Old sayings that you heard in your childhood.

[Mcr Warrior]

"Preston " Down't suff " -- down the drain. I think a suff was a mine drain

It was, normally spelt "sough" but definitely pronounced "suff".

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Another old saying was that someone was said to be "neither use nor ornament".

 

[Killingworth]

"As thick as two short planks" Not very bright. A description once applied by Princess Diana to herself!

 

[Gloster]

"As thick as two short planks" Not very bright. A description once applied by Princess Diana to herself!

In my family the variant would be on the lines of: “To call him/her as thick as two short planks is an insult to respectable pieces of sawn timber.” Slightly pretentious, but sometimes mildly amusing to those who hadn’t heard it before.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

When I was at Junior school, my handwriting was and is poor and I was not good at Maths, I am not great at it now, especially long multiplication, division and subtraction, (The bit where you have to carry numbers over in particular.) I was shouted at by one of the "Nice" female teachers, that I was "As thick as two short planks" and would never get anywhere in life, well, I became manager of a Tour Operator, visited many wonderful destinations around the world as was able to take early retirement at when I was 54. As I say that was at junior school, the masters at secondary school could also come out with interesting sayings too, one of their favourites was "This hurts me more than it does you" just before whacking us, or "your writing looks like a spider has just crawled out of the inkpot and walked across the page"

 

[Killingworth]

My father's description of bad handwriting was "the efforts of an inebriated spider"

 

[pdq]

My mum used to say 'My giddy aunt' when I was little - probably still does!
As we called our female relatives (and parents' friends) 'Aunty' not 'Aunt', and the Pembrokeshire accent uses a flat AH sound for Aunt, I can remember imagining lots of little black insects spinning around.

 

[Calthrop]

My mum used to say 'My giddy aunt' when I was little - probably still does!
As we called our female relatives (and parents' friends) 'Aunty' not 'Aunt', and the Pembrokeshire accent uses a flat AH sound for Aunt, I can remember imagining lots of little black insects spinning around.

With my being the child of essentially "Queen's-English-speaking" parents who pronounced "aunt" to rhyme with "can't" (if I read you rightly here, @pdq, Pembrokeshire does likewise); for a very long while I was unaware that there were parts of Britain - and other countries -- where the local accent renders the word to rhyme with "pant" (as in "puff and...").

I gather that in the USA, the word is mostly pronounced "ant", not "ahnt". As a child, I came across a little item by the American humorous versifier Ogden Nash:

"The anteater
Is an uncle-beater.
On the other hand, the skunk'll
Beat his aunt and eat his uncle."

Never having heard the "ant" pronunciation re "parent's sister"; I could only figure that the above, was just a bit of charming but rather pointless daftness (something of which he did a lot) on the part of Mr. Nash. Only in relatively recent years, have I realised the greater degree of subtlety in his wordplay here !

 

[pdq]

With my being the child of essentially "Queen's-English-speaking" parents who pronounced "aunt" to rhyme with "can't" (if I read you rightly here, @pdq, Pembrokeshire does likewise); for a very long while I was unaware that there were parts of Britain - and other countries -- where the local accent renders the word to rhyme with "pant" (as in "puff and...").

I gather that in the USA, the word is mostly pronounced "ant", not "ahnt". As a child, I came across a little item by the American humorous versifier Ogden Nash:

"The anteater
Is an uncle-beater.
On the other hand, the skunk'll
Beat his aunt and eat his uncle."

Never having heard the "ant" pronunciation re "parent's sister"; I could only figure that the above, was just a bit of charming but rather pointless daftness (something of which he did a lot) on the part of Mr. Nash. Only in relatively recent years, have I realised the greater degree of subtlety in his wordplay here !

We pronounced aunt and ant almost the same - hence my confusion as a small child. Except we'd never say Aunt - always Aunty (pronounced like anti). The phrase came out like 'My giddiant'.

 

[Calthrop]

We pronounced aunt and ant almost the same - hence my confusion as a small child. Except we'd never say Aunt - always Aunty (pronounced like anti). The phrase came out like 'My giddiant'.

Ah -- right, got you. ("Giddiant" might make a good word for an intoxicating substance -- though if things are as they should be, that's a matter about which small children know little or nothing .)

