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 don’t know anyone who says it is I (this one may be a bit niche)

What does it mean @merryhouse?

These are all so lovely. My mum also used buggerlugs, hail fellow well met and if we were in trouble ‘don’t make me get up.’

I wonder if some of the more obscure expressions will eventually die out.

I am loving these, but like you, @Plinketyplonks I am wondering which my die out in my lifetime (I'm middle aged)...

My mum also used to say "faint but pursuing" for someone not feeling well or losing an argument but still trying (which I think is Shakespeare or the bible)

My mum used to call someone who was a bit dodgy 'Fandango'

Look at him over there... Fandango 🙄

It's also kind of shocking to come to the realisation that people might not know these. A lifetime of Victorian children's literature means I already had a vocabulary of phrases 100 years out of date, but it's really sad to realise that time passes underneath us and the 50s, 60s and 70s sayings we heard are really old fashioned now.

We'll just have to keep them going @Catkinsblossom !

My parents also said "Alright monkey" and "cheeky monkey" in a kind of fake Yorkshire accent. Dunno what that was about.

My mum says ‘going to get my messages’ when she means she’s going shopping. I say it to DH sometimes just to confuse him.

My mum used that same word for meaning vagina!

Fandango is a funny one!

god I’ve just remembered another my dad said without fail. They lived abroad most of my life and when I flew out to see them from the winters UK and they collected me from their airport my old dad said without fail, ‘there she is, looking pale and interesting.’ I’ve just looked pale and interesting up and it’s meant to be a compliment apparently!

I think I’m going to write these all down and stick them in my kids baby books (where we shove all sorts of momentos) on the pages that have pictures of their grandparents.

A small bit of blue sky was, in my grandfather’s parlance ‘Enough to make a Dutchman a pair of trousers’. Not a sailor.
It’s a bit worrying how many of these expressions I naturally use.

“Crumbs!” My uncle liked to say this.

”He’s a right mard little bugger” about any spoilt child.
“Night, God bless” said at bed time.

If Dad thought my sister and I were watching too much tv he'd say 'you'll get square eyes' 🤣

Dim as a Toc H lamp (that was the lamp that used to be outside Freemasons’ Lodges)
Go to the foot of our stairs (surprise)
Home James and don’t spare the horses (always said when we got in the car to go home)

And so many already mentioned. My mum and dad were Eastenders through and through and had a rich seam of rhyming slang. I still use some of these phrases and I miss them my parents so much. This is a lovely thread.

I love this, my mum used to say it and I never really thought about what it meant until now 😂

Good thread @Plinketyplonks My late DF was a great fan of saying ‘Jesus Wept’ and ‘Thick as pork chop mustard’. I never once heard him complain about the weather. Freezing cold was ‘just fresh’. Pouring rain was ‘just Scotch mist’. My late DM used to say ‘just the Bobby’s nob’ for anything useful or efficient. They had many more sayings I use them as much as possible.

”It’s not a cafe!” When I didn’t want what was offered for tea 🤣

“Get a shufty on” (hurry up) - Mum

There's no pockets in a shroud! My grandad and mum both said/say that a lot, and I agree. See also: you can't take it with you.

Got your sandpaper vest on if you were in a mood.
gutties were trainer/ plimsoles
a piece was a sandwich
daft dapeth was silly

I don't know why nobody says Scotch mist anymore! Although my dad used to say "What's that, Scotch mist?" to mean "Can't you see that [thing you're looking for] right in front of your face?".

If I started anything with "I thought..." he'd get in there with "Well you know what thought did? Follered a muck cart and though it was a wedding! Thought once when he should have thought twice!"

Also "D'you want a slap across the belly with a wet fish?" and "D'you want a poke in the eye with a sharp stick?", basically said to mean absolutely nothing, i.e. you'd just be sitting on the sofa and he'd be going on about wet fish ❣️

Also I've only ever heard my mum said "Well this is buttering no parsnips" to mean this is getting nothing done. Does anyone else say that?

Mum (Irish) referred to us kids as the ‘wains’ (wee ones)
Dad talked about getting stuff ‘off the back of a lorry’ and men who ‘looked like they tucked their shirts into their pants’!