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Idioms phrases and proverbs

(62 Posts)
Elizabeth1 Thu 08-Feb-18 11:09:02

Let’s have fun
Who knows what Jock Tamsons bairns mean? Please then add an idiom a phrase or a proverb of your own.

grandtanteJE65 Mon 05-Mar-18 10:29:34

They say as the start of a piece of gossip, resulted in a quotation from a poem
"Some say the de'el 's deed and buried at Kirkcaldy"

The next line said " some say he's risen agen to daunce the Hielan' laddie"
Some say he has risen again to dance the Hielan' laddie - a folk dance.

Some say the devil is dead and buried at Kirkcaldy.

There used to be a headstone in the kirkyard in Kirkcaldy, said to be the devil's. I don't know whether it or even the old church yard still exists.

Marydoll Sat 24-Feb-18 23:51:10

"Not the full shilling"
Scottish version of not very smart.

Janie7779 Sat 24-Feb-18 23:48:27

“A lazy man’s load”
Carrying way too much at once to avoid a 2nd trip.

“Pretty is as pretty does”
You’re only as attractive on the outside as you are on the inside.

“Gravel Gertie”
A person in need of a good scrubbing.

“A few fries short of a Happy Meal”
Not very smart.

mcem Sun 11-Feb-18 14:50:09

Or the Billy Connolly classic 'I'll take my hand off your face!'

Bridgeit Sun 11-Feb-18 14:07:43

When being told off:-

You’ll be laughing the other side of your face in a minute!

MamaCaz Sun 11-Feb-18 12:11:18

My favourite expression, from my grandad, was:
"Thes non reet but thee 'n me, 'n am non suh sure 'bart thee!
Translation: "No one is right (i.e. normal) but you and me, and I am not totally sure about you!"

MamaCaz Sun 11-Feb-18 12:04:55

"Go 'ome, yer rabbit's dead!" (North Yorkshire)
Apparently, OH's grandma used to say that to him often when he was a boy, when he had outstayed his welcome at her house. He sometimes says it now, jokingly, to our own dgc.

A saying in my family, if a child was caught picking their nose was
"Cum out, it's not a chip shop!"
I have had plenty of opportunity to pass this one one to my own dgc, as dgd is an avid nose-picker!

lovebeigecardigans1955 Sun 11-Feb-18 08:51:42

Ah MillieBear my late MIL was most definitely nesh! Mum always said that 'you stand need' for whatever had been asked of someone if she thought they had a bit of cheek. When my sister and I were in a giggly mood she say, 'you'd laugh to see a pudding crawl,' indeed I would.

Cherrytree59 Sat 10-Feb-18 23:38:15

grin

MamaCaz Sat 10-Feb-18 23:37:53

In my part of Yorkshire (Huddersfield), to leg it means to run away from potential trouble, to scarper.

If I amused my grandma, she used to say, "Ee, you are a cough drop!"
If something surprised her, she said, "Ee , I'll go to our 'ouse", or "Ee , I'll go to 'bottom of our stairs!".

indispensableme Sat 10-Feb-18 23:20:26

Words can mean different things in different places. Working in Leeds there was going to be a bus strike on Friday and my class asked how would they get to school. I said that they would have 'leg it, do you no harm for once' and they looked astonished.
It was later that I discovered that what on my side of the Pennines meant 'walk' in Yorkshire meant 'truant', I'd sanctioned a day off.

Cherrytree59 Sat 10-Feb-18 22:47:27

Katyk I have heard all those expressions used by my DH and his parents.

My DFil would jokingly say to his son and later to his grandchildren when he wanted them out from under his feet....
'Goo on Bab, Run down to Aston Clock and get us the time 'grin

Cherrytree59 Sat 10-Feb-18 21:32:03

MaryDoll
Whenever I have a problem or something to
important deal with I hear my Grandmother's voice Caw Canny Lass smile.

When asked 'what was for dinner?'
My Mum would reply 'a run round the table and a kick at the cat!'

KatyK Sat 10-Feb-18 15:12:04

Some of these expressions are used around here (Birmingham and Black Country) such as 'I'll go to the foot of our stairs'
Also when the sky goes dark people say 'it's gone a bit black over the back of Bill's mother's'
Describing someone with bow legs folks used to say 'he couldn't stop a pig in an entry'
When we were little and said 'I don't care' mothers would often reply 'don't care was made to care'

Rosieroe Sat 10-Feb-18 14:42:41

Many of the Scots expressions are in frequent use in Northern Ireland. My mother (from North Antrim) used to refer to a dog we had as a “wee scunge” or someone would be “scunging about”. I’ve never come the expression in any Ulster-Scots dictionary. The dog in question would disappear frequently but always return. (What a life dogs had before dog-wardens were invented!). “scunging” to me meant up to no good. I assume it derives from Scots-Gaelic. Has anyone come across it?

“Hauld yer wheesht” - be quiet.

“He looks like a bled gander” - he is very pale

“She has a face on her like a fir hatchet” - she has a very, sour, angry expression

“Will you take a cup of tea in your hand?” - before the advent of the mug you were offered a cup of tea, minus the saucer, without having to sit at the table.

grandtanteJE65 Sat 10-Feb-18 12:50:58

There does seem to be a large majority of Scots represented here, although Lancashire and Yorkshire probably use most of these expressions too.

One dear lady of my childhood always said, "Hunger maks good kitchen" if we children turned our noses up at any foodstuff, meaning that if you are hungry enough you would eat it.

My grandmother said of anything completely worn out and on its way to the dustbin "Give it to the passing poor!.

In our family, people who left doors open where said to have been born in a field with the gate left open, which as every country bred child knows is the ultimate sin.

grandtanteJE65 Sat 10-Feb-18 12:42:03

I'm afraid your mother probably meant that if you didn't come to visit during the next week, she would see you walking past the house on your way somewhere else. I hope it was said as a joke

HillyN Sat 10-Feb-18 01:48:15

If I left the door open, Mum would ask me If I'd been born in a barn.

HillyN Sat 10-Feb-18 01:44:02

Whenever I asked my Mum how old she was, she would answer "As old as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth".

Marydoll Fri 09-Feb-18 22:50:12

Cherrytree59 , my mother always said " Caw canny hen". It means "Be careful".

Marydoll Fri 09-Feb-18 22:45:11

In our family, " Yer bums oot the windae" means," You are totally out of favour" ☹️

MillieBear Fri 09-Feb-18 22:07:23

Aah lovebeigecardigans1955 but are ya nesh? And if you see a rotund person eating a cob do you think "you stand need?" ?

indispensableme Fri 09-Feb-18 21:42:44

I think that one of the reasons I have never found Peter Kay funny is that much of his material is normal for Bolton!

indispensableme Fri 09-Feb-18 21:41:00

Were you born in St Helens? when you were standing in the way of someone watching TV, St Helens, home of Pilkington Glass.
Put wood i'th 'ole, please close the door.
Re names for bread rolls etc., I recall being surprised when MIL asked if I wanted a 'teacake with ham on it', to me a teacake was sweet with currants, if you wanted ham on it you needed a breadcake or a barmcake

indispensableme Fri 09-Feb-18 21:36:45

I'll go t'foot of t'stairs, an expression of incredulity, Bolton area.