Expressions our parents used

[Jane Gee]

|jumphappyMy mother in law used to say if it looked really dark in the sky It looks black over the back of Bills mother".
Another expression I love is "The sights you see when you havent got a gun"

[Penny Gallo]

I first heard "It's a bit black o'er Bill's mother's" from someone living on the Notts/Derbys border. My response, "Where does she live then?" seemed perfectly logical as the speaker had been married twice, both husbands called Bill!

[MythicalMarian]

'It's black over Bill's mother's' was also used by my grandparents - I'm Lancashire/Cheshire border. There's also 'It's as black as your grandfather's' implying as black as his hat.

Another fave of mine in our part of the world, is 'It's o'er t'yardarm' - meaning it is time for a drink. Apparently this is an old mariner's expression. When the sun was over the yardarm on a ship, it was past 11 o'clock and therefore opening time at the pub.

[Tederator]

When the sun was over the yardarm on a ship, it was past 11 o'clock and therefore opening time at the pub.



Very True!! "Up Spirits, stand fast the Holy Ghost" is an old Naval term for when it was time for the daily rum ration to be distributed although the second part of the saying was added by sailors, after the first part (Up Spirits) had been announced (piped).

Cheers Happy New Year.

Ted.

[Carolyn O'Flaherty]

I remember often hearing "that's not worth a Tinker's Elbow". I don't recall who I heard saying it but it is probably from when I was a littlie in England prior to 1958.

I used to sometimes say it to my Australian (now grown up) children. They rolled their eyes and looked at me as if I had gone bonkers.|laugh1|

Does anyone know of this saying?

Carolyn

[Jane Gee]

Hi my husband says he has heard the expression not worth a Tinkers cuss it must be us of a certain age. At least we can come up with something original and interesting instead of the standard reply we get from kids ~Cant be H***d which drives me mad. |5cups|

[Penny Gallo]

My inlaws are "Dubs" - from Dublin. Ma-in-law has a lovely one. She tells about how her grandmother who lived on the rural outskirts of Dublin and had to get all her water from a pump. This was so slow coming out of the spout in winter that "you could weep faster".

[busyglen]

My mother used to say `don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar', when I was trying to do something quickly.

Glenys

[Jane Gee]

when my mum was talking about couples she used to sometimes say god made me god matched me

[susan-y]

|jumphappyMy mother in law used to say if it looked really dark in the sky It looks black over the back of Bills mother".
Another expression I love is "The sights you see when you havent got a gun"

I've heard " It's as black as ****'* ***.. sorry politically incorrect, nowadays|oopsredfa

My Mom often said " the sights........." and her other favourite was.." She wouldn't say s*** if her mouth was full of it"-- referring to someone who was uppity. And my mom never swore |laugh1|


Reminds me of my maternal grandmother. She always described tall thin people as looking 'like two yards of pump water'.

Finbar.

I've heard them called " a tall drink of water"... similar expression:)

Sue

[MythicalMarian]

I've heard them called " a tall drink of water"... similar expression:)

Sue

Ah - now in Dukinfield (Cheshire) the expression was 'He's not as far through as a kipper'.

[MythicalMarian]

I'll have to give you one or two of my old Gran's faves. These may not be regional - they may just be Gertie :)

If someone was wearing cheap perfume: 'She smells like a whore's handbag' or 'An arab's underpants'

If someone had an over-flamboyant hat: 'She had a hat on like a well-kept grave'

As God makes 'em he pairs 'em - usually used when two ugly people got together

I worked with a Jewish friend who had another version of this: 'Every jug has a lid.'

'She's all top show and empty swank' - someone trying to be better than they were

Someone with a long neck: 'He's all neck and no bottle'

Someone who walked with a less than perfect posture: 'Look at her - Here's me head and me a*** is comin'.'

Nor did Gran ever speak of a plain colour: Purple was 'Heliotrope'; pink was 'Crushed strawberry'; beige was 'biscuit-coloured'

She did employ the odd Malopropism. My sister once had to pull her up for saying she would love to wear something sparkly for Christmas Eve, so she was thinking of buying a durex top! She also seemed to think that the word 'fornicating' meant cheeky or insolent and used it accordingly in public - much to my mum's embarrassment!

Ah - happy memories. Where have all our characters gone?

[susan-y]

She came out with another (slightly vulgar) one when she saw me wearing a pair of highly polished boots. She said they 'shone like snot on a chimney sweep's cuff!'

Finbar.

