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

I also say ‘crikey’ and ‘yikes’ and ‘cross’

I hadn’t realised ‘cross’ has fallen out of fashion. Do people only say ‘angry’ nowadays?

I'm bilingual and can translate to and from both languages. @Minimili , your DP might have English as a 2nd or 3rd language, so he probably would not be able to do written translation.

I think of Paul Hogan at the ballet in that cigar (or was it lager?) advert:
"Struth, there's a bloke down there with no strides!" 😅

Ah, my dad is from Walker. 🙂

I'm a translator. Good translators translate into their native language - in my case German to English. As long as he can understand the second example and convert it to his native language there would be no problem. Some people obviously do translate in both directions but a good quality translation agency wouldn't hired them to translate into the non-native language. (Interpreting is different - depending on the type you've do need to go bother ways).

"Give me a break" to me means "give it a rest" i.e. stop whatever annoying thing you're doing, or stop asking the impossible of me. Also an expression of incredulousness. See also, "Oh, do me a favour."

“There’ll be the devil to pay” meaning you’re about to get in real trouble. From a naval expression for which the whole expression was “the devil to pay and no pitch hot”

Geordie here - we used to say someone was “a workie ticket”

Pb is the chemical symbol for lead.

Council pop (pronounced cooncil) in Northumberland!

Never heard of swinging the lead, what on earth does that mean?

I always thought Yikes was a bit American and have never used it, I think the kids say it a bit now as slightly ironic.

I always think it is funny/odd in Notting Hill when Julia Roberts makes fun of Hugh Grant for saying whoopsie daisies when he falls down, telling him no-one says that apart from 5 year old girls in pig tails. I say it all the time!

@HoppingPavlova my dad was a Ten Pound Pom and used to say struth and stone the crows all the time when I was a kid, not so much now.

@Sourisblanche haha I've said that to my kids before and had absolutely no explanation for where it come from! My dad also says "We getting home via Shanks' pony" meaning we're walking home - I've always presumed shanks means legs in this context

Banjaxed - means somethings messed up.

@HoppingPavlovaooh yes, 'struth' was used here a lot when I was at school, kids and adults. Not heard that for years!

The majority of these are very familiar to me. My dc use them too ' it's like bleedin picadilly in ere' for leaving the lights on

They dont use ' Light on his loafers' as its very out of favour, but my gp did, to describe a confirmed bachelor who preferred men.

All mouth and no trousers

Fur coat no knickers.

' it's like a pub in 'ere' as granny smoked indoors

Pea souper when foggy. I do that too!

You'll get square eyes.

’I’ll take one for Ron’ (meaning I’ll take an extra one for later on’

My Yorkshire grandma calls me a daft a'porth! Myself grandpa (from Durham) used to call me Tuppence a'penny.

I'm sure my daughter has a book with "yikes" in it. I'm going to be trying to remember which one all day now.

My dad would always say "You make a better door than a window" if one of us stood in front of the TV as kids. He has loads of expressions.

• Take X for Justin (= just in case)
• Couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery
• Bent as a nine bob note (definitely offensive these days!)

My mum always said "she's the cat's mother" when we were kids.

Stone the crows !
Late DH spoke fluent French and said something about les corbeaux

I use ‘crumbs’ or ‘oh my giddy aunt’ for shock which my teens find baffling.

I got in the car this weekend and said to my husband who was driving, “home James and don’t spare the horses!”.

He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. He’s not called James nor is he British. My mum used to say that a lot driving home from school and it just came out of nowhere!

I'll add
"well I'll go to the foot of our stairs" to express shock

"my giddy aunt" to express mild shock

"I'm as fat as Danny Lambert" I'm full, thanks, no more for me

And also “there’s more meat on a butcher’s pencil”

Is he translating speech or written word? I can’t see many people saying the second option.

‘Give us a break!’ Give me a chance.

I recognise about 98% of these.

I had a Scottish mother and southern father and we moved round a lot.

I read a lot and have done since as long as I can remember and knew the background of a lot of the phrases.

One not mentioned and that my dad used to say was he had “a bone in his leg”

As a ND literal child I just didn’t get it and used to list the bones in his leg 😂. My younger sister just accepted it as a valid reason we couldn’t disturb our dad.

My DP is Asian (middle eastern) and picked up a lot of phrases.
I taught him to say “oh my giddy aunt” with a rising inflection for when he is in an awkward situation because it’s unexpected and makes people laugh and diffuses some awkward moments.

We were looking into getting him a job as a translator but whilst his English appears perfect and he can read and write and SPAG is better than a lot of English people there are so many words he doesn’t know.

I think I did test him with words a lot of English people also wouldn’t know but if you needed to communicate then learn English conversationally wouldn’t you prefer to learn common worlds and phrases?

He speaks 5 languages but his English is very much a northern dialect and anything American was banned after hearing him pronounce aluminium 😂.

Does anyone think it’s worth looking into translation?

For an example he could say “Katie is a good student and was wondering what job to do after finishing school. She is good at sport and music and could make a career out of both”

He would struggle with “Katie excels at the national curriculum and has been pondering her future. She is athletic and has a flair for music.
Her instincts are to go in a musical direction but she thinks physical education would be more fulfilling and prosperous”

Most people would have no issues from gaining the information they wanted from the first sentences. We are wondering if he’d be expected to translate to the standard of the second?

I don’t think anyone can advise on here we would appreciate any suggestions or guidance - especially if you have any experience with translating please?

Me too! Late gen x