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Original poster

...to think that this expresson is dying out?

441 replies

WalkDontWalk · 05/10/2025 14:25

On another thread someone used the expression 'taking the mick'. And I thought, 'I used to hear that all the time when I was a kid. But I rarely do now.'

So I started to think of others that my dad used but my kids don't.

'Having a kip' or 'I was akip'.

'Yikes' (My daughter says I'm the only non-cartoon that says 'yikes'.)

'Swinging the lead'

'Bunking off'. (Daughter: 'Never heard that. Sounds rude')

'Going Dutch' (Daughter. 'Nope. No idea. Is that rude too?')

'Haven't the foggiest.'

These were all in use in London fifty years ago. Maybe they were always regional.

OP posts:
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AllJoyAndNoFun · 09/10/2025 21:52

I still say the “home James and don’t spare the horses”. Generally when I’m a bit worse for it and DH is the designated driver. He tells me I’m the only one who says that so now I know he’s wrong!!

Silverbirchleaf · 09/10/2025 21:29

Thewalrusandthecarpenter · 09/10/2025 21:07

The continental soldier line is from the song Do Your Ears Hang Low?

Show quote history

Were you a girl guide?

Thewalrusandthecarpenter · 09/10/2025 21:07

Beesandhoney123 · 07/10/2025 04:29

My dm used to say guts for garters and so do I.

Going home on shanks pony

'Home James and don't spare the horses ' was my dms usual comment if out late and wanted to get home.

We say hark at the wind.
'Enough blue in the sky for a pair of sailors trousers' meant the weather would clear up. Still use this.

Throw it over your shoulder, like a continental soldier' my dm would say then giggle, if getting df to move heavy things. No idea why.
I also use it:)

The continental soldier line is from the song Do Your Ears Hang Low?

Mondaytuesdayhappydays · 09/10/2025 00:09

She’s no better than she should be ‘
my nam’s favourite expression

Beggars belief now - it meant any bleached blonde/ sexually attractive woman
OR
any woman who had any type of aspirations outside of marriage or the home in her tiny village
eg going to nursing/secretarial college or learning to drive

MorningFresh · 08/10/2025 23:50

"All fur coat and no knickers" said of a woman with dubious morals.

Mondaytuesdayhappydays · 08/10/2025 23:10

Love the fact that ‘ noggin’ has come back into fashion as it never went out in our house - I work in East Anglia and across the border into Essex and loads young people are saying ‘I just didn’t use me noggin/ use your noggin’ or ‘ I had it stuck in the old noggin’ etc

love it !

Rainydayinlondon · 08/10/2025 23:03

Too-da-loo for goodbye

Original poster
WalkDontWalk · 08/10/2025 15:20

Puppamumma · 07/10/2025 23:17

Dogging it. Meant skipping school without permission in the west of Scotland. The phrase obviously hasn't aged well

It was 'bunking off' where I grew up - Sarf London.

There's an Arctic Monkeys song in which Alex mentions 'she wagged English and Science', which I checked with a friend from Sheffield, and it means what I thought it meant.

I think you could make a map of the UK by plotting regional slang for skipping lessons.

OP posts:
Puppamumma · 07/10/2025 23:17

Dogging it. Meant skipping school without permission in the west of Scotland. The phrase obviously hasn't aged well

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 07/10/2025 23:13

I love yikes! I will resurrect it

70sMuuMuu · 07/10/2025 22:54

CrystalShoe · 07/10/2025 04:05

THE ELEVEN-THIRTY APPOINTMENT!! 😂

Show quote history

😂😂😂

EllatrixB · 07/10/2025 22:46

Just remembered a couple of other classics from my Dad:

(Generally, a propos of nothing) "D'you want a slap across the belly with a wet fish/a poke in the eye with a sharp stick?"

(In response to me moaning about pain) "Ahh you'll be alright when the pain's gone"

(In response to me moaning about pain specifically on one side e.g. left leg, right arm etc) "D'you want me to break the other side, even out the pain for you?"

All of these said deadpan, and crucially, with absolutely no concession to the fact that I was about 6yrs old and very confused by them all.

38thparallel · 07/10/2025 21:22

Is ‘dowdy’ used at all these days, or is ‘frumpy’ used nowadays?

ilovepixie · 07/10/2025 21:18

My 19 year old Co worker asked me if I was doing anything exciting after work. I replied I’m going to see a man about a dog. He replies oh are you getting a dog 😂😂

Pedant5corner · 07/10/2025 20:44

He probably wanted to use a rude word. Grin It might be a regional thing.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 07/10/2025 20:41

Did she/he chookie - No, they didn't !

Or "That;ll be shining bright" (from "Taggart" , I think it;s rhyming slang Grin )

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 07/10/2025 20:39

Pedant5corner · 07/10/2025 18:44

No, it's usually when someone is being a bit of a coward, @70isaLimitNotaTarget .

A BIG/GREAT GIRL'S BLOUSE - Cambridge English Dictionary

Edited

My father LIED to me all these years !

Big Girls Blouses and Drawers With Pockets ! (knickers not Chester Drawers )
<Glares >

MagnoliaTreeBlossom · 07/10/2025 20:00

I like this thread with its broad range of phrases both familiar and unfamiliar to me.
I've got a few that I use but hear less often.

That'll be chookie - I think not/not a chance

Did she/he chookie - No, they didn't!

Aye! Chookie! - A likely story or That'll be right

That old chestnut- a familiar tale or excuse

What's for you, will no' go by you - If it's meant to be, it'll be.

Up to high doh! - Agitated

Pedant5corner · 07/10/2025 18:44

No, it's usually when someone is being a bit of a coward, @70isaLimitNotaTarget .

A BIG/GREAT GIRL'S BLOUSE - Cambridge English Dictionary

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 07/10/2025 18:39

Pedant5corner · 07/10/2025 18:30

Big girl's blouse means a bit of a wuss

Usually reserved for other drivers like when someone cuts you up . ((non sweary)

UnctuousUnicorns · 07/10/2025 18:34

@70isaLimitNotaTarget "Pocket in a pair of drawers" ( useless)

But girls' and women's underwear did use to have long legs, nearly down to the knees or longer, with pockets in them, to keep five or ten shilling notes safe, as girls at boarding schools in Enid Blyton and other books. Hardly useless, I'd have thought? 🤷‍♀️

Pedant5corner · 07/10/2025 18:30

Big girl's blouse means a bit of a wuss

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 07/10/2025 18:26

Two of my Dad's:

"Pocket in a pair of drawers" ( useless)
"You're a Big Girls Blouse " (idiot)

maltravers · 07/10/2025 17:32

CrystalShoe · 07/10/2025 04:51

Did anyone ever sing this rhyme in childhood, complete with the actions??

I'm Diana Dors and I'm a movie star
I've got a cute cute figure and a Playtex bra
I've got the hips, I've got the kicks, I've got the legs of a star
Cos I'm Diana Dors and I'm a movie star, ooh!

I think there's enough material in this thread to keep everyone's kids bemused for quite some time! 😂😂

Oh - I just thought of another one! To call someone a big girl's blouse, to mean they're being a wimp!

We had a variant I think, sung to the tune of
“Jesus Christ, superstar” but I can only remember “Georgie Best, superstar, wears frilly knickers and a playtex bra” .
i still use quite a lot of the phrases in the thread as they amuse me.

Dogaredabomb · 07/10/2025 17:19

And nicknames for surnames. Smudger for Smith, Chalky for White etc Dusty Miller and Nobby Clarke too!