Now you've reminded me of another one.... My mum used to say her dad ( born and raised in London) would say this whenever he had a runny nose ( cold miserable day) and nothing but his shirtsleeve to wipe it on..." See that soldier over there ( rubbing across his nose with his sleeve and then continuing the motion on to a point) with the yellow stripe down his pants?" ( rubbing the shirt sleeve on his pants!) Yuck !!!!!!!!|oopsredfa |laugh1|

Sue

[genie60]

Hi Everyone,

Love all the replies so far.

A lot of my Yorkshire relatives used to say " Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs" , I think it was a reaction to a surprise. There may be other slightly different versions of it.

Genie60

[Jane Gee]

Thanks for the posts especially marians my husband had a good giggle too and after they day we have had we needed it.|hug|

[Barnzzz]

"A lot of my Yorkshire relatives used to say " Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs" , I think it was a reaction to a surprise. There may be other slightly different versions of it."

This saying prompted an afternoon of discussion at work. Someone said it and none of the rest of us had a clue what they meant ! He'd got it from his parents, although I don't know whereabouts they came from.

Ooh just thought of one. If something was past its best ,my in laws would describe it as 'gone home', this can be applied to overipe bananas and people alike.

Sue

[Jan1954]

.... this can be applied to overipe bananas and people alike.I have met some overipe people in my time....

[salcat]

My OH (from Yorkshire, but not that old |biggrin|) still uses "Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs". He also uses "hair like chapel 'at pegs" (I think they call it "bed head" now), and "eyes like p*** holes in the snow" - that's for the morning after the night before.

My mum always says "You look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards". I use it too now I have teenage kids:D

Sally

[Rubina]

.....when she saw me wearing a pair of highly polished boots. She said they 'shone like snot on a chimney sweep's cuff!'

Finbar.

Love this Finbar, it's so visual! Think I'll slot that in my memory to use at an appropriate time (and in appropriate company)!




Ah - happy memories. Where have all our characters gone?

I just love the old sayings and I fetch them out for an airing when I get the opportunity! I'm afraid people tend to roll their eyes when I do though!

Those that immediately spring to mind are:

"Yer up and down like a brides nightdress"

"Yer in and out like a fiddler's elbow"

"Come in, it's a shop" (you are very welcome)

"She's all fur coat and no knickers" similar to this was one of my Grandad's: "Dressing the street with net curtains but inside it's all bread and marge"
(both about those who pretend to be better than they are!)

"There's no side to 'er" (What you get is what you see)

One I would be interested to hear if others know it is:

"You know what thought did! He followed a muck cart and though it was a wedding!". ie you are talking nonsense/telling porkies!

This was always being said to us kids that said "But I thought" when making our excuses for something we shouldn't have done. I have come across few other people who have heard it but it was well known where I grew up.

[Rubina]

Hi Rubina.

She had another similar saying which I hesitated to post, but what the hell ... when speaking of something bright and shiny, she would also say: 'it shone like a shilling up a chimney sweep's a**e'.

Finbar, that made me laugh out loud - I love it! Now I know just the colleague who will appreciate it - I will store it up for when she shows me her latest jewelry accessory!


Another similar saying I used to hear a lot was 'after the Lord Mayors Show comes the muck cart'. This was used when what was thought to be a successful enterprise came to an inglorious end.

I haven't heard this one but will be another useful one to throw in at work when a project fails (not sure how much the bosses would appreciate it mind!).

Rubina

[christanel]

One I would be interested to hear if others know it is:

"You know what thought did! He followed a muck cart and though it was a wedding!". ie you are talking nonsense/telling porkies!

This was always being said to us kids that said "But I thought" when making our excuses for something we shouldn't have done. I have come across few other people who have heard it but it was well known where I grew up.

I was a Bolton lass and I still use this expression.
Christina

[Nicolina]

Instead of "hair like chapel 'at pegs", we always referred to eyes like chapel hatpegs when some-one stared.
"you know what thought did", was also a common expression where I was raised.

Another one was, "She's no better than she should be".
Or as I often say to my husband, "If you fell in s**t, you'd come out smelling of roses"

[kiwipom]

When someone was considered a bit'simple' Granda would say
"He's s sheep short in top field"

[Jane Gee]

Thank you so much these posts have certainly reminded me of many that I have heard of before and forgotten.
My mother in law used to say "short of a shilling" for someone who was not very bright"
I think a book could be written including all of these. We could all contribute and reap the rewards I bet it would go down well at Christmas.

[Carolyn O'Flaherty]

When someone was considered a bit'simple' Granda would say
"He's s sheep short in top field"


A similar one often used in Australia - "He's a sausage short of a barbeque" or "a sandwich short of a picnic".

