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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:
Handeyethingyowl · 05/10/2025 20:48

I say so many of these, not even ironically. It is only since my kids could question what I was saying that I realised how many. Favourites are haven’t the foggiest, I’ll be there in two shakes of a donkeys tail, Gordon Bennett - my kids say this too - flaming Nora (Nora for short).

Although “yikes” only occasionally and ironically, a la Scooby-Do.

Arrivist · 05/10/2025 20:45

Sweet Fanny Adams, meaning Fuck All
Bob’s your uncle
Theres nowt as queer as folk
till the cows come home

Denim4ever · 05/10/2025 20:43

MagpiePi · 05/10/2025 16:31

I lived in north Warwickshire for a while and it was ‘Bill’s mother’ that was referred to as in ‘it’s a bit black over Bill’s mother’s’ meaning there were dark clouds looming and it could rain.

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So Will is a southerner and Bill a Midlander 😀

The other strange one I remember is from the Black Country. Lower Gornal 'where they put the pig on the wall to watch the band go by'.

NormasArse · 05/10/2025 20:35

Kevinbaconsrealwife · 05/10/2025 18:23

Well the first bit is right about exaggerating the hand gesture away from the chin…..then it’s more of a “ Chinny Wreck-un” 😂…. I’m guessing you remember it too my lovely? Xx

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It was Chinny Reckon! To imply you weren’t being truthful.

Terrribletwos · 05/10/2025 20:09

I distinctly remember my parents saying "Gordon Bennett" and I am pretty sure it was from this...

Google Wikipedia.

LeeHarper5 · 05/10/2025 20:02

I went out to secure the trampoline/furniture in the garden pre storm Amy and said to my son I was going to ‘Batten down the hatches’ and he thought that was a hilarious thing to say.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 05/10/2025 20:02

SunnieShine · 05/10/2025 19:51

I say Jimmy Riddle all the time.

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"Go and see a man about a dug (dog he was Glaswegian) "

I never understood that one .

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 05/10/2025 20:00

lifeonmars100 · 05/10/2025 17:15

"This won't get the baby a new bonnet", I mutter that to myself to try and make myself get on with stuff at home. Never heard anyone else say it that I can recall so I don't know where I got it from.

I say "Babies'n'Bonnets" to my DC which they know means "This won't buy the baby a new bonnet"

Evaka · 05/10/2025 19:57

mzpq · 05/10/2025 14:27

I think 'Taking the mick' is now considered offence, as in a slur against the Irish, isn't it?

Nope. Irish and use it all the time. I'm speaking for my people.

MaturingCheeseball · 05/10/2025 19:56

These are all lovely expressions. It is our duty to keep them going!

I remember a while ago on MN - I think it was on the Meghan&Harry threads, someone using the phrase “no room to swing a cat” and an irate poster accusing them of advocating animal cruelty. These literal people walk among us…

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 05/10/2025 19:53

TheignT · 05/10/2025 19:46

My mother's reply if someone asked if she had the time was yes have you got the energy. She was very straight-laced and I swear she didn't get what she was saying.

When I was a teenager it was "Have you got the time" ..... "Have you got the money"? Shock

SunnieShine · 05/10/2025 19:51

EllatrixB · 05/10/2025 18:36

My dad still says "spend a penny" as well as "I'm going for a Jimmy Riddle".

Also, a thin person is "like a matchstick with the wood scraped off".

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I say Jimmy Riddle all the time.

UnctuousUnicorns · 05/10/2025 19:48

TheignT · 05/10/2025 19:46

My mother's reply if someone asked if she had the time was yes have you got the energy. She was very straight-laced and I swear she didn't get what she was saying.

The rude and childish answer to that was "Time you bought a watch", used by us as children, not by adults.

TheignT · 05/10/2025 19:46

My mother's reply if someone asked if she had the time was yes have you got the energy. She was very straight-laced and I swear she didn't get what she was saying.

cheapskatemum · 05/10/2025 19:42

Dogaredabomb · 05/10/2025 15:50

Iirc Gordon Bennett was a cricketer who did very well one year. I remember in the late 70s someone saying if he didn't do as well again then we'd have to pick another name to say.

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There was no 60s or 70s cricketer called Gordon Bennett. I would have heard of him if there were. They were the decades of my childhood & teenage years & I was raised in a cricket-mad household.

How about the expression, “A load of old cobblers”? I haven’t heard that for a while.

FurForksSake · 05/10/2025 19:42

The barn door is open - flies undone
when asked the time - freckle past a spot
cat’s out of the bag

i think many idioms are lost on my kids.

lalaloopyhead · 05/10/2025 19:34

Nowt so queer as folk?

You look like the vicars son...when someone wore their trousers pulled up too high... possibly not so relevent now with high waisted trousers being in fashion!

Moederbuffly · 05/10/2025 19:30

Growing up along the south coast, a familiar expression if you found something a bit incredulous was a tut followed by a long drawn out weee. I still think this but only once in the many years since I moved away have I actually said it out loud and nobody knew what I was on about 😁. I still say you're flying at half mast if someone's flies are undone and I have a friend who says crumbs and crikey!

carmak · 05/10/2025 19:27

My dad, if you didn't say please or thankyou,

Manners, pianners, tables and chairs,
Belong to the lady who lives upstairs.

JenXWarrior · 05/10/2025 19:25

UnintentionalArcher · 05/10/2025 14:44

Oh interesting

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You sound disappointed....

LadyLapsang · 05/10/2025 19:24

Do you think I came up the Clyde on a bicycle?
Pea souper - thick fog
Raining cats and dogs
Dog (dog and bone -phone)
Telling porkie pies -lies
Butcher’s ((hook) - look
No better than she ought - sexually promiscuous woman
Butter wouldn’t melt - don’t come the innocent with me
Flying without a licence - your fly is undone
Old Bill - the Police
Up the stairs to Bedfordshire - time for bed
Apples - stairs
Me old china (china plate - mate)
Parky - cold
This might just be one from our family - my DF singing, Where the bee sucks, there suck I (from The Tempest) cross reference to bees and honey = money

UnctuousUnicorns · 05/10/2025 19:17

EllatrixB · 05/10/2025 19:07

That's hilarious @PeaceReacher 😁

Does anyone say Scotch mist anymore? As in, if you can't find something and your parent immediately finds it instead they say "What's that, Scotch mist?!", whilst rolling their eyes and pursing their lips, obvs.

Sort of related to "What am I, chopped liver?"

Yes, my parents and grandparents said Scotch mist. 70s childhood, NW England.

MinnieCauldwell · 05/10/2025 19:15

She's all fur coat and no knickers

She's the talk of the wash house

Well that won't butter any parsnips

That won't buy the baby a new bonnet

carmak · 05/10/2025 19:13

It's not just sayings, it's strange actions as well. My mum would chase a sailor and touch his collar, for luck. She always rubbed her football pools envelope on her backside before putting it in the letterbox, for luck.

Always said White Rabbits three times on the first of the month....for luck.

I'm seeing a theme here. Grin

MinnieCauldwell · 05/10/2025 19:12

pontipinemum · 05/10/2025 15:12

@mzpq I'm Irish, but born/ part raised around London. As far as I know it's not a slur against Irish people. If it is let me know how so I can fish out my offended hat next time I hear it 😜

@WalkDontWalk swinging the lead is the only one I don't know. What does it mean? Hitting someone?

I'm 37 so wasn't around 50yrs ago to hear that one

Swinging the lead was how in times gone by you could see the depth of the water you were sailing in. It was considered the easiest job on the ship so was given to anyone who was sick - or skiving!