Moving house-Flitting

Yes, it was used in Yorkshire. Also Moonlight flit.

I grew up in Lancashire and Lincolnshire and "flitting" was the term generally used in Lincolnshire for a house move. It seemed less common in Lancashire although my Furness-born grandfather used it occasionally. Maybe it was a generational thing?

My family flitted to Essex in the late 60s and people there looked at us blankly if we used the term. More recently, I flitted back to Lincolnshire and, come to think of it, I haven't heard the word used at all. I like it so I shall try and re-introduce it into everyday chat!

I grew up in London. Flitting was moving, moonlight flit was moving owing rent.

I was from Clydebank now Scottish Borders, have always used flitting when moving house. Also a saying we still use is "Saturday flitting, short sitting" meaning if you move on a Saturday you won't live there long.

GabriellaG Thanks. I knew it didn't sound right and that was my understanding of the word

My nephew was courting a girl who had moved to the West Midlands from Ayrshire in Scotland. We had come over from North Wales to spend the day with my MIL who lived with my SIL and her family and SIL asked me to 'come and look at the fruit trees in the garden' I was a bit puzzled as they had been there for years and she had never asked before! We went out into the garden and she said 'Ooh - I don't know what kind of family that girl has come from - she said they had flit from Scotland!' SIL was reassured when I explained that prospective DIL was not dodging debts and that 'Flit' just meant a house move. Did make me smile! I remember my Mum talking about a friend who had had to do a moonlight flit after being left in the lurch by an absent husband, odd thing was that they only moved two streets away! Mind you, that was in the days before the Internet!

In Birmingham the off-license was often referred to as: "the offie".

Agree with many gransnetters that flitting was synonymous with moving house.
Also used here in Scotland as a term for household goods in transit by van new home.
My mother would refer to us being untidy or dishevelled as "looking like you fell aff the back of a flittin".

CrazyGrandma2

Flibbertygibbert, yes. A flighty talkative person.

In Liverpool, yes.

In regular use during my childhood in Birmingham in the 50s . I still do a lot of flitting about now - meaning I'm very busy moving about from one thing to the other. I do remember the expression 'moonlight flit'. Nothing to do with debt here though.

Anyone remember the term 'flibbertygib' Possible not the correct spelling

gizmogrann we also said Beeroff for an Off Licence.

I'm from Lincolnshire and we always said flitting for moving house and a moonlight flit for someone moving suddenly without telling anyone.

Flitting here in Northern Ireland plus unlucky to move on a Saturday hence the saying " a Saturday flit is a short sit".

Brought up in the West of Scotland, I didn't realise it was a scottisism! I thought it was universal. Everyone 'flitted', though rarely by moonlight. My mum used to say:
'Saturday flit, short sit'. ie if you moved on a Saturday you would be moving on again soon.

Does anyone remember the saying Christmas Fuddle,works do at Christmas.

Grew up in Lancashire and the word flitting was in common usage. When someone was useless at getting things done my late Father would say’ they couldn’t organise a flitting’.

People flitted from our Leicestershire village but a moonlight flit meant they were escaping their landlord!

I am originally from Liverpool and the wor "flit" was used when someone disappeared in "curious" circumstances.

When I moved, from my house to a new one, on a Friday my mother said " Friday flitting, short time sitting ".

Flitting in east Scotland. Moonlight flit was used when someone upped and offed to avoid paying debt

Chamber's Dictionary, which of course was published in Edinburgh, states that "flitting" in the sense of moving house is the Scottish meaning of the word, which otherwise means to move about lightly, to fly silently or quickly, to be unsteady or easily moved.

And yes, I think the word is still used for moving house in Scotland and northern England.

That's funny. I'm reading 'Mary Barton' by Elizabeth Gaskell at the moment, set in mid 19th Century Manchester, and there have been several mentions of flitting. None of the characters have any money, but they're not necessarily in debt, so they're not escaping creditors then - just moving house. I see!

We also called the off-licence a beer-off. I remember being sent for beer shandy ?

I've always used it but my father was from Glasgow so maybe I got it from him ?