Another one that I love to use when people ask me how busy I am - "I'm flat out like a lizard drinking" (ie very busy)

Another old fashioned one is "He's built like a brick dunny". Meaning quite sturdy with reference to an outside toilet.


When unexpected near disasters happen, originally on my family outdoor adventures, camping etc (but has been expanded to include anything) I say "Hmmmm........I wonder what Harry Butler would do now".

Does anyone remember "Harry Butler" - of an Australian outback wildlife series? My adult son says I have made him up, but I haven't.

Carolyn

[Jan1954]

Does anyone remember "Harry Butler" - of an Australian outback wildlife series? My adult son says I have made him up, but I haven't.Tell your son to read this entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Butler) from Wikipedia. ;)

[Carolyn O'Flaherty]

Tell your son to read this entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Butler) from Wikipedia. ;)

Thank you Jan,

It is good to see a recognition of some of what Harry Butler achieved.

I might tell my son to have a look at that reference you provided - but it is rather fun him not believing Harry is a real person, even though he used to watch the wildlife series when he was a child. He has even asked people, who he considers to be of the same age as me, if they have heard of Harry. Strangely enough they haven't.

It might be because we were living in Western Australia at the time the shows were on TV. Now he lives in Queensland on the Eastern Coast of Australia (where he is asking people about Harry) maybe the show wasn't as popular of this side of Aust.

The saying did encourage my kids (& me) to think of alternatives when plan "A" wasn't working. Usually plan "B" was better or at least very interesting.


Regards

Carolyn

[Jan1954]

The saying did encourage my kids (& me) to think of alternatives when plan "A" wasn't working. Usually plan "B" was better or at least very interesting.You're welcome!

However, with my family, if plan A did not work, we were quite often down to plan Q before long... :o

[Carolyn O'Flaherty]

Hi Jan

Ah, yes........ Plans Q - Z11 are quite common at our house too. I always think Plan A is just the plan that won't be working.... and always put more effort into Plan B and onwards.

I see from your address that you are from Hertfordshire. When I was born my parents lived at 120 Caravan Site, Bushey Hall Road, Bushey, Watford. My birth certificate says the county of my birth was Hereford, but when I look up my address at birth it seems Bushey, Watford are in Hertfordshire.

Is that anywhere near you? I've seen Bushey Hall Road Watford on G**gle Maps but of course the caravan site no longer seems to exist, being 50 odd years later.

I've also seen on G**gle the church where I was baptised - St James Parish Church Bushey.

[mfwebb]

I remember often hearing "that's not worth a Tinker's Elbow". I don't recall who I heard saying it but it is probably from when I was a littlie in England prior to 1958.

I used to sometimes say it to my Australian (now grown up) children. They rolled their eyes and looked at me as if I had gone bonkers.|laugh1|

Does anyone know of this saying?

Carolyn

Not quite this saying, but the one I remember is "Not worth a blow down a ragman's trumpet". I don't know where it comes from, but I assume it's an old Yorkshire saying which is where I originate from.

[kermie62]

When someone was considered a bit'simple' Granda would say
"He's s sheep short in top field"


A similar one often used in Australia - "He's a sausage short of a barbeque" or "a sandwich short of a picnic".

Another one that I love to use when people ask me how busy I am - "I'm flat out like a lizard drinking" (ie very busy)

Another old fashioned one is "He's built like a brick dunny". Meaning quite sturdy with reference to an outside toilet.


When unexpected near disasters happen, originally on my family outdoor adventures, camping etc (but has been expanded to include anything) I say "Hmmmm........I wonder what Harry Butler would do now".

Does anyone remember "Harry Butler" - of an Australian outback wildlife series? My adult son says I have made him up, but I haven't.

Carolyn

can also add a "hes got a few roos jumping round in the top paddock"

anotehr of muine was "as flash as a rat with a gold tooth"

One my father used to use and I have never understood it was an exclamations

"well strike me bloddy ray"

Can anyone explain the source of this

[Retlaw]

My Fathers favourites when he saw an ugly woman.

Every woman gets the face she deserves by the time she's 30.

Oohs getten a face like five miles o bad rouad (road).

Whats Ooh bletherin on abeuat (about)

Retlaw.

[MythicalMarian]

My Fathers favourites when he saw an ugly woman.

Every woman gets the face she deserves by the time she's 30.

Retlaw.

My Mum's expression for this was: 'She ought to be summoned for fearing folk'

[pipsqueak]

Having a London mum and a Welsh dad I didn't grow up with as many sayings as you might think. I think the northerners have much more colourful expressions thanwe ever did.

