'd say you're right!
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Read this one once somewhere on a Glasgow website:
"Ye'll get yer heid in yer hauns an yer teeth tae play wi"!
Jeanne ;D
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What I find interesting is that apart from Nettie's thought about a modern counterpart to an old saying on her very first post, here we are 16 pages later and (if I've read them all OK) no-one has been able to come up with a modern take on an old saying! Plenty of old ones (lots of nostalgia there!) but nothing new. Perhaps two generations from now, people will be asking their grandparents "What do you mean by Blimey/LOL/BTW"
maxD (devoid of ideas for modern sayings)
Just noticed the Roots computer won't accept the most common of 3 letter sayings, interesting when one realises what Blimey is actually short for.
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What I find interesting is that apart from Nettie's thought about a modern counterpart to an old saying on her very first post, here we are 16 pages later and (if I've read them all OK) no-one has been able to come up with a modern take on an old saying! Plenty of old ones (lots of nostalgia there!) but nothing new.
Fair cop that
Lets try some
Look before you leap = Check before you press send
Don't count your chickens before they're hatched = Don't name your baby till its born
The pot calling the kettle black= Pot.Kettle.Black
If you pay peanuts , you get monkeys = wouldn't get out of bed for that
There ya go
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Fine effort!
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the one expression I can remember my mother saying with a broad Irish Accent was a scottish expression about a crying child. " She is like a Christmas Card, She is always greeting"
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Why do you need a modern counterpart to an old saying, Do they not basically mean the same, or is it just a play on words.
Look before you leap= Keep your mouth shut unless you know the facts.
Dont count your chickens= Anything can change.
pot kettle black= No one is perfect
If you pay peanuts= Not everyone is an Allan Sugar.
Plus I only found out recently that LOL does not mean Lots of Love. Did on all letters I wrote.
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👍 LUV YOUR LOL! LOL!
Please, what is an Allan Sugar?
Jeanne😀
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If you pay peanuts= Not everyone is an Allan Sugar.
Plus I only found out recently that LOL does not mean Lots of Love. Did on all letters I wrote.
Lord Allan Suger - founder of Amstrad, and the boss on The Apprentice!
LOL = Laughing Out Loud.
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Thank you! Just was curious about who Allan Sugar was! One less name to worry about!
ROFL = Roll on floor laughing = Splitting my sides, and a couple of others that are not very appropriate for this board!
Jeanne
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Look before you leap= Keep your mouth shut unless you know the facts.
"Be like Dad keep Mum!"
and anotherleft over from THE war "Walls have ears." ...some things are best left unsaid who knows who 'll hear and tell.
Mind your Ps and Qs ...always thought it meant mind your manners ie please and thank yius but it really comes from early printing meant be sure you have a p not a q when making uo a line of printers type it is easy to mix those particular letters lots from the printers trade still used today another is upper case and lower case
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"Mind your P's and Q's"
Recently found "Ps&Qs = Pints and Quarts" about pubs (but didn't think it significant to note where i found it)
Ray
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Stony ground here too Max :) What is K E Y N S H A M ?
O happy memories of listening to Radio Luxembourg under the bed clothe when I should have been asleep.
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Why do you need a modern counterpart to an old saying, Do they not basically mean the same, or is it just a play on words.
Some sayings (like don't count your chickens...) are ageless, however the one I mentioned at the outset isn't. many of the 'younger' people don't know what a gramophone needle, so the saying will fade from use within another generation of so. My initial point was what is there to replace these 'dying' sayings.
It's certainly been fun reading all the contributions, even if they did stray from the topic. It's been entertaining and educational, so thanks everyone. ;D ;D :D
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My initial point was what is there to replace these 'dying' sayings.
And it was interesting that so few of us could come up with direct replacements for the dying sayings.
Off-topic again, but I like some of the French or Spanish equivalents of our familiar sayings.
Never sell the bearskin till you have shot the bear
Speak of a wolf, and his tail is seen
Speak of the Pope of Rome and he walks through the door
My favourite Spanish one, a version of "it never rains but it pours" is "Éramos muchos y parió la abuela"
Loosely translated -"There were lots of us already, and then granny gave birth"
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I still say he/she is "sixpence short of a bob" (or "tuppence short of a shilling") which few people seem to understand anymore but can't think of a modern equivalent unless it's "got a few slates missing" or 'a sandwich short of a picnic".
"As queer as a threepenny - or thrupenny - bit" was the equivalent of "weird"
Someone as "daft as a brush" would have been a "right nerd" a few years back, no idea what they would be now!
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My initial point was what is there to replace these 'dying' sayings.
And it was interesting that so few of us could come up with direct replacements for the dying sayings.
Off-topic again, but I like some of the French or Spanish equivalents of our familiar sayings.
