Idioms and sayings

jane meant to say that "mither" isn't heard much these days, but my Grandmother used it frequently! (Mainly in relation to me

I read the bit about making a sailor a pair of trousers in a childrens story book when I was about 8. My grandma used to say that I was tied up like a rice bun, meaning that my belt was too tight. And when the sky was a bit black and stormy looking in the distance, she`d say "it`s a bit black o`er Bill`s mother`s.

In our house it was always duck, as in "duck under the table and out again"

When we used to mither Mum about what we were going to have for tea she would frequently reply, '3 jumps at the cupboard door!'

I never knew what a 'bandbox' was either - you just accepted that it meant 'brand, spanking new' - and that's another phrase that's disappeared...

I was never sure what a bandbox was. Anyone know?

"She looks as if she has just stepped out of a bandbox" was my mother's expression when saying someone was looking very smart. I said it recently to my daughter who had never heard it before, so is this another saying that has gone out of use?

My granny had a similar saying, but it was 'to make a pair of sailor's trousers..'