Mum used to say "Well I'll be jiggered" when expressing surprise and "Choke up chicken" when someone was coughing and spluttering. Other than that she was full of proverbs and wartime mottoes like: "Waste not, want not", "Make-do and mend", "Don't put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today", "Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves", "Cleanliness is next to godliness".

If someone was dirty they were "as black as the Ace of Spades" or "black as Noogit's knocker" (really Newgate, but pronounced Noogit - my sister and I thought it was "nookit's knocker").

[susan-y]

QUOTE=MythicalMarian;233471]My Mum's expression for this was: 'She ought to be summoned for fearing folk'[/QUOTE]

From my Mom --This was equal for either sex......... " She/He has a face only a mother could love"

Just to redress the balance a bit, a comment on an ugly chap:-

I'll never forget a friend remarking on someone who had distinctly homely features and saying: 'He looks as though his face caught fire, and somebody put it out with a shovel'.

Finbar.

Finbar, I've heard the same, only a poker was used instead of a shovel|laugh1|

Sue

[Mags S]

My Gran had a lovely one - on hearing an unusual name, her response was "Well there's a name to go to bed with".

I'd love to know the origin of that one!!!!

[ET in the USA]

Sitting around the dinner table the other day with my 2 brothers [raised in California USA], their wives [raised in Boston, MA & South America/Maryland USA] & my husband [raised in Somerset, England] I asked . . .

"When you were young and your Mother wanted you to eat all your food, where did she say that 'people were starving' ?"

The UK native said "India" [a colony, so it makes sense]
4 of the US raised said "China" - no matter which side of the US they came from.

The one raised in the US & South America said "I think they said, Africa" .

An argument then ensued as to whether or not Africa was starving in the 1950's, but that's another story.

What did your Mother say ? :confused:

[susan-y]

What did your Mother say ? :confused:

My Mom ( English parents- raised in Vancouver) said.." somewhere in this world" :confused::confused: To which we would enquire.."Where?"|laugh1||laugh1|

My mother-in-law ( Parents Canadian born-raised in Southern Ontario) apparantly said.." Africa "

Sue

[susan-y]

My Gran had a lovely one - on hearing an unusual name, her response was "Well there's a name to go to bed with".

I'd love to know the origin of that one!!!!

|jumphappy

Sue

[Jane Gee]

I started this thread with an expression I heard my mother in law say on many occasions strange how things turn out because we had a phone call in the early hours of the 2.1.2009 to say she had been taken to hospital having had a massive stroke at the nursing home she lived at
and sadly she passed away on Saturday night. So thank you for the posts since this was started.
Not the best start to the new year as I am going to a funeral for a close family friend of my parents this Thursday.
Keep the posts coming your keeping me going.xx
|hug|

[MythicalMarian]

Well in honour of your mum-in-law at this sad time, Jane, let me offer you this one from my own Mum - she always wrote it on flowers she sent to departed loved ones:

To live in the hearts of those she loved is not to die.

We're all thinking of you, Jane.

[Jane Gee]

Bless you that is lovely Janex

[Jade26]

One of my mother's favourite sayings if something wasn't quite right was -
"A blind man on a galloping hourse wouldn't notice it."
another one was - "For heaven's sake, you're as slow as a wet week."

Trish

[wenfri]

When I was little our water pipes froze coming into the house. In the spring my Dad was out digging them up.

When people came by they would ask what he was doing.

His comment was always the same

"I am searching for Willie (y??) Wee and Willy Woo"

Who ever they were?? Haven't a clue to this day.

Also during the school year Dad would wake us and say, "Tis a t'other day for the school of Hard Knocks, Up and at em"

While I am posting this Why would they call going to school to learn the "3 R's"

Me thinks we ever dreamed that up should be going back to the school of hard knocks:D

Wendy

[sue2white]

When surprised, by dad says
'Well, love-a-duck!'
http://www.tiptopglobe.com/skin/smile/s9610.gif (http://www.tiptopglobe.com/free-smiles-smileys-emoticons-blog-forum-email)
Sue

[pennydog]

My dear dad always said to me (I used to be very thin in those days), "there's more meat on a bicycle"
Mum's favourites included "Red hat and no drawers" (knickers for the youngsters among us!), "up the wooden hill" (stairs to bed) and a word I have never heard anyone else use "betteneye" in the context I had better do it "betteneye" - although now I find myself saying it too! Both mum and dad were from Stepney - but they never knew their lines went back to Yorkshire and Norfolk!

[spison]

Loved these and recognised many! My father uses many:

The sights you see when you haven't got a shanghi.

West of the black stump. (Which is probably based in fact as country locals actually still give directions similar to this!)

