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Out-of-date sayings

(73 Posts)
granjura Tue 28-Jan-14 21:07:09

Tickety boo smile

granjura Tue 28-Jan-14 21:06:46

Got a bun in the oven...

as a newcomer to Britain I was invited for dinner and the friend said 'I've got a bun in the oven'- I blushed and apologised and said I was not sure I could eat rabbit. Oh they laughed.

Another French friend was married to a doctor and they ordered a fridge to put in an alcove. It fitted just right, with a few mm to spare and the chap said 'Great, just what the doctor ordered!' - she was really surprised and asked how he knew. Know what- he said smile

absent Tue 28-Jan-14 20:07:46

Shotgun wedding – so they didn't have the children as bridesmaids when that expression was invented.

mrsmopp Tue 28-Jan-14 20:06:31

In the family way.

kittylester Tue 28-Jan-14 13:30:15

I suspect feetle that they rubbed together in a purse or a pocket if anyone was lucky enough to have two. grin

feetlebaum Tue 28-Jan-14 13:01:52

"Haven't got two ha'pennies to rub together..."

Whoever needed to rub them together anyway?

Yofab Tue 28-Jan-14 12:56:57

Not short of a bob or two - an expression I still use when I think someone well off

nanav123 Tue 28-Jan-14 11:07:31

This place is like Paddy's Market My mum used to say when she was spring cleaning she was' putting doors out of windows'

Mamie Tue 28-Jan-14 11:05:41

A bit off topic, but spotted a link to this on Mumsnet
sounds.bl.uk/Accents-and-dialects/Berliner-Lautarchiv-British-and-Commonwealth-recordings
They are sound recordings of British POWs in World War 1. See if you can understand your own regional accent...,

rosesarered Tue 28-Jan-14 10:01:40

Gone for a Burton
Blot your copy book
Just the ticket

rosesarered Tue 28-Jan-14 09:54:05

I think ana that 'Ne'er cast a clout til May be out' is already out of usage, since who [apart from us oldies] knows that a clout is a garment?Or that the may referred to means the hawthorn blossom and not the month?None of my own children or the DGC generation will know these sayings.

Stansgran Mon 27-Jan-14 23:12:27

See a pin and pick it up all the day you'll have good luck. See a pin and let it lie means you'll tread on it barefoot.Daft as a brush still works. Not as daft as cabbage faced. Or pudding faced.

Grannyknot Mon 27-Jan-14 22:13:56

(I wrote about this before on another thread because I said it at work and none of my young colleagues knew what I was on about): I doff my cap.

merlotgran Mon 27-Jan-14 22:10:09

See a penny, pick it up. All day long you'll have good luck.

Ana Mon 27-Jan-14 21:16:21

Bob a Job week.

absent Mon 27-Jan-14 21:05:27

Brass monkeys and spoil the ship for a ha'aporth of tar are still in use but no one fires canon balls in modern wars and modern farmers don't treat their sheep with tar.

Ana Mon 27-Jan-14 21:01:33

That one's not going to get out of date, though, is it? confused

rosesarered Mon 27-Jan-14 20:53:51

Ne'er cast a clout til May be out [May meaning the hawthorn.]

annodomini Mon 27-Jan-14 20:32:47

Six of one and half a dozen of the other.
Not the full shilling.

Granny23 Mon 27-Jan-14 20:29:32

Your family must have been rich Absent. It was 'two brass farthings' that we were short of.

I think there are only around 'half a dozen' of us who still say we 'got up wi' the Tannery Horn' but I expect that many Gransnetters will guess what it means.

Ana Mon 27-Jan-14 20:19:30

As bent as a nine bob note...

MiceElf Mon 27-Jan-14 20:07:44

My favourite is eleven pence to the bob. And from my youth referring to the local scrap dealer. It's like Jackie Pownalls in here (that was my bedroom)

absent Mon 27-Jan-14 19:21:41

I worked very late last night so when I went to bed I had trouble falling asleep. My mind wandered…

Are we the last generation who will understand "taking coals to Newcastle" now that there are no longer any mines in the North-east?

Does "a stitch in time" mean anything in these Primark times?

"Doesn't have two ha'pennies to rub together" is pretty meaningless when 1p and 5 p coins will eventually be phased out.

Are buttons bright? Is ninepence right? How much room do you need to swing a cat what with downsizing and the bedroom tax?

What will replace these traditions?