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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:
ArmySurplusHamster · 05/10/2025 19:11

’Standing here like cheese at fourpence’ for being kept waiting. Lancs, I think.

Regarding ‘guts for garters’, I offer you the (first half, anyway) C20 banal equivalent, ‘I’ll have your clappers for a necktie’.

’Like a pig with a musket’, anyone? (Comment on seeing someone approach a task clumsily or cluelessly)

Lucyweeks · 05/10/2025 19:10

UnctuousUnicorns · 05/10/2025 18:05

@Crazycatladywithnocats "My nan used to say “I couldn’t fancy him if his arse was covered in diamonds”

"I wouldn't touch him/it etc. with a bargepole" is the expression I'm familiar with.

My grans favourite too and she left some great diamonds)
Also he had a face like a smacked kipper with a hat on.

We say dry as a badgers arse for sour wine and tight as a ducks arse for penny pinchers.

Spawnny Eyed Wozerk is an unactractive man (I had the pleasure of calling my BFFs ex dp that when she finally left him).

I've seen more meat on a butchers pencil.
Bonk was our expression in the 80s.
And mad as a bag of frogs.

My gen Z DD got an amorous approach that said 'you're a sort'.
She did laugh (she's a posho and normally eats people for breakfast).

Enjoyable thread @WalkDontWalk

Rainydayinlondon · 05/10/2025 19:09

Itiswhysofew · 05/10/2025 16:22

He's a right Wally! - idiot.
What a bod - nerd.
Cheesed off - fed up. DM used to say this.
That's codswallop - a load of rubbish/nonsense.
Donkey's years (donkeys) - in a long time.

I use all these and Gordon Bennett, Dishy, taking the mick (although sometimes taking the Michael)

Christwosheds · 05/10/2025 19:08

ImSoPeopledOut · 05/10/2025 18:40

"Charlie's dead" for a subtle "your slip is showing under your skirt" hint

"Seen more meat on a biscuit" for a very skinny person

Edited

Also ‘it’s snowing down South’ for your slip showing .

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?"

Mix56 · 05/10/2025 19:06

Gor Blimey..(God Blind me) toned down to Gordon Bennet

carmak · 05/10/2025 19:05

Fluffyblackcat7 · 05/10/2025 18:50

My Granny used this and also 'She was no better than she ought to be.' I think they both meant more specifically that the lady in question had loose morals.

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My dad's first wife was 'no better than she ought to be,' according to my mum.

Christwosheds · 05/10/2025 19:04

Abhannmor · 05/10/2025 15:34

'Mitching' .... Ireland same time. Not heard lately.

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It’s mitching in Wales too.

Heggettypeg · 05/10/2025 19:04

PeaceReacher · 05/10/2025 18:59

I heard someone a bit posher call it sky wine once!

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I've heard "corporation wine". I guess that's not as posh as sky wine but posher than corporation pop!

BlueEyedBogWitch · 05/10/2025 19:03

Corporation hair oil - water.
So greedy he could peel an orange in his pocket.
Me stomach think’s me throat’s been cut.
I’m so hungry I could eat a scabby horse between two mouldy mattresses.
Eyes like a shithouse rat.
Radar lugs (when accusing us of listening in, or ‘earwigging’).

All courtesy of my dad.

NeedAnyHelpWithThatPaperBag · 05/10/2025 19:01

This thread should be kept for posterity, lol.

carmak · 05/10/2025 19:00

'I'm stood here like two of eels waiting for liquor' my mum's favourite saying if someone kept her waiting. SE london, refering to eel pie, mash and green liquor served up locally. Yuck

'I'll pay you' meant you had a smack coming.

PeaceReacher · 05/10/2025 18:59

EllatrixB · 05/10/2025 18:55

Haha yes, this is deffo a Mancunian thing!

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I heard someone a bit posher call it sky wine once!

Heggettypeg · 05/10/2025 18:59

oncemoreuntothebeachdearfriends · 05/10/2025 18:22

Cloth-ears was deaf.
Specky 4 eyes was a spectacles wearer.
Glad they're no longer used

I never heard 'cloth-ears' used to or about anyone who was actually deaf; the implication was that you weren't paying attention or taking in what was being said. Four-eyes was definitely about wearing specs, though.

UnctuousUnicorns · 05/10/2025 18:57

Sidekicksimone · 05/10/2025 18:38

My former flatmate (from Doncaster) had a brilliant phrase, if someone wanted you to do something that was completely unachievable. “He thinks I can get them books marked by tomorrow; he must think I can chew coal and fart flames.” I used it recently in conversation with a casual acquaintance and was met with a politely revolted expression that made me regret my word choice.

If someone were asked to do a lot of tasks all at once or in a very short time, they would retort with, "Shall I stick a short-handled broom up my arse while I'm at it?".

EllatrixB · 05/10/2025 18:56

UnctuousUnicorns · 05/10/2025 18:53

We'd say, "He's so thin; he has to run around in the shower to get wet", or "He'd best not step on the plughole".

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See also: "His knees are like knots on cotton" 😁

EllatrixB · 05/10/2025 18:55

PeaceReacher · 05/10/2025 18:53

Corporation pop - tap water

Haha yes, this is deffo a Mancunian thing!

PeaceReacher · 05/10/2025 18:53

Corporation pop - tap water

UnctuousUnicorns · 05/10/2025 18:53

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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We'd say, "He's so thin; he has to run around in the shower to get wet", or "He'd best not step on the plughole".

Heggettypeg · 05/10/2025 18:51

PeaceReacher · 05/10/2025 18:47

It was shap in Lancashire. Shap y’barra.

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Siapo (shape) is still used in that way in Wales, too, at any rate round here where I live.

Fluffyblackcat7 · 05/10/2025 18:50

Svolvaer · 05/10/2025 17:47

One from my grandma - “she’s all fur coat and no knickers”. Someone trying to make out they’re posh and monied when they are just ordinary.

My Granny used this and also 'She was no better than she ought to be.' I think they both meant more specifically that the lady in question had loose morals.

PeaceReacher · 05/10/2025 18:47

DrEmilyCrabtree · 05/10/2025 18:22

Your "frame" was 'shape' in my childhood (nw, 1980s). Anyone being a bit wet was told to 'show some shape'.
Familiar with the cast majority of these but Scousers (or environs) - standing there like one of Lewis's (rather than like Piffy)

Also mention of Icky the fire bobby - in answer to who's there/that

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It was shap in Lancashire. Shap y’barra.

UnctuousUnicorns · 05/10/2025 18:47

@Heggettypeg "You're going the right way ( said to a child who was being naughty; "for a thick ear" was implied)"

We would be told, "You'll get what's coming to you" if we were "working our ticket".

Michino · 05/10/2025 18:44

TheignT · 05/10/2025 16:32

Oh yes I remember Bill's mother when I was a child. I also wondered who he was.

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I was told it referred to Shakespeare, though why his mother was included I've got no idea!

Neurodiversitydoctor · 05/10/2025 18:42

OSTMusTisNT · 05/10/2025 16:07

"Do you think I came up the Clyde on a banana boat?"

Haven't heard that for years, not sure if the origins of it?

And,

"Its as much use as a chocolate fireguard/ashtray on a motorbike."

Guessing central heating and vaping will be the demise of these 2.

I say chocolate tea pot Londoner now living in Kent