View Full Version : bizzare sayings
just heard Keefy say something which is apparently 'a saying',in which part of the country i don't know.
it goes like this- the only thing you should ever stick in your ear is your elbow!
never heard that one before.
anybody got any other freaky sayings handed down from yer granny or whoever,preferably ones that don't make any sense?
btw,try sticking your elbow in your ear... :chuckle:
darkstar
13-09-2004, 23:51
" I wouldn't fancy one of them swimming up my arse "
:D
'Your eyes are bigger than your belly' always used to get me.
:mad: = 'broos doon' [eyebrows down]
darkstar
14-09-2004, 00:04
'Your eyes are bigger than your belly' always used to get me.
Well if you're a squid - it's true :lol:
mad cat woman
14-09-2004, 08:17
As my dad says "It disnae eat a piece!":confused: To this day I'm not entirely sure what that means!
One of my Grandads was "There's not enough blue in the sky to make a monkey a red jacket". He was referring to a cloudy day. There were various other stupid phrases such as "Could you pass the salt?", the reply being "Pass it? I couldn't even swallow it!". You can imagine the fun filled evenings...
"Yer no as green as yer cabbage lookin"
I just assumed my granny was a fruitcake when I was wee.....:)
Nunpuncher
14-09-2004, 10:10
My Gran used to come out with some belters....
"You're throwing your money around like a man with no arms."
"Do you think I came up the Clyde on a bicycle with my hair wet?"
"A soldiers fairwell - goodbye and bugger ye"
"To hell with poverty, gie the wean another sausage."
"He's a big man but a wee coat fits him."
"A run round the table and a kick at the cat."
J
We used to have an oodle of odd sayings in my old flat. Firm favorites were "Why you throw chip?" and "Face in glue/under the bed". Stop the paint still gives me giggles from time to time.
Loopy_Laura_lou
14-09-2004, 10:22
lol - "the bairns got an arse" is something my Gran used to say to my Mum when I was getting shouted at - meaning, dinny bore the lassie with shouting, just smack her! lol - Glad she wasnt my Mum tho!
My grandad used to sing a song all the time...
.."When I was young and in my prime,
I used to laugh all the time,
but now im getting old and grey,
I only laugh once a day...
... and thats early in the morning!"
I used to think it was a nice wee song, until my Mum explained that it wasnt about laughing at all, it was about sex, and that her and my aunties had got him to change it when all the grandkids were born!
Yes, my family was strange!
:lol:
My best friend's wee sister's gone to live in Aberdeen, and she gave me a good laugh one night with lots of Aberdonian slang. The one that sticks out is:
Foosyerdoos? (How are you? - lit: How are your pigeons?)
Chaffina waa (Fine - lit: Pecking away)
Can anyone tell me if I've got that right, or I was too drunk to remember properly?
My granny always used the following sayings. They are old Irish ones:
(Of a gossiper)
She has a tongue that would clip a hedge
(Of a clever thief)
He'd steal the sugar out of your punch
(on trying to change a stubborn person's mind)
You might as well be whistling jigs to a milestone
goldenbone
14-09-2004, 11:34
(on trying to change a stubborn person's mind)
You might as well be whistling jigs to a milestone
hehehe, I like that one :)
supersoph
14-09-2004, 11:59
My Gran also used to say "I'm not so green as I'm cabbage looking" so it must be quite widespread.
Other favourites:-
"Yer mek a better door than a window" meaning you are blocking the view.
"Going up the wooden hill" meaning stairs, i.e. going to bed (although they lived in a bungalow...)
"It's black ower Bill's Mother's" which apparently means it looks like there's rain coming. ???
"Got yer Sutton gloves on" meaning to have your hands in your pockets. Apparently the people of nearby Sutton in Ashfield were renowned for their laziness.
"Short arms, long pockets" said of someone who was stingy.
I love old sayings.
My grampa had a mutitude of sayings my favourite being.
Ye've mair alibi's than Al Capone,
Yer a wee deel (meaning a wee devil)
I don't button up the back,
I'm not still wet behind the ears,
Your a useless wee item aren't you,
Your affey peeley waley,
Away and bile yer heid,
Is that tatties in yer lugs.
"Got yer Sutton gloves on" meaning to have your hands in your pockets. Apparently the people of nearby Sutton in Ashfield were renowned for their laziness.
is that Sutton-in-Ashfield Nottinghamshire by any chance?
only several members of my family (including my dad) were born there, and a few of them still live there now. :chuckle:
I've always said my major character trait is laziness!
