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Where are all the whistlers?

(97 Posts)
Sago Thu 25-Jul-24 09:10:15

This morning laid in bed, I heard someone working on a neighbours house whistling.
It was really quite uplifting.

It then occurred to me I cannot remember the last time I heard someone whistle.

Is it a generational thing?

Perhaps when wolf whistles were deemed inappropriate men stopped bothering to hone their skill.

ginny Thu 25-Jul-24 15:53:40

My Dad was always whistling. He was a postman and people on his round used to love to hear him.
We always knew where he was and when he was arriving home.
In his last days he would sit by his window watching the world go by and whistling all our favourite tunes.

BlueBelle Thu 25-Jul-24 15:59:02

My Dad was a whistler I used to hear him coming home from work on his bicycle whistling away I loved to hear him and I miss him so much even today
I loved hearing whistling in the street and I know it’s not the done thing but it made my day if I got an appreciative wolf whistle when I was out and about as a young person
I think we are a sadder world that men no longer whistle

Auntieflo Thu 25-Jul-24 22:15:35

DH used to whistle, and when he was coming to meet me I could hear him from the end of the street.
Like Midgey, I do like the insurance add with whistling.

Mollygo Thu 25-Jul-24 22:25:30

I like to whistle, walking the dog or driving but DH says it interferes with his hearing aids so I try not to when he’s close by.
He on the other hand can call the dog by using his fingers to do a piercing whistle that doesn’t seem to trouble his hearing aids!!!

crazyH Thu 25-Jul-24 22:34:36

I haven’t heard whistlers recently.
The last one was over 25 years ago when my car broke down and I was standing on the side of the road waiting for the AA. I heard a wolf-whistle from a passing driver 😂

Purplepixie Fri 26-Jul-24 02:02:42

My gran used to say that women whistling were bad luck. Dad used to whistle and it sounded great but I haven’t heard many whistlers lately. I think it is the wolf whistle thing or maybe I am wrong.

Whitewavemark2 Fri 26-Jul-24 03:27:24

My DH whistles quietly all the time he is busy doing one of his projects on his lathe, carving or garden.

nanna8 Fri 26-Jul-24 03:29:07

I don’t like it, it gets on my nerves so I am glad no one does it anymore.

LadyGracie Fri 26-Jul-24 09:21:05

I can't abide whistling, we used to have a neighbour who whistled constantly, he's not missed.

Redhead56 Fri 26-Jul-24 09:28:43

When I was young and working outdoors if I was wolf whistled by workmen (it was usually workmen who whistled). I would whistle back it made my day!

Marydoll Fri 26-Jul-24 09:38:25

I used to be a proficient whistler! I coul roll my tongue and make a piercing whistle.
My mother used to say the same about our Lady.

Astitchintime Fri 26-Jul-24 09:47:27

I would love to be able to whistle - can any whistling GNetters. offer any tips and how to master it please? smile

MiniMoon Fri 26-Jul-24 11:06:43

My Dad taught me to whistle when I was a little girl. I have whistled ever since. Even DH can't stop me even though he says that rhyme about a whistling woman and a crowing hen.
If my Dad, a staunch Methodist thought it was okay, my husband has no cause to complain.

Esmay Fri 26-Jul-24 12:39:34

I hardly hear men whistle these days .
They used to .

My father never learnt to whistle properly and he spent all day every day making a strange tuneless half whistle .
It made me laugh .
I never said a word .

Romola Fri 26-Jul-24 12:51:44

My DH was the same Whietwavemark. He used to whistle while doing one of his projects. My mum was in the WAAF in the war and could whistle loudly through her teeth. My dad disapproved and I never learned.

MissAdventure Fri 26-Jul-24 14:17:05

Astitchintime

I would love to be able to whistle - can any whistling GNetters. offer any tips and how to master it please? smile

Can you make any sound at all, if you try?

I suspect it's far more difficult to explain than do.

Grannynannywanny Fri 26-Jul-24 14:42:22

Astitchintime my grandchildren can all make the whistling sound but I’ve tried in vain to teach them how to convert that into a recognisable tune. I can’t figure out how to explain it to them. They are fascinated how I can whistle a tune on demand. They’ve all got their front teeth, unlike the little girl in this clip, so that’s not the problem 😆

youtu.be/WI02_UJ1C6I?si=VU8EuXqULRlmq1vD

MissAdventure Fri 26-Jul-24 14:45:58

I think it's almost imperceptible movements of the lips that change the note that comes out.

polomint Fri 26-Jul-24 15:24:24

I used to whistle all the time but since getting dentures I can't now!

SueDonim Fri 26-Jul-24 15:56:57

A workman here today was whistling at one point. I’d rather hear that than the awful ‘music’ one of them was listening to last week. grin

I mentioned this thread to Dh after he was quietly whistling doing the washing up last night. He says he doesn’t whistle out of the house nowadays in case it offends anyone, which it seems from this thread is quite likely. 👀

dalrymple23 Fri 26-Jul-24 16:40:37

What is the flipping matter with people? How can whistling possibly "offend". It is fun, jolly and uplifting. Miserable killjoys.

My father was a whistler. I loved it. I am useless, so much so that I have had to buy a whistle for the dogs, rather than using my born with lips!

Does anyone remember "Susannah's a Funickle Man"? He did it brilliantly (with whistling and snorting). Used to have me in hysterics.

Labradora Fri 26-Jul-24 16:54:08

Georgesgran

‘A whistling woman and a crowing hen, would bring the Devil from his den’.

That was what I was told. Used to be able to whistle, but crowned teeth make it impossible now.

Never heard that one but totally brilliant ......
Does the Devil " need to get out more.....???"
Only sayin'......

dogsmother Fri 26-Jul-24 17:13:37

It’s a thing I can do, two fingers from each hand and a piercing noise blows forth. Not called upon very often these days however. Fishermen however won’t allow it when out on their boats as it’s unlucky.

CanadianGran Fri 26-Jul-24 17:36:39

I worked with a woman who was a brilliant whistler. She would do a lot of popular older songs while she was working. On the other hand at a previous job there was a fellow who whistled aimless notes with no tune, and it was very annoying.

Over the years I have enjoyed music which has whistling in it, thinking of Sittin on the dock of the Bay by Otis Redding. I haven't heard a newer song that has whistling in it.

It is a talent, for sure, one that I don't have.

Labradora Fri 26-Jul-24 17:41:49

I can actually whistle but I never do. Don't know why. Used to whistle to summon the dog when he was shilly-shallying in the long grass.
Mostly he ignored it.
Have never whistled "musically", so to speak.
Humanity has greatly benefited from my NOT whistling musically.