As silly as a cut snake.

As silly as a chicken with its head chopped off.

A face as long as a wet week.

If the wind changes you'll stay like that. (Said frequently to ME!)

(And my personal favourite) Not worth a ball of billy goat's p**p.


... Harry Butler...Carolyn

It wasn't mentioned on Wikipedia but Harry also co-wrote a son with Rolf Harris. It was, I believe, 'Sun-a-rise'.

All the best Jane and your family

Jane

[JenniLl]

Two from my Gran who was born and lived all her life in Surrey, (long time dead now) - "I'm feeling leer", when she felt really hungry and "It's damp underfoot", meaning that the ground is wet but it isn't actually raining.

Jenni
:)

[carolchipp]

Remembered many of these, especially those from Lancashire.
Some that I remember:

He's a bit elevenpence ha'penny - said of someone a bit simple

Well now the cat's pi***d on the chips (referring to woodchips for the fire) -meaning that's blown it, when something went wrong

And one I have only ever heard my mother say, which I'm still not sure of the meaning of but I think referred to something/someone unwanted especially if someone was stood up or kept waiting for someone
'..left there, looking like cheese at fourpence'
Has anyone else ever heard this expression?

Carol

[BeeE586]

The three R's

Reading, Riting and Rithmetic.

If I asked my uncle where he was going ............ I'm going a puppy-trotting to see the monkeys dance.

As a child if I complained to my grandfather that someone had hit me - Knock his eye out and put him in t'lamp cabin

Both Yorkshire/Derbyshire border born and bred

Eileen

[mariner]

My Dad always used to say "It's as black as the Earl of Hells riding boots" and my Grandmother ( A Scouse ) used to say of any man she disliked "I wouldn't marry him if his A**e was dipped in diamonds"|woohoo|

[JAP1]

So many of these strike a chord from my own childhood - and all my ancestors came to Oz in the 1800s!

Trying to think of some others ...

What about, when one asked "what's that", the answer was "a wigwam for a goose's bridle" (I understand that the original was a 'whim-wham' but that's certainly not what my mother said!).

And "that's for you to guess and me to know".

Also, when referring to something unexpected, "that's better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick" (this old saying was brought back into currency by my late ex-b-i-l when he was awarded an AO).

Incidentally, lots of the sayings which have been mentioned earlier obviously travelled to the antipodes. I definitely recall "that's not worth a tinker's elbow", and "don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar", and "you look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards" and "all fur coat and no knickers" and "she's no better than she ought to be" and "Lord, love-a-duck" (an expression of surprise).

Of course I grew up with the Aussie expressions which have been mentioned. Also "two bob short of a quid" (a 'bob' being a shilling, and a 'quid' being a pound) and "silly as a two bob watch", and "to kick the bucket" (i.e. to die). Not to mention "I hope your chooks turn into emus and kick down your dunny door" (chooks = chickens, dunny = outdoor toilet). And "fair crack o' the whip".

Long distant sayings, eh.

JAP

[margarita]

What about, when one asked "what's that", the answer was "a wigwam for a goose's bridle"

In our family it was always 'a wigwam for a wowzer'.


Reminds me of my maternal grandmother. She always described tall thin people as looking 'like two yards of pump water'.

Finbar.

My mother always referred to long, straight hair as 'like a yard of pump water'.

My father, from Carlisle, referred to any one standing up straight and proud as 'standing like a pot slop'. What a 'pot slop' is I have no idea - I'm not sure he did either.

If anyone ever tried to con my mother, her response was 'I'm not so green as I'm cabbage looking'.

Thank you, wenfri, for resurrecting this thread. I missed it the first time round as I was without computer access at the time. I have enjoyed reading it.

Regards,

maggie
.

P.S. Thanks to Pam Downes' advice on another thread I was able to post my first multi-quote reply.

[busyglen]

While I am posting this Why would they call going to school to learn the "3 R's"

Wendy

It was slang for `Reading' (W)Riting, and (A)Rithmatic. :)

Glenys

[daleaway]

I think I may be able to help you. We have discussed "stood there like piffy" on another forum and our Lancashire members assured us that the original phrase was "like piffy on a rock bun".
Piffy, apparently, is a local dialect word for icing sugar.

And I imagine "pot slops" would be the runny bits left in the pot after you have taken out some solid meat and vegetables from your stew or casserole. Or something similar, such as kitchen slops put into a pot. They wouldn't stand up too well, now would they?

[wrinkly]

A lot of my Yorkshire relatives used to say " Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs" , I think it was a reaction to a surprise. Genie60

I still say that Genie - and "Gordon Bennett!" which amuses my son in law...... no idea where he has been all his life!