 

[Mat17]

Another old saying was that someone was said to be "neither use nor ornament".

I still say this frequently.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Another old saying was that someone was said to be "neither use nor ornament".

Quite well known that one by older folk, I would suggest, the saying usually refers to someone or something that is neither useful nor decorative, and, by implication, therefore is a complete waste of space!

 

[prod_pep]

Is 'neither use nor ornament' even considered a dated phrase? I use it fairly often.

 

[Drogba11CFC]

"Who's she, the cat's mother?"

"Don't be such a dog in a manger!"

 

[birchesgreen]

Is 'neither use nor ornament' even considered a dated phrase? I use it fairly often.

I use a number of the phrases listed in this thread almost daily. I must be old.

 

[Gloster]

"Who's she, the cat's mother?"

This was used if you referred to a female relative as she or her, rather than by their name or familiar title (Gran, etc.) Woe betide if you came up with a smart answer. However, there was no male equivalent (“Who’s ‘He’? The cat’s father?”)

 

[Killingworth]

"Just going to spend a penny." From the days when that was the standard coin in slot charge to use, usually, a ladies toilet. In other circumstances a lady might retire to "powder my nose".

If that 1d charge were index linked from 1955 it should now be at least 10p. 20p seems to be the railway going rate when a charge is imposed.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

My father's description of bad handwriting was "the efforts of an inebriated spider"

Yes, much the same thing.

 

[hexagon789]

Is 'neither use nor ornament' even considered a dated phrase? I use it fairly often.

I've never even heard of it I'm afraid, is it a UK-wide expression or region specific?

 

[Killingworth]

I've never even heard of it I'm afraid, is it a UK-wide expression or region specific?

Certainly used by my Newcastle family.

 

[GusB]

"You'd make a better door than a window" - usually said to someone standing in front of the television.

 

[Mat17]

'Neither use nor ornament' is common in Yorkshire too.

My favourite oldie was, 'were you born in a barn?' for people who leave doors open.

My grandad also used to say, 'stop laikin about.' which he meant stop messing around. Seems it's Yorkshire dialect which comes from Norse, the word derived from 'leika' - to play.

I believe the word 'bairn' for baby has similar Norse origins.

 

[adrock1976]

'Neither use nor ornament' is common in Yorkshire too.

My favourite oldie was, 'were you born in a barn?' for people who leave doors open.

My grandad also used to say, 'stop laikin about.' which he meant stop messing around. Seems it's Yorkshire dialect which comes from Norse, the word derived from 'leika' - to play.

I believe the word 'bairn' for baby has similar Norse origins.

Also, Falkirk FC are nicknamed "The Bairns".

Generally, in the West of Scotland at least, primary school age and below children are referred to as "weans" (pronounced as in the Western actor John Wayne).

 

[Calthrop]

Generally, in the West of Scotland at least, primary school age and below children are referred to as "weans" (pronounced as in the Western actor John Wayne).

Also, I think, in Northern Ireland; or at least some "elements" thereof. I've understood the word to be a contraction of "wee ones".

 

[eoff]

Generally, in the West of Scotland at least, primary school age and below children are referred to as "weans" (pronounced as in the Western actor John Wayne).

Elsewhere in Scotland, some of them would be called loons.

 

[adrock1976]

Elsewhere in Scotland, some of them would be called loons.

Would that be specific to Forfar?

My reasoning is that (using football club nicknames again) Forfar Athletic FC are nicknamed "The Loons".

 

[Mcr Warrior]

.Generally, in the West of Scotland at least, primary school age and below children are referred to as "weans" (pronounced as in the Western actor John Wayne).

Always heard it pronounced in Central Scotland as "weens".

As in "wee yins" (Little ones).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Another saying that I remembered from my childhood in the north Manchester area was that if someone had worked a long shift and was very tired, they would say "I'm jiggered".

 

[ComUtoR]

In other circumstances a lady might retire to "powder my nose".

In modern parlance. "powder my nose" has a somewhat different meaning.

 

[Mat17]

Another saying that I remembered from my childhood in the north Manchester area was that if someone had worked a long shift and was very tired, they would say "I'm jiggered".

Yep I know this one too!