Piffy on a rock bun

[Ineedanewjobsoon]

Does anyone else use this idiom regularly, or just me?

usually shortened to ‘Like Piffy’ as in. “ I’m stood here like Piffy whilst you lot faff around”
I baffled a few colleagues at work the first time I used it and my DH had never heard it either.

DH uses the phrase ‘Like Wanna Lockharte’ in a similar context. (No idea if any of that is spelt correctly)
We were both born in Lancashire for context.

Left hanging like a spare part, I imagine.

I’ve never heard it before but I like it!

Left waiting for something, standing around with nothing to do.

I’ve only ever heard it in Manchester and no one can explain who Piffy is/was or why he/she/it is standing around. As for the rock bun, an Eccles cake might make more (vernacular) sense. It just seems to mean someone hanging about with no purpose.
It isn’t in the same league as Liverpool’s ‘standing around like one of Lewis’s’ which is more specific and refers to someone making a holy show of themselves (according to my proud Evertoni & Catholic g.granny) by reference to the nude male statue (Jacob Epstein’s ‘Liverpool Resurgent’ ) above the main entrance of the old Lewis’s department store. The statue was affectionately nicknamed ‘Dickie’ Lewis in acknowledgment of its (ahem) prominence.

‘I was sat there, like a lemon’ or , if you’ve got East End connections, maybe ‘What am I, chopped liver?’

My MIL says this all the time.

The first time she said it I was like WTF?!

I've heard it but it's not one my mum ever used. My mum used to say "stood there like cheese at 4 pence!" Lancashire here.

Okay, someone has to ask... Who in the wide world is Piffy?

My elderly friend uses it. She recently had a stroke and it's one of the things I miss her saying! Broad NW accent.

My mum used to say it. She was from North Manchester but we lived in S Manc.

Another Southerner here, I get the lemon reference but chopped liver? 😆🤣😆

It's a very Mancunian thing - my Mum has always said it (Levenshulme) and I say it regularly at work (Stoke-on-Trent) and not a single one of my colleagues has ever heard it before!

It's a Jewish turn of phrase - a bit like "What am I, Scotch mist??"

Phew I'm not the only one baffled!

Just realised that Scotch mist might also be a Manc/Stockport thing, sorry! Can anyone clarify?

Mancunian and yes!

Use it frequently and taught it to my Midlands DH, my mums from Stockport

Another common one in the family is live in hope, die in Caergwrle (2 villages near us)

Never heard of those saying.

Standing there like a lemon is what I use.

"Like one of Lewis's" means standing around like a shop mannequin. I would use it when DH or whoever is faffing around while I'm stood waiting.

Never heard of it. I'm from SE England but live in the NW near a border with Lancashire and I've never heard it here either.

My DM is from Liverpool (though moved south when she was a child). The phrase she and my grandparents used was 'I'm standing here like soft Joe'!

Thanks, I’ve heard of Scotch mist. Who the hell is soft Joe though? 😆

Patience on a monument

Am I stood here like piffy on a stick?

Is what I would say. I'm from Manchester.

I also know the scotch mist saying.

Lancs/Cheshire DM used to say "standing here like Piffy" - but no rock bun. I am now carrying on the tradition but not sure if my DC will take up the cause when I'm gone!😄

all the time! Also
As much use as a chocolate fireguard
Like a fart in a colander
You make a better door than a window
Were you born in a barn?

Who the hell is soft Joe though?

No idea! Perhaps he's a friend of Piffy's!