[peter s]

another naval expression down to filling the gaps in the planking with tar - I think. They also tarred the ropework.
My wife's mother used to talk of having "roos pickles" instead of goose prickles.
As a Londoner I had not heard the "black over bill's mother's" until someone told me, in about 1968. He was suprised I'd not heard it.

[pennydog]

I was friends with a Lancashire weaver, who moved 'down south' for work. She lived to be 100 and used to talk about 'plodging' in puddles when she was a child.
Such a lovely descriptive word that I still use it.

[BeeE586]

Not piffy in my part of the world ...........

Standing there like Venus on a rock bun

If any thing was lost .................

Well, I saw the cat eating something (or 't'cat ating summat' if you want the vernacular)

My son has an expression for a surprise .............. Spiders, or for a big surprise B****y Spiders. Don't ask where it came from, he doesn't know either.

Eileen

http://i380.photobucket.com/albums/oo245/jodwurz/Halloween/Boospider.gif

[Colin Rowledge]

Have just found this thread and it brightened my day consisderably.

3 of my dad's favourites were:

"Well, this won't get the baby a new hat" - said after a hearty Sunday breakfast, as mum was looking at him to 'start doing things'

"I went to see a man about a dog" - said after he'd been to the bathroom and returned to the room.

"Gone to hell in a hand cart" - can't remember when he used this one

Any ideas on the origins?

Colin

[Mutley]

TO SEE A MAN ABOUT A DOG
This old saying first appeared in 1866 in a play by Dion Boucicault (1820-1890) called the Flying Scud in which a character makes the excuse that he is going 'to see a man about a dog' to get away.

More origins of old sayings are here (http://www.localhistories.org/sayings.html)

[JAP1]

Yes, I definitely remember:
Q: Where have you been?
A: To see a man about a dog.

And

Q: Where have you been?
A: There and back again to see how far it is.

And when one tried to "pull the wool" over the parental eyes:
"I didn't come down in the last shower, you know".
(This a variant of "I'm not as green as I'm cabbage looking".

Also, about not particularly attractive ladies:
"She's got a face like the back of a Bourke St bus".

JAP
PS: Did anyone mention "It's all my eye and Polly Martin".

[JAP1]

And to one's cheeky comment of "I don't care" came the quick response:
"Don't care was made to care, don't care was hung".

And ...

"Your hair won't curl if you don't eat your crusts".
I'll have to try that one on my grandchildren! All my children have very curly hair of various shades; all my grandchildren have dead straight dark hair.
I suspect that this won't be much of a threat.
My children will no doubt blame me for making them eat their crusts and will exhort their children never to eat their crusts!

[Jane Elderfield]

My Mum used to refer to a bewhiskered man as "a bearded baa-lamb".

Another: "He has a voice like a hairy-worm."

For some reason, donkeys featured in several of her expressions:
"You've a face as long as a donkey's baby." (=You look sad)
"I haven't seen her in donkey's ages."
"Meat for work, as they say to the donkeys." (=Earn your pay, in reference to Yorkshire beach donkeys being turned loose in the off-season to be used by whoever would give them food.)

Have you noticed how many of these old family expressions use the words-that-they-won't-let-us-write-in-full on this forum? Mum's version of whats-er-name was "Old Mrs. Sh**-a-Brick". And for the undecided: "You're in and out, in and out like a f**t in a colander."

My elderly cousin used to say of a certain "simple" relative of ours, "His elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor." (Other versions of this I've heard are "He's a few bricks short of a load" and "He doesn't have all his wheels on the road".)

Jane E

[carolchipp]

the undecided: "...like a f**t in a colander."
Jane E

I had to laugh when I saw this one! My father used this expression frequently, though I never heard anyone else say it until now.

[Colin Rowledge]

Have you noticed how many of these old family expressions use the words-that-they-won't-let-us-write-in-full on this forum? Mum's version of whats-er-name was "Old Mrs. Sh**-a-Brick". And for the undecided: "You're in and out, in and out like a f**t in a colander."

Jane E

Hi Jane
Your Mum and mine might be related. Her favourites were:
"In and out lke a f--t in a windstorm"
"If I had sixpence for ever time you were late for meals, I'd be a rich woman".

My dad's favourite was, after coming to Canada, when a door-to door saleman used to call [and he didn't like the pitch - "Do you thinkk I crossed the Atlantic on a bicycle?"

[Mutley]

Originally Posted by Jane Elderfield
the undecided: "...like a f**t in a colander."
Jane E


I had to laugh when I saw this one! My father used this expression frequently, though I never heard anyone else say it until now.

