Can you share your pithy, old-fashioned sayings?

[JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff]

DS is 7 and has a very folkloric imagination. He is always coming out with sayings that he has invented but that sound for a sec like they might be real.

I am going to make him a list of real proverbs and sayings as I think he'd get a kick out of it.

I'm starting with "many a mickle makes a muckle".... can you help me by adding your favourites???

Like a fart in a trance . ( wandering aimlessly).

My Nan used to say “bloody sands and beaches” instead of bloody hell

at least Dick Turpin wore a mask (used this the other day when I paid TWO POUNDS SIXTY for a cornetto)

It’s like the Mary Celeste in here
like a fart in a colander

He's not a full shilling

The lights are on but nobody's home.

It is What it is.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

You’d forget your head if it wasn’t screwed on.

Who let Molly out of prison (to fart)

A fool and his money are soon parted

All good things come to those who wait

Quite a few of the above - but to add.

I don't give a tinker's cuss.
He's as tight as a duck's chuff.
He's as bent as a nine-bob note.
And one of my mum's (who was normally very polite and proper). If a cup of tea wasn't strong enough she'd describe it as 'weak as titty'

A fool and his money are soon parted.
You make a better door than a window (if you're standing blocking the light).
All fur coat (or red hat) and no knickers/all lace curtains at t'front - both meaning you're poor but putting on a front.

Hells, bells and buckets of blood!
To look like the wreck of the Hesperus is a favourite!

@JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff Give it a few years and I bet at least one of those starts appearing elsewhere!

Ne’er cast a clout til May be out.

Describing something very dark: “It’s as black as the Earl of Hell’s waistcoat.”

We say are you digging for potatoes?

some more;
he’s one sandwich short of a picnic
you’re so far over the line, the line is a dot to you (from Friends in the 1990s)

I haven’t read the full thread, so apologies if this has already been mentioned.

I have a book that lists loads of sayings and gives a brief overview of where they originated from. It’s a very interesting read. “Red Herrings & White Elephants” by Albert Jack.

www.amazon.co.uk/Herrings-White-Elephants-Albert-Jack/dp/1844544613

If there was work in the bed he'd sleep on the floor.

The older the fiddle the sweeter the tune.

Don't judge a book by its cover.

Doesn't know his arse from his elbow.

My parents favourite is “better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick” whenever something even mildly good happens!

It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good. (Has proved true for me time after time)

My mother used to say, “he’d have a fit with his knees up”. She was a Londoner, but her mother came from the West Midlands.

let sleeping dogs lie
a rolling stone gathers no moss
what that got to do with the price of fish?
look what the cat dragged in

Hoist by your own petard .

you make a better door than a window - for those who stand in front of the tv.

What's the point of buying a dog and learning to bark yourself?

Mad as a box of frogs.

It's like herding cats.

As sure as eggs is eggs and God made little apples

Like a bulldog chewing a wasp

Oh you're lovely... despite what they say...

Fit fit fits fit fit?

Dull as ditch water
Wouldn't touch that with a barge pole
Gone as white as a sheet (ill/shock)
Look like you've seen as ghost
In for a penny, in for a pound
Many a cruel word spoken in jest
Gone to see a man about a dog
Spend a penny
All at sea (bit chaotic)

im as dry Gandhi s flip flop (I want a cup of tea)