Phrases you don’t hear much any more

[BarbaraVineFan]

I was just thinking about the phrase ‘I speak as I find’, which my gran always used to use to mean that she was always honest (sometimes blunt!) and realised that it has been years since I heard it! Any other phrases like this that used to be really common, but now are a dying breed?

This was in the late 80s to 90s. That's what I get for being born in shitsville. 😆

Nobody has mentioned “courting” yet, as in the song “frog went a-courting”.

Fur coat and no knickers - one of my nans loved that saying.

I use that one.

Used it by mistake in a meeting last week. Was asked to use “all carpets and curtains” if I had to use “such phrases”. Oops!

@TheeNotoriousPIG

Faffing about/a faff

We do lots of faffing about in our house! 😄
One of the things that puts me off recipes, is if they look too faffy!

Michael McIntyre did a piece once about faffing in sport, cricket was almost all faffing in his opinion!

Dublin also has a Floozie in the Jacuzzi- and the Tart with the Cart (Molly Malone statue) and the Stiffy on the Liffey (the Spire)

Here's a few:

'What the Dickens'
'That's smashing'
'Unmarried mother'

Just thought of another one, a guy referring to his girlfriend as 'my bird'. Oh, and also females being referred to as 'dolly birds' - very 1960s/70s I think.

Jimmeny cricket!

Gordon bennet!

crikey Moses!

My very old neighbour (90s) refers to me as 'Lassie' he is originally from the East end. Unsure if it has been referenced but my Mum will sometimes say, "dotting the i's and crossing the T's".

My Granny used to say, "Before the Devil puts his shoes on". But she had Scandinavian heritage so I don't think that is used here.

Kicking over the traces.

Ah, well, they would 😄

My Mum thought it was hilarious to say this to people when I used to stay with my grandmother who lived in Coventry.

She would often say 'Brain of a walnut' when me or my brother did something stupid, never heard anyone else use that.
My husband often says 'where you raised in barn', also of my hair is a mess he will finger comb it to 'make it look like someone cares for you'.

My husband calls me bird all the time, thought it was Devon thing.

I got there on shanks’s pony.

'He/she went up the stairs like a linty.'
Said of someone moving very quickly. I have no idea what a linty was

You make a better door than a window- said to someone blocking a view

I'll skelp ye if you're not careful - behave or else!

Mine is the word 'filling'. As in 'oh no, I can't eat a whole jacket potato, they're so filling.' As used by my mum, frequently.

"Hoisted by their own petard."

I haven't heard anyone say that in years!

Or "He's tighter than a duck's arse.....and that's watertight."

We do use quite a lot of these regularly e.g "it's like Blackpool illuminations in here" and "who's she? The cat's mother?" Which always make me laugh.

In reference to what we on MN call a CF: "that ones got more front than Blackpool."

leaving doors open in the house: " were yer born in a barn?"

Corporation pop: (tap water)

Love the expression "Hoisted by their own petard." It is figurative and satisfying.

Another one, which perhaps from the same era but more current is "keeping your powder dry". In my field, it is used to describe private equity firms who have a lot of cash (as in 'dry powder') to burn ie acquire assets .

We used to call tap water ‘council pop’

I used to wonder what was so terrible about the city of Coventry that they had to use it for what is actually a horrible bullying behaviour. It doesn't speak very well for Coventry, does it ? 😁

In "Auf Weidershen Pet" the lads were discussing blanking one of them ...

(Geordie accent).
"We'll send him to ... what's the German version of Coventry ?"

"Dresden mate".

😁😂😂