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Has anyone else heard this saying….

151 replies

IncognitoUsername · 01/06/2024 20:19

… or did my family just make it up?

When I was a child, if the sky was darkening due to incoming rain, my DM would say ‘It’s a bit dark over Will’s mother’s’. I grew up thinking this was a saying everyone used but if I’m honest I can’t remember anyone outside of our family saying it!
My DH thinks I’m crazy - or at least my family is. Please tell me someone else has heard this?!

OP posts:
DahliaMacNamara · 01/06/2024 20:24

I've heard it as '...Bill's mother's house', if that's any help. Not an idiom I grew up with, so I can't help with the origins.

LuluBlakey1 · 01/06/2024 20:24

No

parrotonmyshoulder · 01/06/2024 20:25

‘By Jack’s Mother’s’ in our family - South Yorks

IncognitoUsername · 01/06/2024 20:25

Will and Bill are similar enough for me!

OP posts:
DoraSpenlow · 01/06/2024 20:25

Yes, my Mum used it and I do as well.

Also, if anyone takes the long way round I always say we had to go all the way past Will's Mother 's.

Goodness knows where it comes from. Mum was an Essex girl.

CranfordScones · 01/06/2024 20:26

It's dark over Bill's mother's is definitely a Staffordshire (and thereabouts) saying.

IncognitoUsername · 01/06/2024 20:26

Interesting that there appears to be regional variations. I grew up in Suffolk

OP posts:
UpUpUpU · 01/06/2024 20:26

It’s a bit black over Bills mothers. East Midlands based

PlacidPenelope · 01/06/2024 20:26

Yes that saying was and still is used in our family - northern roots.

ComeOnThenFanny · 01/06/2024 20:26

"Bit black over Will's mum's" - I'm from Hertfordshire, that's where I got it from. I've lived in Cheshire for 20 years, and nobody has heard of it.

LostittoBostik · 01/06/2024 20:27

My grandma said "black over Bill's mother's". She was northern.

Franticbutterfly · 01/06/2024 20:27

It's Bill's Mothers.

BirthdayRainbow · 01/06/2024 20:27

Yorkshire sayings are the best.

You're not as green as you're cabbage looking. 🥬
They followed a dustbin wagon and thought it was a wedding 💒

PlacidPenelope · 01/06/2024 20:29

Also, if anyone takes the long way round I always say we had to go all the way past Will's Mother 's.

Yes, use that one too!

PhilosophicalCheeseSandwich · 01/06/2024 20:30

UpUpUpU · 01/06/2024 20:26

It’s a bit black over Bills mothers. East Midlands based

Yes, this.

PlacidPenelope · 01/06/2024 20:30

They followed a dustbin wagon and thought it was a wedding

That is a great saying.

5foot5 · 01/06/2024 20:30

DHs family from the North East say "a bit black over Bill's mothers"

Never heard it where I came from in Lincolnshire /Yorkshire borders

VaddaABeetch · 01/06/2024 20:30

I thought Bills mother was William Shakespeare’s mother.

my saying was when you asked as a child where was X was with Molly behind the wallpaper

MissRainbowBrite · 01/06/2024 20:31

Certainly used around the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border area, both my mum and grandma used to use it. It was definitely "it's a bit black over Bills mothers".

HedgerowRobin · 01/06/2024 20:32

My parents say ‘it’s a bit black over Bill’s mothers’ - Derbyshire based

LaPalmaLlama · 01/06/2024 20:33

I think it means the weather is coming in from the west ( as it tends to in England) where Bill/Will means Will Shakespeare and Stratford upon Avon is west of most places.

HunterHearstHelmsley · 01/06/2024 20:34

"Black over Bill's mother's" in the Black Country, meaning stormy weather incoming, generally from the east. Not sure which Bill we're referring to though!

PlacidPenelope · 01/06/2024 20:34

Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs was another one usually used when surprised about something.

RM2013 · 01/06/2024 20:34

Worcestershire based and my nan always used to say it’s a bit black over Bill’s mother’s

EveryKneeShallBow · 01/06/2024 20:36

Black over Bill’s mother’s. South west here. Also knew the cabbage-looking one, and if I went out to play, I was to be back “once it turns dumpsie”.