Never sell the bearskin till you have shot the bear
Speak of a wolf, and his tail is seen
Speak of the Pope of Rome and he walks through the door
My favourite Spanish one, a version of "it never rains but it pours" is "Éramos muchos y parió la abuela"
Loosely translated -"There were lots of us already, and then granny gave birth"
Nice one Mike!
I quite like some Dutch ones:
Making elephants out of mosquitos - Mountains out of molehills!
Jump over the dyke into the sea - from the frying pan into the fire.
He's been hit on the head with the sail of a windmill! Meaning he's a but cuckoo, or crazy!
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I still say he/she is "sixpence short of a bob" (or "tuppence short of a shilling") which few people seem to understand anymore but can't think of a modern equivalent
"a few cents short of a euro", surely!
and I've heard " a can short of a six-pack" from the younger generation!
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Plus I only found out recently that LOL does not mean Lots of Love.
You're in good company auntykate, David Cameron made the same mistake. ;)
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I still say he/she is "sixpence short of a bob" (or "tuppence short of a shilling") which few people seem to understand anymore but can't think of a modern equivalent unless it's "got a few slates missing" or 'a sandwich short of a picnic".
Some Aussie ones
A few kangaroos short in the top paddock
a bit of a galah ( more for that breed of yahoos who do silly things)
A snag short of a barbie
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Hissy fit .... Tantrum
Bob's your uncle.... She'll be right... All cool man!! Ace!!
When people say to me "all good, Bob's your Uncle" I usually say "no he's not, he's my Dad, and my two grandfathers" - I get some funny looks!
Jeanne 😄
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When people say to me "all good, Bob's your Uncle" I usually say "no he's not, he's my Dad, and my two grandfathers" - I get some funny looks!
I say "great-uncle, actually!
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Old:
give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime
New:
give a man a fish you'll feed him for a day; teach him to use the internet and he won't bother you again
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My late mother was born in County Down, Northern Ireland in the late 1920s. Here are a couple of her sayings, redolent of a different era altogether...
At the end of large meal, when invited to have some more, a typical response would have been "Not for me thankyou, I've been fed like a fighting cock".
And in response to asking how her day had been, she would often have said "I've been working like a lamplighter all day".
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I've heard Work Like a Trojan, and another unprintable one!
Jeanne ;D
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Just come across this thread and having read through 18 pages, some very familiar sayings, some I've never heard before. A couple more for you...
In response to the kids mithering (pronounced in Manchester as MY-the-ring and meaning to pester)
"when Jesus comes round with his money cart"
" Go see if there's any pennies on't tree"
Another of my Great Grandmas sayings " If you've none to make you laugh (children), you've none to make you cry"
If we ever dared to ask why, my mum would always say "because Why's not Z and Zeds not Y)
"Change the record" when someone carried on complaining
"Needles got stuck" when someone kept singing the same lines of a song over and over
and one that really confuses my 17 year old, "Take the phone of the hook" - What hook, you can't hang up an Iphone! ;D ;D
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"Take the phone of the hook" - What hook, you can't hang up an Iphone! ;D ;D
So show him some pre-iPhone telephones, hooks an' all !! ;D
https://www.google.de/search?q=old+phones&biw=1157&bih=718&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=QsQqVbP1N6GU7QaL3YDADA&sqi=2&ved=0CCAQsAQ
regards,
Bob
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And in response to asking how her day had been, she would often have said "I've been working like a lamplighter all day".
Would a lamplighter work in the day? Wouldn't he be resting ready for working in the evening / night?
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I recently came across a phrase which has changed its meaning over time.
A friend's grandson recently told me that a mutual friend was spitting feathers over a particular incident. I was surprised at the expression, since I thought it meant that someone was extremely thirsty. I knew that this friend had been very upset over the matter, so I thought I must be wrong and the phrase spitting feathers did indeed mean annoyed or angry.
Curious, I turned to my friend Google, and came up with this website
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/spitting-feathers.html
Apparently the "thirsty" meaning is older and would be typically used by the over 50's (which I am) and the "angry" meaning would be used by younger people - the person who used the phrase is in his mid twenties.
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Spitting chips in Oz
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My father would say (with a sharp intake of breath through his teeth):
"scary woman that.... ye wouldn't want to come home to her with a broken paypacket! "
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Spitting feathers, spitting chips in OZ, Spitting tacks in NZ!
And one I hate - "suck it up" - just put up with it, or " put up and shut up"
Jeanne
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If I couldn't find something, and asked my Mum where it was, she would say "hanging on a hook behind my ear!
I suppose today it could be - look under your bed, as it also was then too! But I can't really think of anything else that could fit for now, except perhaps, "for goodness sake, Google it!"
Jeanne