"I feel a right Charlie"

[BeckyBismuth]

Anyone heard this phrase before? I haven't. I think it's strange, and Charlie-ist. My cousin has a son called Charlie, I have two friends called Charlotte who go by Charli/Charlie too and they were annoyed by it.

Did you approach both of your friends called Charlotte to ask if they were offended?

That is an old, old saying!

No need to be offended though, bit much.

I used the phrase I felt like a right Charlie recently (past week).
The 88 year old woman I was working with told me that she hadn't heard it for ages. 'But of course, my dog, you are getting on'. I'm 61

Its a great phrase.

According to Google, it comes from either
▪︎ Cockney rhyming slang, potentially relating to "Charlie Hunt" (rhyming with "cunt") or,
▪︎ referring to the inefficient 17th-century London nightwatchmen known as "Charlies".

I love finding out where phrases come from.
I once looked up where "Sweet Fanny Adams" (meaning "to have nothing"). Its super dark. And thankfully has been changed to Sweet FA, (Sweet Fuck All)

I THINK it comes from a famous clown from the beginning of the 20th century called Charlie-something.

No idea of its origin, but it was something my parents, born in the 1920s used to say, and a lot of my Dad’s sayings were from radio shows. I think we probably use actual swear words these days.

Gordon Bennett 🙄

And why is Larry happy?
Is he a sandboy?
What is a sandboy?
So many questions in life.

It's a very common phrase. Origin is suspected in Cockney Rhyming slang, and may be a reference to jockey Charlie Smirke (berk)

We used to call people 'a Wally' - essentially the same as 'Silly Billy'.

Apologies to everybody out there named Walter!

Generic man

Generic men

😁

Tom Dick & Harry definitely means generic men. Not sure why Bob being my uncle would mean quick/easy/done and dusted though.

Tom, Dick and Harry can take turns to be the Man on the Clapham Omnibus

These are my questions too!

😂😂

Big time Charlie

Tom Dick and Harry goes back to at least the 1600s. And there's a similar reference in Shakespeare to Tom Dick and Francis. Thomas, Richard and Henry (Harry) all being incredibly common first names in the 16th and 17th century.

Bob's your uncle...well if you were Arthur Balfour he was. His uncle was Prime Minister, Robert Gascoyne Cecil and gave Arthur the job of Chief Minister for Ireland. Nice easy bit of nepotism. Arthur then became the next Prime Minister Robert's wife was not called Frances/Fanny though.

I was a proper Charlie only last week. Fell down in front of a roomful to people and looked a right berk.

Yes I've heard it. Can't say I've heard it used particularly often or recently.

I suppose it was the 'karen' of its day?

I agree with others that it’s a really well known phrase. I don’t hear people saying it as often as in the past but it IS a phrase that I still hear on a regular basis. I’ve heard in the past that it might have its origins in Cockney rhyming slang for Charlie Hunt or Charlie Smirke, who was a jockey in the 1930s.

Very well known.
Its the reason the heroine of this book was called Charley (her real name was Rowan) - someone said she looked a right Charlie/Charley and it stuck.
Charley: Amazon.co.uk: Robinson, Joan G: Books

Yes, I think it's well known, but old fashioned, my parents/grandparents era (I'm in my 50s). About on a par with Silly Billy for offensiveness.

My post was lighthearted.

I've heard it before. It's the sort of thing my mum would say when recounting a story in which she did something silly.

It's an old expression but I admit I haven't heard it in a while (& as someone with Charles as one of my forenames, I cannot say I'm offended by it).

I know the phrase, my parents used it often and it's in older books. Can't say I'd ever use it, but that's because 'you Wally' is more current!

(Don't mean to defame any Wallaces out there).