“It’ll See Me Out!”

I've said this a few times in recent years - a bit tongue in cheek but actually meaning it. I've been on my own for some years and it is hard work getting big jobs done and the fact that over the years I have been ripped off by unscrupulous workmen. When I lost the last of my family a few years ago I decided it was time to get my house sorted and update the kitchen/bathroom, stairs and landing etc which on the whole hadn't had a refurb for 15-20 years. Not one to be decorating every year. So yes I went through the house and don't want to have to do major jobs like that again. I look after things (brought up to take shoes off in the house so the new carpets should stay clean). My only issue is my bathroom which was only done 4 years ago and have had so many problems with it ( one of my rip offs) and just before Christmas the coating peeled off the bath panel! when I queried it was bluntly told they only had a 2 year warranty so will have to get that seen to. I sometimes use the phrase God willing too when I say I might be planning to do something. EG I hope this damn covid eases soon as God willing would love to start travelling again as I feel life is passing me by (yes I know I'm lucky compared to a lot of people).

I have an upholsterer coming tomorrow grannybuy.
I hope I’ll see out the suite when it’s covered, no matter how good a job they make of it ?

Funnily enough, I was at the premises of an upholsterer an hour ago, with a view to replacing the feather cushions of my 25 year old sofa with foam ones. She actually said that the sofa might see me out. We’re Scottish!

My Grandma used to talk of new hats and corsets - a very funny and everlasting saga as the hats were absolutely hideous and the corsets uncomfortable until she took a pair of scissors to them ( ! ) ,and always finished with ,if God spares me .

Recently, I've been tempted with some very pretty dresses in the sales and then thought will they see me out !!!

I remember when I was about 20 my mother asking my aunt (her sister) why she was planting a small tree, she said that's a waste of money you wont be alive to see that grow. They were both in there late 60s. I dont remember my mother purchasing anything substantial after that. Her theory was why should other people benefit from she had bought for herself...I did try to explain to her, the pleasure she would get while she was still here. It didn't work.

I have to admit to thinking I probably won't ever replace this when I bought new dining furniture last year. I have had three sideboards in my life - first a teak one as a newly wed, then an inherited mahogany one and last year I decided I wanted to come into the modern world and have a new light oak one, along with dining table and chairs.

‘It will do me my day’ is my Irish mother’s cheerful phrase

I love the gagagran with the lady who wanted a 10 year guarantee. Good for her. I think If I am spared is quite a scottish saying . we used to sail up round the western islands and also if you have read any of Lilian Beckwith books such as the Loud Halo, it is used there too. My father used to say he would die happy if he had lived a decent life and had just emptied his bank account in the last couple of weeks! I am now 76 and of course many people will think I am very old but I do not think of myself as old, although I complained to a friend recently that I seemed to be very much slower walking these days! I am still paying annual subscriptions for gardening magazines and things I want to be part of and when I bought my latest car wanted to know what the guarantees were on it! Of course as a gardener we always expect to live a long life as we plant things and wait to see them grow. Long many we continue to do that

M0nica

Like others, I loathe this expression and will never say it.

When my mother died, suddenly, at 85, she had new frilly underwear and a lacy nightdress in her chest-of-drawers, bought only a week previously.

Good for her, I hate the expression too. It so is morbid to me.

Tbh I've been saying I'm not buying anything that will outlive me for some years! Only because I've come to the conclusion that to buy top quality expensive in my 66s is tempting fate! And I have enjoyed buying lesser more often! Cheap doesn't always mean nasty either, I fake stuff lots nowadays dress jewellery is my biggest fake! Modern dress stuff looks so like the real thing why not? Who knows? I have some very nice genuine pieces but anything I fancy I get for very little outlay.something mum would never do, failing to realise that low level jewelry is not an investment, you get scrap value only so why blow cash on what is mostly sales tax!?

Plenty of my relatives said it to me over the years.

I think the only things that will ‘see me out’ are the garden tools in the shed, I doubt that I will ever wear them out, they aren’t mechanical so they should be fine.

I think that back in the day, things that were used regularly were often able to be repaired, a lot of stuff nowadays can’t be mended.

My mum also used this expression from her sixties. I vowed never to use it. I am now 75 and still haven’t used it

My lovely Scottish MIL used to say that too (never heard before).
After my FiL died she purchased a new sofa with this comment.
She went on for nearly 30 years after he died. That sofa was so tatty but nope was going to see her out. She passed away at 94 it did see her out.