Me too,
I always thought it was a London expression, I know I heard it all the time but I received so many slaps for repeating it that I am still unable to use it today, well at least not without ducking :)

[IreneH]

"Black as the inside of a cow"
"Box of fluffy ducks" or "Box of birds" or "Box of fuffys"
"This side of the black stump"
"Greatest thing since sliced bread"

A few Kiwi sayings to add to the mix.

Irene

[BeeE586]

One I used today without thinking about this thread .......... Doesn't know whether he's on this earth or Fuller's. On the same lines and unrepeatable in polite company .......... couldn't organise a p*** up in a brewery

Eileen

[JAP1]

Polite version - "he couldn't organize a chook raffle in a pub".

Another saying I remember - "he couldn't fight his way out of a wet brown paper bag".

I was thinking about threats that, if one were looking sulky, one's face would stay that way if the wind changed. So I Googled for it and found a version:
Willie was sitting in kindergarten class pulling faces at the other children. When the teacher saw this, she marched straight up to Willie and said, "Willie! Don't do that! If the wind changes, your face will stay like that"! Willie took a good look at the teacher, then replied, "Guess you learned the hard way".

[mariner]

Me too,
I always thought it was a London expression, I know I heard it all the time but I received so many slaps for repeating it that I am still unable to use it today, well at least not without ducking :)

[I]In our house it was "In and out like a F**t in a fair" and Dad used to say "As sure as God made little apples", we knew then it was time to shut up

[sue1959]

When God was handing out ears
he thought He said beers
and said 'I'll have 2 jugs please.'

A saying about jug ears (sticking out ones!)

[sue1959]

Growing up in Yorkshire I used to go out and Laik(play) in the park. To be famished here in Ireland means cold but at home it meant hungry.

[BeeE586]

Another saying I remember - "he couldn't fight his way out of a wet brown paper bag".

[/I]


................. or "Couldn't knock the skin off a rice pudding."

Eileen

[JAP1]

Hi Eileen,

Yes, I remember that one too!!

Not much use nowadays I guess - how many people cook rice pudding! Much less know about the skin on it (with plenty of nutmeg, eh!). I guess we didn't realize back then that nutmeg is a hallucinogen!

At least brown paper bags are still around - and still as useless when they get wet!

JAP

[Jade26]

|laugh1| This is a great thread and its brought back a lot of memories of the things my mum used to say -

"You know what thought thought? He thought his backside was hanging out of bed and when he got out to have a look, he found it was."

"You're as slow as a gin at a christening."

Of a woman wearing a rather revealing dress - "Get a look at her, wearing ninon over none on."

Of a rather snooty woman - "She thinks her s**t don't stink, but her f**ts give her away."

Trish

[MarkJ]

I guess we didn't realize back then that nutmeg is a hallucinogen!


You would have to eat so much nutmeg to get a hallucinogenic effect that I suspect it would be virtually impossible JAP ;)

Mark

[JAP1]

You would have to eat so much nutmeg to get a hallucinogenic effect that I suspect it would be virtually impossible JAP ;)

Mark

Hi Mark,
Would you believe that the only reason that I knew about its psychotropic properties is because I once had a friend who became more or less addicted to it and ended up with what turned out to be nutmeg poisoning!! This was many many years ago when a friend of ours suddenly started having alarming symptoms (dizziness, double vision, tremors, etc) and nobody, especially the doctors, could identify the problem. Finally she mentioned that she had been eating a lot of nutmeg! She stopped ingesting nutmeg and everything returned to normal immediately!!
Strange but true!
JAP

[kcapes]

Hello everyone
My mum used to say you kids are in and out like a Middletons Poppet, never knew what it meant never thought to ask unfortunately she's not with us now, so my husband googled it the Poppet is the bit that goes in and out on a stream train and they were made by a company called Middletons. Mystery solved I love the internet.
Kim

[Jane Gee]

Goodness I hadnt realised this thread was still going, seeing that last few posts reminded me that yesterday at work one of the girls in the office came out with the saying "legged it" I have heard that expression for ages.
Jane:)

[Jane Elderfield]

About the undecided: "in and out like a f**t in a colander"


...
I always thought it was a London expression, I know I heard it all the time but I received so many slaps for repeating it that I am still unable to use it today, well at least not without ducking :)

Mutley, it probably was a London expression. My Mum's family were from Deptford.

Her Dad used to say, of a swap, "a white cat for a black monkey" (or maybe it was the other way around).

[Mutley]

About the undecided: "in and out like a f**t in a colander"



Mutley, it probably was a London expression. My Mum's family were from Deptford.

