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Old expressions not in general use.

(150 Posts)
Nelliemoser Wed 18-Jul-18 17:40:54

I was looking up this today and could not find many references. (On my tablet )To me it was just what you said.

"Skin a rabbit for ninepence" when pulling off a small childs clothes for bed.
I am from the East Midlands where I would have first heard it. any help please.

kittylester Wed 18-Jul-18 17:52:05

I remember 'skin a rabbit', nellie and remember (but try to forget!!!) seeing my dad skinning a rabbit and it seemed to come off in 1 piece - like pulling off a child's jumper or vest.

Maybe rabbits cost 9d or people were paid 9d per rabbit to skin them.

gmelon Wed 18-Jul-18 17:59:19

I think it was a sales pitch
When selling their wares the young lads would shout, Rabbits, rabbits, I'll skin you one for ninepence.

kittylester Wed 18-Jul-18 18:02:05

I sometimes still say it, nellie. And I remember a comedy with Ronnie Corbett in where his mum said it to him. What was that called? He was called Timothy. Sorry, I digress!

winterwhite Wed 18-Jul-18 18:06:43

Also ‘Let the dog see the rabbit’, maybe faded away with fox-hunting.
Remember Skin a rabbit, but not the nine pence.

Cherrytree59 Wed 18-Jul-18 18:10:38

'More than one way to skin a rabbit'

Eloethan Wed 18-Jul-18 21:26:08

My granddad always used to say "Good gardenstuff!" to express his surprise. I don't know if it was just his personal saying or whether it was something other people said too.

Mamissimo Wed 18-Jul-18 22:28:43

I’m not as green as I’m cabbage looking!

MissAdventure Wed 18-Jul-18 22:38:50

I'm not sure if this is someone's personal saying.. 'I feel like an 'haporth of soap after a hard days wash!"

lemongrove Wed 18-Jul-18 23:15:46

Not heard the skinned rabbit saying.
kitty.....yes, you got the tv series name right, it was Sorry!grin
‘Ah’ll tell tha that for nowt’ was a favourite expression where I grew up.Usually said when somebody had just forcefully said what was on their mind.

MamaCaz Wed 18-Jul-18 23:25:06

'You look like you've tossed up for your dinner an' lost', said to someone who looked a bit miserable.

MamaCaz Wed 18-Jul-18 23:33:45

'There's nowt as queer as folk' is another expression that you rarely hear nowadays grin

MrsAllboys Thu 19-Jul-18 07:58:54

"Stuff and nonsense " is an old one not heard now. Also 'once every Preston guild' was said by previous generation of family, which may be a regional thing.Eloethan could your father's saying have been a sanitized "Holy Shit!" ?

MrsAllboys Thu 19-Jul-18 08:01:01

Sorry...your Grandfather, not father Eloethan

BeeWitch Thu 19-Jul-18 08:18:17

'Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs!' was a favourite of Grandma when she was surprised. smile

sodapop Thu 19-Jul-18 08:24:20

Is it only people from the north of England who 'set' the table instead of laying it.
I used to tell my children to 'frame' when I wanted them to do something properly. My daughter also said this.

Charleygirl Thu 19-Jul-18 08:47:52

We also set a table in the east coast of Scotland.

MrsAllboys Thu 19-Jul-18 08:47:55

I say "set the table" but although I was born and bred in the south my family were of northern origin.

annodomini Thu 19-Jul-18 09:13:49

We always 'set' the table in my Scottish childhood and I'm sure it's still used.
When I first met my in-laws who haled originally from Yorkshire, though long resident in Kent, I was flummoxed when asked to 'side the pots'. My OH had to translate it as 'put away the dishes' when we'd finished drying them. As a Scot born and bred, this was completely foreign to me.

jusnoneed Thu 19-Jul-18 09:15:01

One of my Nan's sayings was "You'll meet yourself coming back" when anyone was racing about doing a task.

I sometimes say "I'll go to the foot of our stairs"

annodomini Thu 19-Jul-18 09:15:59

Come to think of it - the word I have just used, 'flummoxed' is not heard so frequently nowadays and yet I think it expresses very well the way one feels when puzzled.

kittylester Thu 19-Jul-18 09:44:53

Ooohhh, my nan used to side the table. I'd forgotten that.

grandtanteJE65 Thu 19-Jul-18 16:06:40

We set the table too in the West of Scotland.

Something really smart or even just new, or new fangled was described as being "fantouche"

sassenach512 Thu 19-Jul-18 17:00:47

" watch that bairn doesn't cowp his creels " meaning, be careful the little lad doesn't trip over something. This is a Northumbrian expression I haven't heard in a long time

boheminan Thu 19-Jul-18 17:11:12

My mum would describe something as being 'as black as Newgates knocker', an old reference to the old Newgate prison (I believe)