Old expressions your parents/grandparents used (1 Viewer)

[Houchens Head]

I'm sure my Mam thought I was a contortionist! "Will ye look at that dirt on the back of yer neck!"

 

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[Alan Dugdales Moustache]

Eat all your dinner. There are people starving in Africa.

 

[Gazolba]

Some really good ones there. Keep 'em coming.

 

[Sky_Blue_Daz]

Another couple of my dad’s was “that’s the arse fell out of the bucket”

Meaning when something hasn’t gone to plan

And “ he’s as odd as twos even “ meaning someone’s a bit of a weirdo
“You wouldn’t call the queen your aunt”
Meaning you’ve been well looked after by someone.
I’ve started to use a few of his phrases I think it happens as you approach mid 40

 

[Alan Dugdales Moustache]

"Sunday night: get upstairs, get a bath."

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

My dad used to say that. He said it once and someone asked him who Bill was and where did he live?
If he caught us swearing he used to say that he knew language that would make our hair curl. He didn't. If my mum caught us swearing she would say that she'd was our mouths out with soap.

Someone once said it was a reference to Shakespeare but I don't believe it.

1. Bill's mother lived damn near the same place as Bill, so why not just say Bill's?
2. It seems to have been quite well used further afield so god knows how they could see that far.

 

[Alan Dugdales Moustache]

Get your bloody trousers in the wash before they stand up by themselves.

 

[PurpleBin]

"Do you think I came down the Clyde in a bubble?" I think that's like saying "I wasn't born yesterday" ?!

 

[Alan Dugdales Moustache]

If I trapped my finger and got a blood blister it was always a " black man's pinch"
Very p.c.

 

[PurpleBin]

If I trapped my finger and got a blood blister it was always a " black man's pinch"
Very p.c.

Jesus...there were some proper bad ones like that. Instead of saying the more PC "Needle ina Haystack"

"Nig**r in the woodpile"

Mad!

 

[Gazolba]

I once used the expresson "It was a storm in a tea-cup" to an American and he thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.
Not sure if that's old or if people still use it.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

I once used the expresson "It was a storm in a tea-cup" to an American and he thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.
Not sure if that's old or if people still use it.

I'm still hopeful one day we will get a storm named that. FOr the irony I hope it's a massive one (as long as no-one gets hurt of course).

 

[Houchens Head]

I once used the expresson "It was a storm in a tea-cup" to an American and he thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.
Not sure if that's old or if people still use it.

I heard a couple of boobs having an argument once, but it was just a storm in a D-cup.

 

[OffenhamSkyBlue]

If I trapped my finger and got a blood blister it was always a " black man's pinch"
Very p.c.

I heard a relatively young person use this term not so long ago, but my parents used it all the time.
And the "n****r in the woodpile" - still no clue where that one comes from!

 

[OffenhamSkyBlue]

Someone once said it was a reference to Shakespeare but I don't believe it.

1. Bill's mother lived damn near the same place as Bill, so why not just say Bill's?
2. It seems to have been quite well used further afield so god knows how they could see that far.

I heard a plausible story that it started out as a Stratford saying (and now in more common use - as most idioms are, for no apparent reason).
"Bill's mother" was Mary Arden, who famously lived at Wilmcote, to the west of Stratford (i.e. the prevailing wind direction). So if the skies were dark to the west, it wouldn't be long until it was raining in Stratford.

 

[greys4life]

My Gran always used to say 'you'd laugh to see a pudding crawl' never heard it from anyone else.

The equivalent to 'shit with sugar on' in our house was 'bread and pullit'.

 

[ovduk78]

My dad used to say "you couldn't punch your way out of a wet paper bag"

 

[Sky_Blue_Daz]

Jesus...there were some proper bad ones like that. Instead of saying the more PC "Needle ina Haystack"

"Nig**r in the woodpile"

Mad!