My Gran used to say "Yer like a coo wi a gun" if refering to a clumsy person...
goldenbone
14-09-2004, 16:08
My grandad would sigh, and say "auch aye, Jock McKye" when he was tired. Just a figure of speach really, no specific meanings.
innercityjunki
14-09-2004, 16:08
my gran used to say.......
"you better stop frowning cause if the wind changes yer face will stay like that"
and this was a common one that my great gran said...........
"its cold enough to freeze the bawz of a brass monkey"
My Gran used to come out with some belters....
"You're throwing your money around like a man with no arms."
"Do you think I came up the Clyde on a bicycle with my hair wet?"
"A soldiers fairwell - goodbye and bugger ye"
"To hell with poverty, gie the wean another sausage."
"He's a big man but a wee coat fits him."
"A run round the table and a kick at the cat."
J
:chuckle: good ones! espesh the soldier's farewell...
My grandad always engineered the conversation round to black things, so he could say "it was blacker than the earl o' hell's waistcoat" ( :confused: )
..and ok, Billy Connolly used it, but "I'll take my hand off your face" was very popular with my dad :(
Nunpuncher
14-09-2004, 16:41
my gran used to say.......
"you better stop frowning cause if the wind changes yer face will stay like that" How good would it be if that were true? Imagine all the fucked up faces you'd see. Mind you, it's a bit like that on a Saturday morning in Leith and Gorgie.
I'm not sure if they bus them in specially or it's just because I'm still stupid from the night before.....
J
"I'm so hungry I could eat a scabby-heided wean"
- My pal Amanda
My nan always used to threaten us with "a punch up the bracket"
Still have no idea which part of your anatomy is a bracket.
zoid_baker
14-09-2004, 18:44
a classic at home is...
your about as usefull as tits on a bull......
not very usefull i guess..... unless your cows dry up.... (shrug)
ickleacidfairy
14-09-2004, 22:45
Do you think i came up the clyde in a banana boat yesterday?
You're about as welcome as a pork chop in a synagogue...
'UP YER JOBBIE!'
made famous by Rob Dylan the last time Subhead were up.
"Choke up chicken, it might be a gold watch"
Gold watch being some bizarre ryhming slang for phelgm.
goldenbone
15-09-2004, 10:07
My aussie mate Scotty has some decent ones.
"Sweating like ten bastards mate" Speaks for itself really
"Box o' birds mate" as in Chirpy as a..
Nunpuncher
15-09-2004, 10:10
Sweating like a bastard at a family reunion.
Dry as a camel's clit.
J
marmalade
15-09-2004, 11:45
A favourite Lancaster one is when surprised to exclaim-
"ill show me bum in co-op window" or
"ill got to top of our stairs"
Loopy_Laura_lou
15-09-2004, 12:13
Ok, so not entirely relevant - but thought I would diversify this thread! :rolleyes:
I was thinking about this and it made me think about all the words and stuff that my grandparents used that we just never use anymore.
I miss them saying "Skullery" and "Bunker" and "Tumbler" and such like...
marmalade
15-09-2004, 12:45
My parents are from Edinburgh and my mum always uses "oxter" for armpit, what the fuck did that derive from?
supersoph
15-09-2004, 13:09
is that Sutton-in-Ashfield Nottinghamshire by any chance?
only several members of my family (including my dad) were born there, and a few of them still live there now. :chuckle:
I've always said my major character trait is laziness!
It is indeed! Born and bred on the Notts coalfields for generations, me. We could be related...
Naked Librarian
15-09-2004, 13:56
Ok, so not entirely relevant - but thought I would diversify this thread! :rolleyes:
I was thinking about this and it made me think about all the words and stuff that my grandparents used that we just never use anymore.
I miss them saying "Skullery" and "Bunker" and "Tumbler" and such like...There's also the calssic "ben the press", "press" being interchangable with kitchen, kitchen storeroom/large closet found to this day in one-bedroom flats. I therefore keep my fridge in the "press". Also loaby, for domestic hall, as in "ben the loaby". For those who don't know "ben" means through, or "go to" depending on context.
There is the classic "keely" as in stop behaving like a Leith keely. A "keely" being a street urchin.
Got most of these from my granny who died earlier this year aged 94!
Are loaby and press Leith words however? I've always wondered this?
Also, a phrase I remember was "I'm so starvin I could eat a scabby horse".