Her Dad used to say, of a swap, "a white cat for a black monkey" (or maybe it was the other way around).

That figures then. ;) but a swap of anything? nah! my lot

wouldn't give the drippings from their nose. :)

[pwotherspoon]

I remember often hearing "that's not worth a Tinker's Elbow". I don't recall who I heard saying it but it is probably from when I was a littlie in England prior to 1958.

I used to sometimes say it to my Australian (now grown up) children. They rolled their eyes and looked at me as if I had gone bonkers.|laugh1|

Does anyone know of this saying?

Carolyn

I know it as Tinker's 'dam', not damn which has given rise to the erroneous 'cuss', but is similar to 'elbow'.
When a tinker was soldering a pot, a dam made of clay, shaped like an elbow, was fixed around the hole to hold the solder until it set. The clay, solidified by the heat was then discarded being of no further use. But it may lay about where the tinker had worked, a piece of worthless debris. Other things judged to be worthless were equated with them.

[JackieC]

What a great thread! My N Yorks mum used to tell me when she thought I needed a good wash that "you could plant carrots in those ears". She also told us that referring to someone as 'he' or 'she' without referring to their name was rude, with the riposte, "Who's 'she', the cat's mother?"

My Scottish husband also refers to someone ugly as having "a face like a torn scone".

There's a brilliant book available for free download on archive.org on Yorkshire sayings, dialect and customs, "Wit, character, folklore & customs of the North Riding of Yorkshire" by Richard Blakeborough.

[Jane Gee]

I had no idea this thread was still running 6 years later reading through some of these had me really laughing thank you so much folks keep em coming Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

[Peter Goodey]

I know it as Tinker's 'dam', not damn which has given rise to the erroneous 'cuss'

Well I don't personally know for sure but the Oxford English Dictionary describes this alleged origin as an "ingenious but baseless conjecture"

[Jane Gee]

This is probably not really a saying but tickles me every time I think about it, my sons friend referred to his mother as the "soup dragon" she is welsh with a high pitched voice (lovely lady)

[JackieC]

This is probably not really a saying but tickles me every time I think about it, my sons friend referred to his mother as the "soup dragon" she is welsh with a high pitched voice (lovely lady)

I would imagine that it has 1970s vintage due to the Clangers! :)

[yorkshiregal]

My mum always said 'black as the fire back', and if you had dirty ears it was 'clean them lug'oles or I'll plant turnips in them.

If I was angry, it was 'stop being mardy' or 'none of your argy bargy.

[JackieC]

If I was angry, it was 'stop being mardy' or 'none of your argy bargy.

Was your mum, or her family, a Midlander? I grew up in Leicester and 'mardy' was a common word, meaning sulky or sullen. Also used as 's/he's got the mardies' and 'mardy-a**e'. Kids I met in other parts of England had never heard of it. Argy bargy was common where I grew up too.

Another Leicester kids' expression was to 'have a croggy' - to ride on the crossbar on a bike whilst someone else pedalled it.

[pwholt]

My dad, born and raised in Canada, described a sunset as "sky blue pink with a hinnan haddie border". As he lived miles from the sea I doubt if he'd tasted or seen hinnan haddie before he came to England in 1940, But his mother was a Londoner. pwholt

[Allan F Sparrow]

Was your mum, or her family, a Midlander? I grew up in Leicester and 'mardy' was a common word, meaning sulky or sullen.

"Mardy" is known in Nottinghamshire, too, and possibly Derbyshire, but (brought up in Surrey) I had never heard it until i moved to Nottingham to work.

[yorkshiregal]

Both parents were Yorkshire born and bred.

[IreneH]

One my mother used when at storm was coming or describing a black cat or anything black was "As black as the inside of a cow"

[Jane Gee]

that's one I definitely haven't heard before.

[daleaway]

When God was handing out ears
he thought He said beers
and said 'I'll have 2 jugs please.'

A saying about jug ears (sticking out ones!)

You might like to see the version of this I found on the web. My mother says she learned it in the 1930s, so I reckon it's a post World War I witticism, unless someone can locate an earlier version.


When God passed out brains,

I thought he said trains,

And I missed mine.

When God passed out looks,

I thought he said books

And didn't want any.

When God passed out ears,

I thought he said beers

And asked for two long ones.

When God passed out legs,

I thought he said kegs

And asked for two fat ones.

When God passed out noses,

I thought he said roses

And asked for a big red one.

When God passed out heads,

I thought He said beds

And asked for a big soft one.

When God passed out hips,

I thought he said lips

And asked for two large round ones.

God am I a mess.