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Towards More Picturesque Speech

(83 Posts)
Daddima Sun 25-Aug-24 17:23:09

Does anybody remember this in Readers’ Digest? I’d like to see others’ examples of ‘picturesque’ sayings.

My unmarried friend used to say she ‘ didn’t make the same mistake once’

If two unattractive people got together, my mother used to say, ‘ nae sense in wastin’ two hooses’.

About a person who seemed to always be unlucky- ‘ If there was an egg short in the ration, she’d get it’.

teabagwoman Sun 25-Aug-24 17:26:35

If we met one of those doom laden women who always thought the world was going to hell in a handcart my Mother would always say “she loves lumpy custard.” I’ve absolutely no idea why.

Indigo8 Mon 26-Aug-24 09:35:49

If she thought we were lying, my mother used to say "Tell another while your mouth's warm" and if she thought we were being pert she would say "You're so sharp, you'll cut the cost of living".

Grannybags Mon 26-Aug-24 09:41:50

My Mum used to say someone was "as clever as Dick's hat band"

No idea who Dick was!

henetha Mon 26-Aug-24 09:45:05

My Mum used to say, if I got a bit mouthy, "You're as sharp as vinegar on a fork". I never really understood that.

travelsafar Mon 26-Aug-24 09:49:58

If I pulled a face at mum she would say 'watch out the wind doesn't change'or ' you look like a cat's bum turned inside out!!!🫣

Indigo8 Mon 26-Aug-24 10:29:44

If people were irritating her, my grandmother used to say "They're winding me up to the top pitch".

AGAA4 Mon 26-Aug-24 10:56:18

If I came home from school looking untidy my mum used to say I looked like I had been pulled through a hedge backwards.

Granmarderby10 Mon 26-Aug-24 11:02:55

“She/he “looks as though they’ve been sucking on lemons and chewing broken glass “ 😂

fancythat Mon 26-Aug-24 11:43:14

AGAA4

If I came home from school looking untidy my mum used to say I looked like I had been pulled through a hedge backwards.

This is the only saying on here that I have heard.

Daddima Mon 26-Aug-24 11:54:29

fancythat

AGAA4

If I came home from school looking untidy my mum used to say I looked like I had been pulled through a hedge backwards.

This is the only saying on here that I have heard.

And it’s reminded me that when my father was very hungry he ‘ could eat a nun’s arse through a hedge’!

Shelflife Mon 26-Aug-24 11:54:53

AGGA , that was a favourite phrase of my Mums too. I was brought up in Yorkshire - wonder if it is a Yorkshire phrase?

eazybee Mon 26-Aug-24 13:23:03

'Dick's hatband' : Dick is the devil.

Babs03 Mon 26-Aug-24 13:29:53

My old dad used to say - if someone suggested doing something he didn’t like - ‘I’d rather go to Wigan pier.’

grandtanteJE65 Mon 26-Aug-24 13:38:54

The look on her face would turn milk sour!

About those who took on thankless tasks, or did not heed advice and landed in some kind of trouble: he/she is a glutton for punishment.

If anything was skew-wiff: it's as straight as a dog's hind leg.

Grannybags Mon 26-Aug-24 13:53:38

eazybee I didn't know that!

Shelflife It was one of my Mum's sayings too and she was from Yorkshire

Grannybags Mon 26-Aug-24 13:55:20

Another one from Mum if she's had a bitty sort of day she would say she'd had a 'clashy back end'!

nanaK54 Mon 26-Aug-24 13:56:00

Hmm I wonder if this will get me into trouble, hope not!

My late mum would say 'he's as queer as a nine-bob note' - she never did understand the concept of PC grin

eazybee Mon 26-Aug-24 14:16:10

When describing someone she thought affected, my mother would say:
'Oh, do you know my people; rather poor but awfully clever; fourteen cars and one little guinea pig!'
She had no idea where it came from but thought she had heard it in a play on the radio.

Tizliz Mon 26-Aug-24 14:28:37

my father used to say he was 'going to Timbuktu and back again' when he went out

Gin Mon 26-Aug-24 14:29:42

My mother- in -law when speaking of someone not very bright would say in her strong Ayrshire accent ‘ she’s no the full shilling’. Of someone doing something stupid ‘she’s as daft as McHarg’s chookies’ (chickens).

Granmarderby10 Mon 26-Aug-24 16:31:41

To miserable moany types -“it’s being so cheerful that keeps ‘em going”

Greyduster Mon 26-Aug-24 16:54:18

If my father met anyone looking miserable or down in the dumps, he’d say “Tha looks as if tha’s lost a shillin’ an’ found sixpence!”

Oldnproud Mon 26-Aug-24 19:17:43

Greyduster

If my father met anyone looking miserable or down in the dumps, he’d say “Tha looks as if tha’s lost a shillin’ an’ found sixpence!”

That was used in my family too.

Another expression with the same meaning was
" Tha looks like tha's tossed up for tha dinner and lost!"

AGAA4 Mon 26-Aug-24 19:23:56

My grandad used to tell me he was going to see a man about a dog when he was going to the toilet.