Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

"All fur coat no knickers" - where in UK or further afield?

252 replies

redwinetalking · 20/09/2023 23:37

I have to admit I love this phrase and can think of several towns, areas and localities where "IMHO" it may have applied.

Obviously not travelled everywhere but what are you "FCNK" places?

OP posts:
Yalta · 21/09/2023 08:18

Itham

*A phrase often used by my London mum in the 50/60s.

Men were described as 'All mouth and no trousers*

”All mouth and no trousers” is about future faking.
When someone plans something but has no intention of doing it or physically or financially can’t do

Someone who says they are going to go to university next year but doesn’t have a single GCSE.

AlwaysPrettyOnTheInside · 21/09/2023 08:19

Margate.

Hyped to fuck by the media but there's actually fuck all there.

PoseasRadicalActuallyMisogynistic · 21/09/2023 08:21

It the equivalent of ‘new car on the drive, nothing in the fridge’

fufulina · 21/09/2023 08:21

My granny used to say this so I assumed it was a potteries saying, but then I saw the post about Glasgow; my grandfather was Glaswegian so I wonder if it came from him.

usernother · 21/09/2023 08:26

I still use the phrase to mean someone who is rough as a badger/common as muck but who is also rich.

JMSA · 21/09/2023 08:29

It's funny how Glaswegians say this about Edinburgh, when it's by far the classier city and is prohibitively expensive to live in!

WetBottomOnTheNightBus · 21/09/2023 08:42

I live in Edinburgh. There is a particular AREA know as fur coat nae knickers.
From my understanding it is about keeping up with the Bruce's but struggling privately.
HTH

jessycake · 21/09/2023 08:50

I'm down south and it was a popular phrase when I was a child ,it was used to describe some one who lived in the same sort of house with a similar income but thought they were a cut above and boasted about it . A mrs Bouquet character .

ArcticLadybird · 21/09/2023 08:50

This is my take on it too.

Harrogate
Wilmslow
Sputhport

fruitnutz · 21/09/2023 08:53

Why do MN Northerners always think popular idioms are some sort of special Northern thing? 😆

I'm reminded of Alexandra Burke when she said she brought 'elephant in the room' to the UK.

CaptainMyCaptain · 21/09/2023 08:53

LakeTiticaca · 21/09/2023 08:08

Fur coat and no knickers means someone who to all intents and purposes lives a charmed life, nice house, good car etc, plenty of money, when in reality they are usually heavily in debt trying to keep up the lifestyle to impress others. It's nothing to do with sexism or misogyny or anything.
It's simply trying to "keep up with the Joneses"

A similar saying is 'lace curtains and kipper dinners'.

MrsPercyParkKeeper · 21/09/2023 08:57

Cornwall!

Looks pretty, surfy and for some reason rich people love it (fur coat)

It's actually extremely deprived, lots of drugs and homelessness, food banks, many families have never been to the beach despite it being 3 miles away and for whatever reason (generational, education or radon) many people are long term sick. House prices are high, salaries are NMW or there abouts for even professional roles. (No knickers)

Blackcountryexile · 21/09/2023 09:03

I've heard Solihull, near Birmingham described like that.

Itham · 21/09/2023 09:03

Whenever my mum used the phrase, it was usually about at her rather 'flighty' sister, who did indeed have a very showy fur coat and lots of men friends.

zoom1982 · 21/09/2023 09:05

ClairDeLaLune · 21/09/2023 00:54

It is a misogynist term. It basically implies a woman is dressing up to look classy but has low sexual standards. If you wanted to start a light-hearted thread OP, perhaps avoid the misogyny and stop having a go at anyone who (rightly) points it out.

I'm from the north and it absolutely does not mean that at all. What it refers to is people,male or female,who live beyond their means. It's quite an 'old fashioned' saying that is maybe not heard much these days but it absolutely has nothing to do with either misogyny nor sexual standards. Bizarre.

MrsPercyParkKeeper · 21/09/2023 09:09

If you think this is a misogynist term take a lot at the nursery rhymes we grew up with. Seesaw margery daw?

E.g an untidy woman, a slut, a slattern" and give this variant of "Margery Daw":

prisencolinensinnainciusol · 21/09/2023 09:10

@weebarra Yup, and you take it on the chin. Like we do as 'soap dodgers' 🙃

Herecomesdehotstepper · 21/09/2023 09:20

Theforeverhome · 21/09/2023 00:22

When I was growing up in the 70’s/80’s, it was Dalgety Bay in Fife where they built a huge number of “executive” homes that were expensive for the, local to me area - so the people who bought them might have had the house but didn’t have the money to fund the lifestyle to go with it. The alternative name was Spam Valley (because that’s all they could afford to eat), and we could also talk about Champagne tastes and Lemonade income.

I think that went on into the 90s as well, judging by my XP!

Sunnydale1999 · 21/09/2023 09:21

West end of Glasgow is definitely aw fur coat and nae knickers, with a particular hatred for those with faux Glasgow Uni accents.

Grumpytortoise · 21/09/2023 09:23

This phrase is used very commonly about the morningside area of edinburgh. Posh on the outside but a bit ramshackle when you scratch the surface.

CaptainMyCaptain · 21/09/2023 09:23

My late FiL used the term 'Ten Bob millionaires' for people who moved from Sheffield (high rates but good services) to the 'superior' adjacent town of Dronfield where it was 50p cheaper.

WhichEmoji · 21/09/2023 09:28

I live in London and know the phrase.

I am surprised at the mention of Liverpool. I like the place a lot but don’t think it has any airs and graces or pretends to be anything other that what it is?

In London, I would go for Highgate. Sought-after and lived in by the wealthy. But the high street is rubbish unless you want overpriced cafes and estate agents. And to be even more specific, Bishops Avenue. Meant to be the road of millionaires but it is a permanent building site, riven with potholes and ugly new developments.

Everanewbie · 21/09/2023 09:34

largomargo · 21/09/2023 06:22

I'm baffled as to why the phrase would be used to describe Liverpool. Formby, yes as a pp mentioned but Liverpool is brimming with substance. It definitely doesn't pretend to be something it's not. Come and visit us!

Completely agree. With the exception of the graces, it is definitely a place where substance exceeds a need to project style.

JudgeJ · 21/09/2023 09:37

Whatsgoingon12345 · 21/09/2023 06:20

My granny said this. Also, which I love,, ‘they have fruit even though they’re not ill’

That was the definition of posh when I was a Northern child, when a neighbour's child saw oranges in our house I was truly mocked!

RichardArmitagesWife · 21/09/2023 09:38

I think a lot of old hotels are Fur Coat And No Knickers - big lavish lobbies, naff run down rooms.

Swipe left for the next trending thread