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Funny little colloquial phrases

(151 Posts)
nanna8 Sat 06-Mar-21 07:38:33

I was thinking about this today. One that I like here is, ‘Better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick.’ Still in use today for when something is better than nothing!
Another good one still in use is,
‘A kangaroo loose in the top paddock’ for someone a bit strange.

Greyduster Sun 07-Mar-21 11:22:04

‘If brains were ink, you wouldn’t have enough to make a full stop!’ was one of my father’s when I had done something particularly stupid!

LauraNorder Sun 07-Mar-21 11:26:58

Greyduster, I like that one.

grandmajet Sun 07-Mar-21 11:47:48

Has anyone heard ‘sitting there like Piffy on a rock bun’? Is it a northern saying for being left out?
Grandpajet, when surprised by something, often says, ‘well, I go to the bottom of our stairs’.
Another northern one? He grew up in a prefab in Manchester so had no stairs!

Aveline Sun 07-Mar-21 13:51:49

'Yer bum's oot the windae' is brilliant. I've loved that phrase since I first heard it years ago.

CherryCezzy Sun 07-Mar-21 13:52:10

One you don't tend to hear anymore,"for obvious reasons, is "he's/she's sixpence short of a shilling". One I like is "try as you might, you might as well try".

bonfirebirthday Sun 07-Mar-21 14:00:01

'It's black over Bill's mothers' was a phrase used a great deal when I was a child growing up in the East Midlands. It meant a rain storm was on it way. 'Mardy' meant sulky or miserable. 'No point in closing the stable door now the horse has bolted' is self explanitary!

FarNorth Sun 07-Mar-21 14:40:18

'Ye're seeing it.' in response to being asked how you're doing.

'He's a bit corned beef' Scots rhyming slang for deaf.

Boz Sun 07-Mar-21 14:41:19

Were I come from, the long-winded are accused of "going all round the Wrekin".

Charleygirl5 Sun 07-Mar-21 14:50:09

He was in the long queue when brains were being handed out.

The taxi driver went twice around the houses- he took the longest way home.

Oopsadaisy1 Sun 07-Mar-21 15:24:29

If brains were dynamite, he wouldn’t have enough to blow his hat off.

Callistemon Sun 07-Mar-21 16:45:25

Boz

Were I come from, the long-winded are accused of "going all round the Wrekin".

If you can see the Wrekin, it's going to rain

If you can't see the Wrekin, it's already raining

AGAA4 Sun 07-Mar-21 16:52:18

Seeing yer bum - getting angry.

If you had a brain you'd be dangerous.

Thorntrees Sun 07-Mar-21 18:23:13

My Grandad used to say-‘well I’ll go to th foot our stairs’ in his strong Lancashire accent when told something that surprised him. When we did something he thought did not reflect well behaviour wise he would say’ raise thee broughtings up’, in other words remember they way you have been taught to behave. Haven’t heard either said for years.

midgey Sun 07-Mar-21 19:25:58

Muscles on yer arm like knots in cotton, and legs like sparrows ankles. Both self explanatory!

Callistemon Sun 07-Mar-21 19:28:07

I've never heard some of these.

Dunna be so nesh

lemsip Sun 07-Mar-21 19:57:39

Don’t expect two favors in return for one.

Hot pokers and heated arguments should be quickly dropped.

3dognight Sun 07-Mar-21 21:12:00

From my Dad:
'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'

grandmajet Sun 07-Mar-21 21:44:49

Thorntrees, yes, that’s it, the foot of our stairs. I said ‘the bottom’ in my post. Don’t know how I got it wrong, he’s always saying it!

nanna8 Sun 07-Mar-21 22:04:10

My grandma used to say she would ‘side on’the table for clearing the table. She was born in Durham but lived in Yorkshire.

nanna8 Sun 07-Mar-21 22:05:29

I love these, so varied and plain weird some of them.

ixion Sun 07-Mar-21 22:14:14

Born the wrong side of the blanket.

Callistemon Sun 07-Mar-21 22:16:35

A Yorkshire friends talked about 'bottoming a room'
meaning cleaning it really thoroughly.

Her house was always immaculate

Blossoming Sun 07-Mar-21 22:59:19

It’s cracking flags - meaning it’s very hot today.

Lexisgranny Sun 07-Mar-21 23:04:40

One of my favourites is ‘talking round shouldered’ ie talking rubbish. I wonder whether this came from the days when dustmen used to hoist the full metal buns on their shoulders - no wonder they where round.

Lexisgranny Sun 07-Mar-21 23:06:12

or even ‘Bins’
- predictive text strikes again