Words and phrases that remind you of your parents?

[Plinketyplonks]

My late dad was a great one for being organised and filing things and labelling them correctly. He always had a box file labelled ‘sundries’, I rarely come across that word now but if I do it instantly makes me think of my lovely dad.

He also used ‘for Pete’s sake,’ ‘a pad’ (meaning a flat) and ‘digs’ (meaning university accommodation). Don’t often hear these now but they always remind me of him.

My mum always uses the phrase ‘took off like a Polaris missile’ when describing something taking off vertically (like a cat when you accidentally step on its tail). Polaris missiles were around in the 60s so I suppose that’s her reference. I never hear anyone say that

I remember 'you daft ha'porth'. I'm old enough to remember halfpennies/ha'pennies. So half-penny worth = ha'porth.

My Mum used to tell us off for pulling faces and would say 'If the wind changes you will get stuck like that' I mean, what's that all about! 😂

My Dad always used to say 'go and play on the motorway' (as a joke obviously)

'Keep your hand on your ha'penny' was something which mothers said to their daughters in the 1950s and before.
'Make sure you've got enough money for the bus home and keep your hand on your ha'penny.'

My DF used to say "It's snowing in Paris" if my DM's petticoat was showing beneath the hem of her dress

My DM always used to wear an apron when cooking and she called it her 'pinny'

She also always referred to the radio as a wireless

Her favourite admonishment if we misbehaved was "You wouldn't do that if the Queen was sitting here, so why do you think you can do it when it's just me here?"

Pij, short for pigeon, I think. Now then, pij. Only Dad, unless maybe Grandad as well. Tears in my eyes.

I learned about enough blue in the sky to make a sailor a pair of trousers from a friend, not family. Looking out of the window, I can say it at this very moment.

What a nice thread this is. I've enjoyed reading everyones' memories.

My Nan used to say that. She also said "You look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards". I was a scruffy child.

Not my DM, but a friends mum ~

There was a local chalkpit where the local kids used to go and play ~ friends DM used to say "If you fall down that pit and break your legs, don't come running to me!" We used to think that was hilarious (we were aged 8 or 9 at the time)

My word! A term of admonishment from my mother. My sister and I both say it😁

"Just the one, Mrs Wembley" said by my Dad if we stopped off at the pub.

I still have both my parents, but they each have a phrase that I associate very strongly with them.

My dad: 'dah dah dah' which he uses all the time as a kind of convo filler, sort of like blah blah blah but without the implied rudeness. He'll use it when he's referencing that there are other things he could tell you, but for conciseness/speed, he's glossing over. "Yeah, we loved it, lovely bars, we went hill-walking, dah dah dah, great beaches"; or "I've got to nip to the Post Office, nip to the shops, dah dah dah, be with you about 4pm". I giggle every time he uses is, which is often. I often wonder if it'll appear in a eulogy.

My mum: "It's only money!". Said to encourage anyone to live their life to the fullest, buy the tickets, splurge on dessert, take a trip etc. Or to justify why she's sent over some cash to me and my sister. "Why did you not book that trip? It's only money!" Or "I've sent you a lump sum to your bank. Just do something nice with it, it's only money, it's for spending!"

I love them both very much ❤️

I couldn't wait quick enough....meaning had to hurry to tell you something

Run away with a kilty band...if you asked where someone was. I remember my dad saying this to me about my mum and I became inconsolable as I believed she was never coming back
We still use it though

Have you got on your bib....apron worn for eating, especially the males in the family are notorious for spilling down themselves
Hearing my 98 year old granny asking her 71 year old son this is hysterical

My dad used to use the following phrases a lot:
As thick as two short planks.
Common as muck.
All fur coat and no knickers.
Bone idle.
You're not the only pebble on the beach.

It’ll not be this in the morning!

My dad about something unpleasant or undesirable "I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole"
When I was watching Top of the Pops as a teenager. "He's got a voice like a bibble(stone) under a door."
Both my parents were thrifty and the "like Blackpool illuminations" was heard daily in our house!

Buy cheap, buy twice.

She/ He would drive you to the drink (about someone exasperating).

Tell the truth and shame the (divil) devil.

For my sins.

Put yourself on the outside of that (eat or drink it).

He/ she knows his/ her onions.

I pitied myself with no shoes, then I saw the man with no feet.

That’s “pickled” (meaning too sweet)

If it’s not obvious, I’m Irish.

My mother would sometimes disapprovingly describe someone as 'Hail fellow well met' Wiki explains: referring to a person whose behavior is hearty, friendly, and congenial, typically in an excessive or insincere manner.

So many of those from pp above.

Lackadaisical - unenthusiastic and lazy and usually rereferring to me and not something I've heard much since.

The infamous 'I'll give you something to cry about'.

Every spring dad would say:

The spring is sprung
The grass is riz
I wonder where the flowers is
Look, the bird is on the wing
But that's absurd - the wing is on the bird!

When asking too many questions..”You want to know the far end of a fart and who dealt it, you do!!”

"There and back to see how far it is" - my Dad, if you asked him where he was going. He was also a fan of "shit with sugar on", also occasionally "shit with sugar on, boiled to buggery" if I asked what was for tea. (Followed by a faux-shocked Kenneth! from my Mum if she overheard.)

Friend:
They lived 'down God fen end'.
He had a pronounced limp - that's pronounced 'limp'.
'Tis a filthy night without. (raining, stormy)

My Nan used to have a variety of phrases to express her displeasure at my appearance. “Wreck of the Hesperus” was one. Others included “You look like you’ve been dressed by the parish” (harking back to the days when the parish council would dole out old rags to needy families), or more commonly “You look like nobody owns you!”

I must have been a scruffy kid, I suppose!

My dad also said the that's absoid I always thought the wing was on the boid....I think it was Spike Milligan or an American humorist.

My mum and grandma said "What's that, Scotch mist??" if you were looking for something and they found it immediately. I used to think it was "scotch missed" as in, you've missed something!

“Crikey”

My lovely late dad would always say ‘It’s a bit black over Bill’s mother’s’ if it looked like rain so everyone in the family now says it, in my dad’s voice.

My mam always said 'lighting the gas' for turning on the oven, even though she had an electric cooker for as long as I was alive. She called baguettes 'french stick', i habit i carried on, all my dc and the children i minded say it too. She would often say 'God save Ireland said the hero' meaning what is the world coming to. She used to say that my eldest could hear the grass growing, and its true, she misses nothing. (Just like her grandma).