"It'll see me oot" definitely a Scottish expression - used in my family as a joke.

Danish, like Scots has the expression about there being no pockets in a shroud - usually used when telling people not to be over frugal or deny themselves something good.

I have never found any of these expressions particularly depressing, after all we know we will die sometime, although we would all rather it doesn't happen any time soon.

Admittedly, I do sometimes wonder whether we need any more things in our lives, now that we are around 70, but that is not because I wonder whether we will get our wear out of them (as the auld folks used to say) but because I would rather spend my money on going places and doing things once the pandemic is over than on acquiring things we have no use or need for.

My Mum would not buy new shoes when she got to eighty because she wouldn't get her wear out of them ?

Elaine
I agree with your final comment, whilst I’m still up for another move (or two) I can’t face any more extensions, or lengthy renovations.
Doesn’t stop me from dreaming about all the things I could do with a lovely old wreck though. (Wreck as in house, just in case there was any ambiguity)

My FIL was unwell for years. My DH and FIL had a great sense of humour. My DH would often say at the end of a visit, 'Don't buy any green bananas' when FIL was having a particularly bad day.

To be honest, I think it cheered him up in a funny kind of way.

Definitely heard the expression " It'll see me out" quite often. Often said in a light-hearted way, right enough.

I have found myself thinking along those lines a little bit recently and while it might be sensible in some situations, is possibly not healthy if it dominates our thinking.

Like many things, it's about getting a balance.

It could be easy to become morose or depressed and stop planning fun things or buying some things you'd really like if you dwell on the fact you're getting older and don't know how long you have left. In all seriousness, I think there could be a danger for some of slipping into an unhealthy mindset around this.

Every day is a blessing, no matter what age we are. We all need hope and things to aim for. We should try to get the best out of each day. If we'd like a new dress, car, kitchen, or whatever ( and can afford it), absolutely go for it.

On the other hand, I don't think I'd buy an old house that is going to take 10 years to renovate - but each to their own.

( sorry - didn't set out to be so serious about this [hmmm])

I laughed when I saw Giles Brandreth using this phrase in his Diary column in the current edition of The Oldie.
I'll try to attach a photo...middle column.

My mum used to say that at her time of life it wasn't worth buying green bananas ??

Sorry ladies, I said this about my last car, bought seventeen years ago. It finally went to the scrapyard six months ago after costing a fortune in failed electronic parking brakes, to name just one repair.
I then bought an eleven year old small city car but have resisted saying it this time, it’s nearer the to the truth ?

Whenever my granny visited us, which was fairly frequently, on leaving she’d say “well I don’t suppose I’ll see your house again” she said it for about twenty years.
When finally she didn’t see it again, my mother was quite amazed, she said she must have had a premonition.
Back to the original subject, it’s depressing to think this may be my last of anything. I still make plans for home improvements, still think there will be another house move, haven’t really contemplated retiring, I expect my children may be wondering if we really need to be spending money on certain things, but for the time being, it’s our money to spend as we choose.

Ha ha ...love that expression ! first heard it from an elderly relative ...although she was always wanting her son to take her shopping 'for a new cardigan' (she was already 90) .......HE was the one who used to say 'It'll see you out !' ...my late dad had three wardrobes full of coats...he went out, felt cold, and bought another !!! NOW I am rapidly reaching the age where I look at something in my wardrobe and think 'oh, that'll see me out'....ha ha ...we shall all go 'out' at sometime ...so today I bought a new anorak (well, its cold and my other black one had seen better days) and today I am off to buy some trousers I saw yesterday ........oh, and whilst I am at it, I might buy some purple boots !!! That'll see me out

DM had a very practical approach to her demise in her later years. She often said 'That will see me out' or 'if I'm still here by then' and we often had a bit of banter and a laugh about it. I didn't think how we might sound to others until she went to the physio who asked her to make an appointment in 3 months. 'But what if I'm not here by then?' DM asked. 'No worries, I'll cancel it' I said. The poor receptionist said nothing but obviously thought it was in very bad taste. Despite how we acted, I miss DM every day.

Retirees sometimes said it of the new car they bought (but I suspect it didn't if it was made in Longbridge).