Another phrase from the old days was "Aye, they bloody Germans" in the context of them accidently blowing up Leith Town Hall in 1940 or 41 I think and the noise from the explosion giving my granny a fright and knocking her down a flight of stairs ... but that's another matter ;)
militantmandy
15-09-2004, 15:03
Some belfast ones I brought over,
face on her\him like a well worn sea boot\welders bench\well chewed pastie
sweating like a priest in disneyland
There's a few words over here that my mates say that just sound like bullshit to me, so if anyone can clarify:
Bunker - kitchen counter
Stookie - plaster cast
Guysin - trick or treetin (i suspect this may be from olde times)
The other one that got my when I moved over was, "how no?" Is that just shocking grammer, or is there an actual reaon for it?
Nunpuncher
15-09-2004, 15:05
A face like a sack full of angry frogs.
A face like a melted welly.
A face like a bulldog licking piss of a nettle.
J
Loopy_Laura_lou
15-09-2004, 15:11
There's also the calssic "ben the press", "press" being interchangable with kitchen, kitchen storeroom/large closet found to this day in one-bedroom flats. I therefore keep my fridge in the "press". Also loaby, for domestic hall, as in "ben the loaby". For those who don't know "ben" means through, or "go to" depending on context.
There is the classic "keely" as in stop behaving like a Leith keely. A "keely" being a street urchin.
Got most of these from my granny who died earlier this year aged 94!
Are loaby and press Leith words however? I've always wondered this?
Also, a phrase I remember was "I'm so starvin I could eat a scabby horse".
Another phrase from the old days was "Aye, they bloody Germans" in the context of them accidently blowing up Leith Town hall in 1940 or 41 I think and the noise from the explosion giving my granny a fright and knocking her down a flight of stairs ... but that's another matter ;)
these are the ones I was on about - Loaby being one of the main ones - I also mind being called an Irish Navey?
wtf?
Loopy_Laura_lou
15-09-2004, 15:14
My friend described a girl as having a "Shan deekin moi" - Hes from Fife tho!
lol
and he says "Woah neebs" a lot???
Nunpuncher
15-09-2004, 15:34
Once upon a time, my boss was going radge at me and yelled "I'm not sitting here paying lip service to you."
I pissed myself laughing. I still don't know what he meant by that.
J
Naked Librarian
15-09-2004, 16:12
There's a few words over here that my mates say that just sound like bullshit to me, so if anyone can clarify:
Bunker - kitchen counter
Stookie - plaster cast
Guysin - trick or treetin (i suspect this may be from olde times)
Bunker is a kitchen counter or cabinet. Stookie is a plaster cast ... correct. Never heard of guysin though :confused:
militantmandy
15-09-2004, 16:17
Bunker is a kitchen counter or cabinet. Stookie is a plaster cast ... correct. Never heard of guysin though :confused:
Okay, but WHY!?
All my mates laughed cus I was like, "what one of those things that shoots water oot the ground?" or, what "like a bomb shelter?" They all say "ha ha, whats Nicky on about!" They seem to be missing the point that THEY are the ones MAKING UP words for things. I'm just going to dtart calling the tv the slipper or something, makes as much sense!
Naked Librarian
15-09-2004, 16:21
Okay, but WHY!?
All my mates laughed cus I was like, "what one of those things that shoots water oot the ground?" or, what "like a bomb shelter?" They all say "ha ha, whats Nicky on about!" They seem to be missing the point that THEY are the ones MAKING UP words for things. I'm just going to dtart calling the tv the slipper or something, makes as much sense!
Get a Scots dictionary, that might help ... I know what you mean though :confused: confused myself :)
militantmandy
15-09-2004, 16:25
Yeah, they're probably all from times gone by, but odd none the less! I think i'm pretty well accustomed to folks way of speaking over here now, so i'll not get too excited. It took most of a year before people could fully understand me over here when I was drunk!
Loopy_Laura_lou
15-09-2004, 16:37
If you think about it numpties - guysing is what you do on guy fawkes day!
SEE!
Naked Librarian
15-09-2004, 17:00
Ah, I read it as sick or teething (as opposed to trick or treating)... as in a poor wee baby that wasn't well and was howlling ... I'm the numpty. New glasses?
Laura is, of course, correct!
goldenbone
15-09-2004, 17:06
Get a Scots dictionary, that might help ... I know what you mean though :confused: confused myself :)
I've got a Slang dictionary in the house, so if anyone wants anything looked up (its pretty comprehensive) I'll check it out when I get home :)
Loopy_Laura_lou
15-09-2004, 17:09
Ah, I read it as sick or teething (as opposed to trick or treating)... as in a poor wee baby that wasn't well and was howlling ... I'm the numpty. New glasses?
Laura is, of course, correct!
Thank you - I shall take a bow here at my desk!
lol
Cheesy Al
15-09-2004, 17:10
If you think about it numpties - guysing is what you do on guy fawkes day!
