Is this a generation thing ?

Chocolate teapot, comes to mind. I am alright jack, if you went up the stairs first after pushing in.

Still passing down through the family - unused cutlery called 'blessings' and put back in the drawer. Seemed to come from a rural Shropshire great great aunt but still being used today!

'Age before beauty' when letting someone go upstairs or through a door first. Sometimes cheekily responded to with 'Pearls before Swine'!!

So what does 'puffy on a rock bun' mean? I've never heard that one, but parents used to say 'put wood in the hole', although I've never heard it for years either.

up in Annie's room behind the wallpaper

My father used to say this, he was from Lancs.

Yes Yorkshiregel our grandmothers were keen to keep our virginity

It's as long as a piece of string
Watch out there's a bus coming (if I had my mouth open)
We went all round the Wrekin

Born in a field with the gate open. Same thing, leaving a door open.

Lovely to hear the old phases that one knew as a child although 'wood in the hole' is a new one to me. I have heard of the barn and cabbage one and have used them myself to my children and the grandchildren. One of my favourites is 'Lang may your lum reek' which my American son in law takes great pleasure in using at the right time of year. My Scottish grandmother had a saying which was 'as dry as a pea's widdy'.. I never did find out what a 'widdy' was but made an intelligent guess that it was the outer hulk of a pea, dried by the sun. Anyone else met that one and can enlighten me? She, alas, is no longer around to help me out.

My oh still says put wood in hole and you make a better door than a window . I say gorden Bennett a lot and as much use as a chocolate fire guard . My doc have grown up with this so know what they mean . Funnily enough 4yr old gd as just said apple and pears means stairs we are Yorkshire so I have been teaching her other cockney slang .

My mum was from stoke on Trent my dad was from Lincolnshire they both said put wood in the hole, I grew up in Hertfordshire and never heard anyone else say it.Brings back memories tho.

I managed to teach DH that put wood int ole meant shut the door ( took a few years). In the last year or so I've taught him 'ee tram gone by?' ( if he gives me half a cup of tea). When he hears that, he now shuts the door... ? I do love him!!

When we were young we used to say, "your flag is flying", if your bra strap was showing, it's making me smile just remembering all these sayings. Thanks nina for your OP.

or 'Charlie's died' meaning your slip is showing!

What a wonderful thread - so many memories. Wood in the hole was in common usage in my North London council house, as was going to the foot of our stairs. We used rhyming slang as a matter of course, so when I moved to Glasgow no-one knew what I meant when I talked about my barnet or my boat.

When I was at school, "Charlie's dead" meant your petticoat was showing.

To add to my Leicester ones.

"You must have some bread with it me duck". When presented with a bowl of tinned fruit. Tinned fruit and bread really do not go well together. I think that one is quite widely known.

"You will be sick if you sit with your back to the fire?" Where that idea came from heaven knows.
These are coming back to haunt me.
"Mek (h)aste" hurry up.

I remember 'Your show is slipping!'....

That was " charlie's dead" Alie

'It's raining in Paris' was for petticoat showing.

It is lovely to hear these sayings after not hearing them for years, the "put the wood in the hole" and "the born in a barn" are my favourites, sadly you cant translate these sayings, I have tried, but they lose their meaning in Swedish, I will just have to remember them and smile!

It's not generational and must be limited regionally, I don't know what it means and I was brought up in London with a Lancashire mother and Scottish father.

Ooops , apologies one and all, should really have read the thread before jumping in. Please forgive me, as of yesterday we are great grandparents, to a beautiful baby girl.

I'm a southerner and heard of all of these, I think it's a generation thing, and those of us that had Grandparents living next door, would pick up all the sayings, the one about were you born in a field with the gate open? Comes to mind and many many more, great for remembering our loved ones who are no longer with us

It's lovely to see these sayings again and to know that some are still in use. 'Charlie's dead' or 'It's snowing down south' were certainly 'your petticoat is showing' and 'As much use as a chocolate teapot' is still in use in my family.
My grandma used to say 'A whistling woman and a crowing hen are neither good to God nor man' despite the fact that her sister was a very good whistler.

"You are a door not a window" when someone stands in front of the TV . "Couldn`t stop a pig in an entry" someone who is on the large side . I was brought up in Manchester , we seemed to have a plethora of expressions like these . Some ruder ones were "Shut your cake hole " for please be quiet , "Wind your neck" in for asking someone to calm down . I miss some expressions now I live in Cheshire

notnormal they will no doubt be from Glasgow, i am form further down the coast and females are called "hen" my DH is English and found being called "son" an insult but soon realised that any man younger than you is "son" even if like my Dad you 84 and the younger man is 83 !