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Original poster

Words and phrases that you like and wish you'd hear more often (light hearted)

167 replies

ShockingBritain · 05/05/2026 09:42

Any phrases people would like hear more often?

After reading thread about phrases that give people 'rage'.

OP posts:
jackspratswife01 · 06/05/2026 21:07

alexdgr8 · 05/05/2026 14:34

Well I'll go to the foot of my stairs.

Yes this one

PoohneedsaPimms · 06/05/2026 20:37

A fit of piqué

ThatGladTiger · 06/05/2026 20:36

George (can’t remember the surname) the house renovation guy on channel 4 always says crikey. I have made it my goal to use crikey in a sentence. Always think after … oh I should have said it…. One day!

ArcticBells · 06/05/2026 20:32

Bally instead of bloody. Reminds me of my mother!

GrillaMilla · 06/05/2026 20:28

Love the word peevish, it's great.

Nincompoop
Drat
Cheerio!
Toodle-pip! Or toodle-oo!

Dimmies · 06/05/2026 20:23

Peevish.

user1471453601 · 06/05/2026 19:19

Phrases from my Yorkshire youth that I don't hear much and miss.

"I was stood there like Joe Loss"

"Well, I'll go to the bottom of our stairs!"

ButterYellowFlowers · 06/05/2026 19:14

Timorous

SerendipityCat · 06/05/2026 19:12

My husband occasionally threatens to lead a one-man revival of “going for a slash”, as it was the favoured variant of “going for a pee’ when he was a teenager. He also uses ‘coming down like stair rods” when it’s raining heavily and has been known to call people - affectionately- a “daft ha’porth”.

I rather like “champion”, as mentioned by another poster, and even though David Dickinson grossly overused it during his fifteen minutes of fame, “bobby dazzler”. (I can still hear my grandma saying it when I was dutifully paraded in front of her in my new grammar school uniform, “eeh lass, tha’s a reight bobby dazzler!” A nice little fragment of memory.)

Flamingojune · 06/05/2026 18:49

Excuse me please rather than just excuse me

Turnitoffnonagain · 06/05/2026 18:44

Shenanigans
Malarkey
I also like "posho" expressions delivered in a more down to earth accent. When asked how he's doing a friend says "champion" or "tickety boo" with comic delivery.

Timeforatincture · 06/05/2026 18:36

Yellowpapersun · 05/05/2026 14:27

Peas above sticks. As in, if someone is becoming arrogant or big headed, they're getting peas above sticks.

My late PILs used that phrase to mean small children becoming over tired or overwrought, ie with no visible means of support.

ExquisiteSocialSkills · 06/05/2026 18:32

TheDogsMother · 05/05/2026 16:15

We’re all going to hell in a handcart. Feels very apt right now.

Love this one.

igelkott2026 · 05/05/2026 17:06

youalright · 05/05/2026 14:28

Oh Codswallop. Nobody ever says it and just so random and funny if they do

I use it sometimes. I might start using it more often!

igelkott2026 · 05/05/2026 17:05

SnorthSnarf · 05/05/2026 09:45

I love the word 'pillock'

I thought it was a type of fish until quite recently 😬

I think its a brilliant description of someone laughably incompetent, useless or dense but basically harmless. I'm trying to revive its use.

Also "plonker".

NoraLuka · 05/05/2026 16:37

My nanna used to call everyone chucklebutty, it means love/darling over in the East Midlands.

Threesloths · 05/05/2026 16:32

I don’t mind if I do

TheDogsMother · 05/05/2026 16:15

We’re all going to hell in a handcart. Feels very apt right now.

NoCommentingFromNowOn · 05/05/2026 16:08

Frock - ‘do you like my new frock?’ while giving a little twirl maybe.

WinterCarlisle · 05/05/2026 16:05

“Dig” as in “I really dig your new top”. I did try for a while after listening to Peter, Paul and Mary but I just got odd looks.

PauliesWalnuts · 05/05/2026 15:57

Inarightpickleandpreserve · 05/05/2026 14:37

I said Robert’s your father’s brother to one of my teens recently and got a blank stare 😁

Show quote history

My mum used to say “Bob’s your uncle, Fanny’s your aunt, and the baby’s name’s Dripping”. :-)

Jo1667 · 05/05/2026 15:54

My auntie used to say "oh ecky peck!"
You just don't hear that now!

And I also think it's interesting how there are regional variations of phrases that mean the same thing. In South Yorkshire if someone is mouthing off at someone they're "making their mouth" at them. Here in the North East I've heard people say "he was setting his lip up to them".

NotAWurstToIt · 05/05/2026 15:45

Discombobulated

ComtesseDeSpair · 05/05/2026 15:25

“D’ye think I button up at the back?” spoken with a broad Glaswegian accent. I really like it, to me it sounds exactly like what it’s intended to describe.

IHeartJonathanBailey · 05/05/2026 15:14

Higgledy-piggledy

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