Old expressions your parents/grandparents used (1 Viewer)

Gazolba · Jul 5, 2019

Can't remember too many.
My father used to say of a poor boxer "He couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag".
If a footballer dribbled past a few defenders he would say "He went though them like a packet of salts".
If you were getting exasperated at searching for a lost item, my mother was fond of saying "It must be somewhere".
Anyone else got any good examples?

bringbackrattles · Jul 5, 2019

My mum would say to me if I asked to borrow money " you should eke your money out. " Meaning not spend it all at once. My dad would say about a soft footballer " He's a right Jessie. " He'd be saying that a lot at games these days ! "

olderskyblue · Jul 5, 2019

Gazolba said:
Can't remember too many.

If a footballer dribbled past a few defenders he would say "He went though them like a packet of salts".

My grandad used to say "like epsom salts" a laxative when taken with water.

Alan Dugdales Moustache · Jul 5, 2019

What time is it grandad ?
" it's five and twenty past "

Sky_Blue_Daz · Jul 5, 2019

If me granny didn’t like someone she would say “ they are the two ends of a whore”

Rather cruel way to describe her grandson though

shmmeee · Jul 5, 2019

My Great Uncle used to say “Eat what you can and the rest rub in your hair”. Still use that today with my kids.

bezzer · Jul 5, 2019

If I used to turn up at my Nan's house in a T-shirt and it wasn't 80+ outside she'd say I'd catch my death.

My Dad used to comment on crap players (usually ours) saying they were 'Good off the ball' or they 'Couldn't trap a bag of cement'

Monners · Jul 5, 2019

My parents, and grandparents etc..were Irish - where to begin!?

Blarney Castle in case anyone is wondering

hill83 · Jul 5, 2019

My Nan used to say “I’m not eating any of that foreign muck” for anything spicier than a boiled potato.

Houchens Head · Jul 5, 2019

My Irish mum used to say "May ye be in Heaven half an hour before the divil even knows yer dead!"
And, when bumping into a friend in town: "Ah hello, Mary. 'Tis yerself!"

vow · Jul 5, 2019

"Go and play on the A45" was a favourite of my parents...

bringbackrattles · Jul 5, 2019

My elderly Uncle Jack who lived in Walsgrave would say to anyone going to the City centre to shop:" Are you going to Coventry ? " Even as a kid I thought that doesn't make sense !

Sky Blue Harry H · Jul 5, 2019

If you can't fight, wear a big hat (via my mate's dad)

Edit: I can't and I don't !

shmmeee · Jul 5, 2019

bringbackrattles said:
My elderly Uncle Jack who lived in Walsgrave would say to anyone going to the City centre to shop:" Are you going to Coventry ? " Even as a kid I thought that doesn't make sense !

Walsgrave used to be a village outside Cov didn’t it? Until Cov consumed it. Earlsdon too IIRC.

Gazolba · Jul 5, 2019

bringbackrattles said:
My mum would say to me if I asked to borrow money " you should eke your money out. " Meaning not spend it all at once. My dad would say about a soft footballer " He's a right Jessie. " He'd be saying that a lot at games these days ! "

Was you Dad from the north of England? I think that's a northern (or perhaps Scottish) expression (Jessie I mean).

bringbackrattles · Jul 5, 2019

Gazolba said:
Was you Dad from the north of England? I think that's a northern (or perhaps Scottish) expression.

No my dad was born in Northamptonshire, then lived for years in Rugby. He was from a family of 9 raised on a farm, so maybe it is a rural saying ?

bringbackrattles · Jul 5, 2019

shmmeee said:
Walsgrave used to be a village outside Cov didn’t it? Until Cov consumed it. Earlsdon too IIRC.

Yes it was a village, but inside Coventry. My mum would do his shopping in Ball Hill and in the city centre. My dad said He was talking stupid calling it going to Coventry, but he kept saying it.

Houchens Head · Jul 5, 2019

Just going off subject slightly, this got me thinking of when my mam got her first telephone installed. It was around 1967 or so. She lived in Clifford Bridge Rd back then and she would answer the phone in a posh English voice: "Hello, Walsgrave on Sowe 4321 (or whatever the number was.) If it was one of us kids or a friend of hers, it was "Garn, yer daft wee ting. What'll yis be wantin'?" We used to rib her all the time about her "telephone voice"!

Gazolba · Jul 6, 2019

I remember a couple more:
My mother used to use the expression "Lord, love a duck" whenever she was shocked or surprised at something.
My father when he was scared of something (which wasn't often) would say "it put the wind up me".
I haven't heard either expression in decades.

