to think my Dad is totally wrong to say...

[Convict224]

...he is going to Blanket Street at bedtime ?

It's Bedfordshire. Via the Wooden Hill.

Clearly.

[BobblyGussets]

Was this just my Dad on being asked, "What are you doing?" He would reply "Picking a que-en (sp?)"

[BobblyGussets]

What's the time?

A hair past a freckle on my left wrist.

[PenelopePipPop]

Hmmm DD goes up the stairs to Bedfordshire where she takes the sleepy train to Wakefield Westgate. I think DH's childhood enthusiasm for trains may be to blame.

Also the answer to 'Nighty nighty' must always be 'Pyjamas pyjamas'.

'We must stop meeting like this people will talk' whenever you bump into a family member in the sitting room.

[PenelopePipPop]

Bobblygussets The answer to 'what's the time?' is surely 'Time you got a watch'?

[SelfRighteousPrissyPants]

We go up the wooden hill to Bedlington but only cos that's where we live

My Nan used to 'visit my aunt' to go to the toilet!

[HecatePropylaea]

Oh god - and "How do you spell..." anything. blossom. adversarial. abbreviate

reply?

"D. I. C. T. I. O. N. A. R. Y"



Yeah, when I've finished using it to look that up, I'll be shoving it up your arse.

And WHAT use is a dictionary anyway when you've got to know how to spell something in order to look it up?

[BobblyGussets]

at hecate, "I'll be shoving it up your arse"

[Nagoo]

My mum says 'you'd laugh to see a pudding roll'. I thought she'd made it up until I read it in a Tony Parsons Book.

[bigmouthstrikesagain]

yes it was 'Up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire' for us as kids in Yorkshire and now it's 'Up the wooden hill in Bedfordshire'

My mum used to use the charming phrase 'shit with sugar on it' when asked 'what is for dinner/ what is this?' which was nice

[DorisIsWaiting]

You're ALL wrong

It's " Up the wooden hill to Bedforshire, down Sheet Lane to Blanket Square.."

[Tanith]

Ours was
"Up the wooden hill, along Plank Common and into Bedfordshire."

I remember Black over Bill's mother's, too, whenever bad weather was coming. I was so intrigued once that I looked it up. Who was Bill?
There's no straight answer: some claim it originated in the Midlands, but it's a saying that crops up all over the country. Others think that Bill was William Shakespeare.
Another explanation is that it refers to some sort of Parliamentary scandal or imminent war involving William Pitt the Younger: given that it's such a widely known saying, I think that's the most likely one.

[littlemisspoppy]

We use were you born in a barn!

And my dad says when lights are left on that don't need to be 'it's like bloody Blackpool illuminations in here' don't think I've heard anyone else say that one?

[MrsEricBana]

Blanket Street? Get with the times man and move to Duvet Drive.

(Yes up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire here too)

[MrsEricBana]

Oh my dad used to say that too littlemisspoppy but he was from Southport and you could literally see said illuminations from the window so maybe that's why. I say it too and the kids look at me

[Tanith]

And what about "coming around like 1 o'Clock" for something regular or inevitable?

Refers to the cannons fired at 1 o'Clock (as depicted in Mary Poppins), such as the Arsenal cannon. I think Edinburgh Castle still does this.

[pregnantpause]

yep- I'm in wales and dad insists if more than one light is on its like Blackpool bloody lights, so must be well used

[2muchxmaspud]

We always got "up the dancers" at bed time

Also "how's ya belly for spots?"
or "how ya diddling?"

Granda says "take them off and we'll all have a shite in them" if someone dares fart in front of him.

Also heard "up your arse on the second shelf" off my dad and "sugar and shit" for tea

[PelvicFloorClenchReminder]

Did anyone else have 'going to visit Mrs Murphy' for going to the loo?

[2muchxmaspud]

No but if we were sick my gran used to say were talking to hughey on the telephone...

[Anniegetyourgun]

I saw it in a poetry book a long long time ago. A Child's Garden of Verses perhaps? R L Stevenson?

I just googled it and came across this old thread about it!

[Anniegetyourgun]

Er, the "Bedfordshire" rhyme that is, not going to the loo...

[RubyGates]

Ooh yes, "Black over Bill's mother's" Is one of my Mum's too. I haven't heard that in years.

[ProfYaffle]

2much yy, my Mum always said 'up the jolly dancers', later shortened to 'jolly d's'.

[Flimflammery]

My mum used to say, 'just clean your teeth and Bob's your uncle'. I used to wonder who Bob was.

And my Dad used to say 'toute de suite, and the tooter the sweeter'.

[LittleMachine]

Ah I was looking for up the dancers to come up on this thread. My mum says this too. What does it mean though?