I’m sure Geoff Hurst used that line when he was a World Cup pundit years ago

 

[Gazolba]

This may be an American one.
When in a difficult situation, you are "Up Shit Creek without a paddle".
Anyone hear that in the UK?

 

[Adge]

Surprised that nobody has “turned on the wireless or the box” yet or “answered the blower”.
Another one my mum would say “you never miss the water till the well runs dry” and how very true-basically you will miss it/me when it’s/I’ve gone.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

This may be an American one.
When in a difficult situation, you are "Up Shit Creek without a paddle".
Anyone hear that in the UK?

All the time. Especially recently.

 

[ovduk78]

Another one from my dad, "I'll wipe that smile off your face".

 

[Gazolba]

Another one from my dad, "I'll wipe that smile off your face".

My mother's version was "I'll make you wish you'd never been born".
Great thing for a child to hear!

 

[LastGarrison]

If the wind changes, your face will stay like that.

 

[LastGarrison]

When asking how much something cost.

‘Money and fair words’.

 

[Woolly68]

My Gran used to say “you’ve got to eat a little bit of dirt before you die” generally after picking food off the floor and putting it in her mouth while winking. I’d stand there in disbelief watching her eat a hairy boiled sweet or a roast potato dropped in the muck and dust of a thick carpet.

I guess this was in the days before the 5 second rule on food that had landed on the floor.

I always tell my kids the same, but I draw the line at a crisp dropped in dog mess. Let it be, let it be. There’s plenty more crisps in the sea.

 

[Gazolba]

My Gran used to say “you’ve got to eat a little bit of dirt before you die” generally after picking food off the floor and putting it in her mouth while winking. I’d stand there in disbelief watching her eat a hairy boiled sweet or a roast potato dropped in the muck and dust of a thick carpet.

I guess this was in the days before the 5 second rule on food that had landed on the floor.

I always tell my kids the same, but I draw the line at a crisp dropped in dog mess. Let it be, let it be. There’s plenty more crisps in the sea.

That's a good one.
My grandfather used to wink at us a lot. No-one does that any more.
My daughter once unwrapped a brand new toothbrush and then dropped it on the bathroom carpet.
Right away, she threw it in the rubbish.
I told her she could just sterilise it with hot water but she wouldn't even consider that.

 

[Gazolba]

Another thing my father would say if we did something really bad:
"Do that again and I'll knock you into next week".

 

[Alan Dugdales Moustache]

Another thing my father would say if we did something really bad:
"Do that again and I'll knock you into next week".

You beat me to it. My dad would say " into the middle of next week." He was more specific about exactly when .
He also would say around the dinner table " Eat that, it'll put hairs on your chest. "
I didn't want any hairs. I was about 9 at the time.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

I'm sure my Mam thought I was a contortionist! "Will ye look at that dirt on the back of yer neck!"

Never heard of mirrors......?

 

[eastwoodsdustman]

get up the wooden hill is one I used to hear a lot.

 

[Gazolba]

get up the wooden hill is one I used to hear a lot.

My mother said that to us when we were little when it was bedtime.
Our bedrooms were upstarirs.
Actually what she used to say to us is "up the wooden hill to bye bye land".
I think that must be one of my ealiest memories because I remember she was carrying me when she said it.

 

[Houchens Head]

My mother said that to us when we were little when it was bedtime.
Our bedrooms were upstarirs.
Actually what she used to say to us is "up the wooden hill to bye bye land".
I think that must be one of my ealiest memories because I remember she was carrying me when she said it.

I remember the saying as "Up the Wooden Hill and down Sheet Lane."

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Are you sure you heard that correctly? Sounds like a euphemism to me...

 

[robofcov]

Two my mother always used to say were about somebody who thought they were above everyone else :walking round with her nose in the air as if her shit dont stink
The other one i remember is if somebody or someone was into everything going on in the community.......so and so was there again mum ........mums standard reply.........theres no show without Punch