Sick Boy · Jul 6, 2019

Houchens Head said:
Just going off subject slightly, this got me thinking of when my mam got her first telephone installed. It was around 1967 or so. She lived in Clifford Bridge Rd back then and she would answer the phone in a posh English voice: "Hello, Walsgrave on Sowe 4321 (or whatever the number was.) If it was one of us kids or a friend of hers, it was "Garn, yer daft wee ting. What'll yis be wantin'?" We used to rib her all the time about her "telephone voice"!

This made me smile, my grandmother was just the same...my mother does the posh English voice on the phone to strangers as well hahaha

Sick Boy · Jul 6, 2019

From a young age I was told that people from Cork are the devils own people

Houchens Head · Jul 6, 2019

Sick Boy said:
From a young age I was told that people from Cork are the devils own people

They sure are SB! :emoji_smiling_imp::emoji_smiling_imp::emoji_smile::emoji_smile:

Houchens Head · Jul 6, 2019

Gazolba said:
I remember a couple more:
My mother used to use the expression "Lord, love a duck" whenever she was shocked or surprised at something.
My father when he was scared of something (which wasn't often) would say "it put the wind up me".
I haven't heard either expression in decades.

I think they go back to the 40's Gazolba. I've heard those expressions in old films, the sort of Ealing Comedy type that actors like Stanley Holloway would star in.

Houchens Head · Jul 6, 2019

And another my mam always said when asked what was for dinner/ tea/ supper etc, was "Shit with sugar on it!" :emoji_smile:

covmark · Jul 6, 2019

Whenever my old man was going out, I used to ask him where he was going. His reply was always, "going to see a man about a dog".

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

wingy · Jul 6, 2019

Houchens Head said:
And another my mam always said when asked what was for dinner/ tea/ supper etc, was "Shit with sugar on it!" :emoji_smile:

We used to have a saying for a butter or margerine sandwich sprinkled with sugar, called a piecey.
Not sure where it came from
Dad was from Dublin but got a feeling its derived from Scotland.
Also pet name for genetalia was B side, beside.
Don't know what they came up with for our sisters lol.

Houchens Head · Jul 6, 2019

wingy said:
We used to have a saying for a butter or margerine sandwich sprinkled with sugar, called a piecey.
Not sure where it came from
Dad was from Dublin but got a feeling its derived from Scotland.
Also pet name for genetalia was B side, beside.
Don't know what they came up with for our sisters lol.

Bloody hell Wingy! Haven't heard that for years! My Mam was from Cork so it's possibly an Irish saying? I used to love a "piecey"

oscillatewildly · Jul 6, 2019

On Mum's side, My Grandad was a Welshman and Nan was from Burnley (Padiham.)
In a moment of exasperation or surprise, Grandad would utter "Stone the crows"!
If me or my younger brother were playing up or just generally causing mischief, my Nan would admonish: "You'll end up getting a four penny 'un".

Gazolba · Jul 6, 2019

oscillatewildly said:
On Mum's side, My Grandad was a Welshman and Nan was from Burnley (Padiham.)
In a moment of exasperation or surprise, Grandad would utter "Stone the crows"!
If me or my younger brother were playing up or just generally causing mischief, my Nan would admonish: "You'll end up getting a four penny 'un".

My father would say "Stop doing that or I'll box your ears".

Gazolba · Jul 6, 2019

Alan Dugdales Moustache said:
What time is it grandad ?
" it's five and twenty past "

Must have been a remnant of an old way of counting. From an old nursery rhyme:
"Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie":
Sing a Song of Sixpence by Mother Goose

Sky_Blue_Dreamer · Jul 6, 2019

All from my nan:
"I'm a Cov kid with a button on me hat"
"I'm not well and no-one will let me be bad"
if she forgot something "I've been to bed since then"

And she did the posh telephone voice too, but also with strangers in person.

LastGarrison · Jul 7, 2019

Black over Bill’s Mothers.

ovduk78 · Jul 7, 2019

LastGarrison said:
Black over Bill’s Mothers.

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.

Sky_Blue_Daz · Jul 7, 2019

One me dad uses is “well fuck my old boots “

Houchens Head · Jul 7, 2019

"Make sure you wear clean underwear in case you're in an accident!" What are the paramedics going to say? 'My God! I'm not touching him! Have you seen his underpants? Bloody filthy!'

Old expressions your parents/grandparents used (1 Viewer)

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