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Old fashioned expressions you still use.

(387 Posts)
NanKate Fri 28-Jan-22 21:29:34

When DH serves up his weekly stir fry he always says to me ‘Put on your bib and tucker’ knowing I can be a bit messy. ?

When I trip over or make a mistake I say a man’s name (which I can’t remember). I’ve used the name for years. Can you remember it please ?

Leapingminnow Mon 31-Jan-22 11:57:50

“I’m going to spend a penny”, no-one knows where the saying comes from these days!

Caleo Mon 31-Jan-22 11:56:28

Oh yes, I remember "By Jove". Father and brothers used to say it a lot. Nice memory.

kwest Mon 31-Jan-22 11:56:19

Fine words butter no parsnips here.

Alioop Mon 31-Jan-22 11:56:01

Sloegin I was going to say face like a Lurgan spade, but thought no one would know it ?
Houl your whist (wait)
Close that door, were you born in a field.

Mauriherb Mon 31-Jan-22 11:54:01

I still "spend a penny" !

noni123 Mon 31-Jan-22 11:53:44

'Nothings bad that could be worse' my Irish mother in laws favourite quote. & another relative from Yorkshire ' I wish I was in bed without the bother'
'Born in a barn ' - 'Behind the door when looks were given out' - 'What you gawping about' from my London born Mum

GrammarGrandma Mon 31-Jan-22 11:53:29

This was a lovely trip down memory lane! My parents used to say a lot of these. My mother would say "I can't spit sixpence" when she was dying for a cup of tea. I still use quite a lot of them.

But my parents would also say, "It's cold enough for a pair of reins," which is completely mystifying.

MooM00 Mon 31-Jan-22 11:53:06

Hark at pan calling kettle black.

mistymitts Mon 31-Jan-22 11:51:25

Since Line if Duty we all say ‘mother of God’now!

mistymitts Mon 31-Jan-22 11:49:16

My tech savvy 27 year old dd still uses a lovely phrase, ‘Oki Doki’.

hf59 Mon 31-Jan-22 11:47:34

Oh my toe bone! (when you stub your toe)

Rileysnana Mon 31-Jan-22 11:43:52

I'm not as green as I'm cabbage looking.
You make a better door than a window.
It's raining cats and dogs

Onthemoors Mon 31-Jan-22 11:43:37

I can remember my lovely Gran saying, "don't burn that light". Meaning turn the light off, even though by that time electricity was in her house, she still referred to it as "burning". xx

Snowbell Mon 31-Jan-22 11:40:35

Spend a penny! My grandson asked where the penny was.

jaylucy Mon 31-Jan-22 11:40:31

"Going round Aunt Fanny's garden" - taking the long way round for anything!
Another non PC was one of my dad's "Black as old Harry's mother" for when the sky is dark and stormy
"You look like you've slept in it " which could cover anything - hair, clothing etc , meaning you look scruffy
"With a lick and a promise" usually when either having a quick wash or giving a child a quick wash - think of the time when you were asked to spit or lick your mum's hanky and she used to use it to wipe chocolate or dirt etc off your face !

jenpax Mon 31-Jan-22 11:37:23

“I was just reading yesterday this list of 50 phrases that are at risk of being lost to the British Language:

www.itv.com/news/2022-01-26/the-50-saying-at-risk-of-being-lost-from-our-language-and-what-they-mean?fbclid=IwAR0fNcMNYzvJ1gFJWOWT7QI81oCV0r1PX4vnKQNWYIkZbo85ADp_dCAJw2Q

I certainly still use several of them (but then I'm old!)”

I use an awful lot of these regularly! ?

Graygirl Mon 31-Jan-22 11:35:17

Nelly's room behind the wallpaper, in answer to. Mum/Nan were are you . It's not as if I live in a big house .

CanadianGran Mon 31-Jan-22 00:17:06

When going for lunch: 'going to strap on the feed bag'.
I still use tickety-boo when something is completed tidily.
When someone is weak, 'they couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag'.

Jazzhands Sun 30-Jan-22 23:00:29

'I'm going to check on the goldfish' (going to the loo)
Turns out that the public lavatories in Rothesay had see-through cisterns, and folks put real goldfish inside. Kids would pester their parents for a penny to see them rise and fall when they pulled the chainn.

Doodledog Sun 30-Jan-22 22:43:12

My granny used to have some good ones:

He'd skin a flea then sell it a vest. (a meanie)
He'll say anything but his prayers. (a liar)
They don't spoil two houses. (a couple who are both annoying)
He's like dot and carry one. (someone with a limp)
I've got a bone in my leg. (an excuse not to do something)

Caleo Sun 30-Jan-22 22:23:17

Counterpane.

I call a top bed cover a counterpane. My son said "counterpane" to his partner a lot younger than he, and she was very amused. "Who on Earth talks about counterpanes!"

SachaMac Sun 30-Jan-22 21:48:14

Get off up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire.
My Nanna used to say ‘there’s no pockets in a shroud if people were being tight.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be (my other gran)

JaneJudge Sun 30-Jan-22 21:36:59

well there you go, yoau'll av to gew all around the wrekin smile

Callistemon21 Sun 30-Jan-22 21:26:50

I could see the Wrekin from my aunt's house, JaneJudge, from right across the plain. 35 miles?

If you can't see The Wrekin it's raining.
If you can see the Wrekin it's going to rain.

Bridgeit Sun 30-Jan-22 21:19:57

Gordon Bennet