Obsolete words or phrases

[CharliesAngles]

MIL said so and so came from a "well-to-do" family.
Made me think I don't know when I last heard that phrase being used (probably also in conversation with MIL 😄)

Are there any words or phrases you've recently heard and thought oh I haven't heard that in donkey's years!

Heath Robinson. Name of early 20th century illustrator known for his drawings of elaborate home made machines, cobnled together from random objects, mad inventor style.

Meaning to fix or mend something using improvised techniques and anything that comes to hand, eg: "Your grandad has come over all Heath Robinson trying to mend the guttering with lolly sticks and the green garden twine I need for my runner bean wigwam."

There's a more modern American equivalent known as to, "MacGyver" from the 1980's TV show, eg: "Tail light's cracked on the Camry. I've MacGyvered it with duct tape."

Yes!! Always slightly sardonic (in my head). The reality is probably closer to a middle aged woman saying something no-one understands!

*cobbled together, not cobnled. Mumsnet just blew a gasket, failed to load and I lost my time window to edit my post. Luckily I've managed to Macgyver my way back through to correct myself.

I like Radge and tappy lappy. Also Bait for packed lunch.
Also someone I know uses Gadgie, for old men.

"I'm going to ring up the doctor" meaning call her on the telephone. We still say "give me a ring", but we don't use "ring up" as a verb anymore.

'He's getting on my wick' - not heard that for a long time :)

I always thought that one meant bent as in a bit crooked like a bent copper.

Making hay while the sun shines

Happy as a sandboy

Saved by the bell (this one has gruesome meaning)

Up the swannee

My granddad used to say it and I never knew what he meant by it, but I never forgot it. I had to look it up when I remembered it.

@Tingledtangled
my nanny used to say slacks for trousers

Well, I know we mostly have to plug an electric wire into that thing on the wall, but the sound from someone speaking in London doesn't come to me through a wire joining me to them, so in that respect it is without a wire, as in wire-less. I think I use radio and wireless. Somewhere I think I read a book where a character says 'wahless', so I definitely mimick that.

amongst other things, my dad used to say
gamp, for umbrella
wastepaper basket for bin
fetch for bring me
pillar box - post box
Pass a motion - (leave that to your imagination)

he was very much against the word “get”

I used the phrase ‘razed to the ground’ the other day and my son, (18) said he had never heard of it.

‘Up the stick’ meaning ‘she’s pregnant’ . It sounds awful!

My friend's Mum used to take the mickey out of me for saying that rather than 'slip'.
I call that pink stuff for the cheeks 'rouge' but I realised one day that a young person only knew the word 'blusher'.

Is that person from the NE? Gadgie is an everyday word there

'Don't you ever bring trouble home, girl, or I'll swing for you'.
I wasn't ever threatened like that but I knew someone who was.

Oh yes, not heard five and twenty for years.

I used "three score and ten", being a lifetime, the other day, then had to explain it.

Ah but when you spent a penny, it had to be an old penny, pre 1971, as that's what you had to put in the box to open the door in public looks. When we decimalized, they converted the loos to take 2p pieces because they were a similar size. Though we never said we were 'going to spend tuppance'.

I’ve heard and used most of these in recent memory

Yes, so am I, but I haven’t heard it for years. Then someone used it! I always feel it’s sort of rude. My children have never heard it before!

I remember a Sun columnist using it a lot. I can't remember his name.

I'd never heard "Burmo" before, but the other two are very familiar from my school days. If we thought someone was lying, we might say "itchy chin! It-chy!" So very similar to chinny reckon, I suppose.

Yes, but you don't have to put a physical penny into a public toilet door to gain access, these days. So it no longer = going for a wee

My grandad used to call slightly naughty children Scallywags. I might revive that one for my kids.