Since when? It comes from guise, as in disguise, and you do it on Halloween.
Ritchie, you of all people should know that. Stand in the corner.
Loopy_Laura_lou
15-09-2004, 17:11
Since when? It comes from guise, as in disguise, and you do it on Halloween.
Ritchie, you of all people should know that. Stand in the corner.
I thought u done it on Guy Fawkes day - Damn, after my bow too!
:embarasse
militantmandy
15-09-2004, 17:14
Since when? It comes from guise, as in disguise, and you do it on Halloween.
Ritchie, you of all people should know that. Stand in the corner.
Yeah, i'm inclined to go with you on that one. It was definately in relation to halloween as a replacement for trick or treating.
Cheesy Al
15-09-2004, 17:30
That's what us librarians are here for folks!
Give us more money, etc. etc. ...
Naked Librarian
15-09-2004, 17:40
I read it as guy-sin, (as in a sin committed by a guy), or pronounced it to myself as "giesin" ... not guysing.
*hangs head in shame in the corner* :(
:)
Loopy_Laura_lou
15-09-2004, 17:42
I read it as guy-sin, (as in a sin committed by a guy), or pronounced it to myself as "giesin" ... not guysing.
*hangs head in shame in the corner* :(
:)
*elbows Ritchie while standing in the corner and giggles*
Are loaby and press Leith words however? I've always wondered this?Nah, it's universal as in hotel lobby (Hallway/Foyer)
Press is an Edinburgh name for a shallow cupboard (like the ones people take the doors off and use as shelving)
"Ben" Comes from "But and Ben", the old two room scottish cottage a la The Broons on holiday. One room is the "But" the other is the "Ben"
Bunker - kitchen counter
Coal bunkers used to be inside the house, in the kitchen
Irish NaveyIrish workmen who built canals etc were called Navigators, hence Navvy
Naked Librarian
15-09-2004, 21:59
:clap: Well done Lav ... didn't know about the definition of ben. Rest I knew.
Nah, lobby as in hotel lobby
Press is an edinburgh name for a shallow cupboard (like the ones people take the doors off and use as shelving)
Comes "But and Ben", the old two room scottish cottage a la The Broons on holiday. One room is the "But" the other is the "Ben"
Coal bunkers used to be inside the house, in the kitchen
Irish workmen who built canals etc were called Navigators, hence Navvy
Ma egg granny used tae say "you,ll be laughin oan the ither side a yer face in a minutegg".
Beforegg she hit me.
Sweating like a bastard at a family reunion.
"Sweating like a nun in a cucumber field" - As told to me by my ex boss's 13 year old daughter
"Och aye, Jock MacKay" - My gran
"What's for ye will no go by ye" - My Ma
"Get to yer room ya little bastard" - My Da
Loopy_Laura_lou
16-09-2004, 10:21
My grandad used to always say "Bukshee" - as in a bukshee sweetie if you were meant to get 10 and you got 11! - Strange wee man - I have no idea what that comes from?
goldenbone
16-09-2004, 10:35
<TABLE cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=3 width=601 align=center bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=right width="5%">SYLLABICATION:</TD><TD vAlign=top>bakˇsheesh</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=right width="5%">PRONUNCIATION (http://www.bartleby.com/61/12.html):</TD><TD vAlign=top> http://www.bartleby.com/images/pron.jpg (http://www.bartleby.com/61/wavs/47/B0034700.wav) bhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/abreve.gifkhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/prime.gifshhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/emacr.gifshhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/lprime.gif, bhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/abreve.gifk-shhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/emacr.gifshhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/prime.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=right width="5%">NOUN:</TD><TD vAlign=top>Inflected forms: pl. baksheesh
A gratuity, tip, or bribe paid to expedite service, especially in some Near Eastern countries. <TR><TD vAlign=top align=right width="5%">ETYMOLOGY:</TD><TD vAlign=top>Persian bakhshish, present, from Middle Persian bakhshishn, from bakhshhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/imacr.gifdan, bakhsh-, to give presents, from Avestan bakhsh-. See bhag- (http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE40.html) in Appendix I. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Its a derivation of this word..
I've never understood where "the badgers nadgers" arose from either.
goldenbone
16-09-2004, 10:37
"Och aye, Jock MacKay" - My gran
HAHA! another oldtimer that uses that phrase.. question is, did she say it with a sigh and an exasperated tone.. If so I know exactly how that sounds :)
goldenbone
16-09-2004, 10:38
I've never understood where "the badgers nadgers" arose from either.
Its a continued play on the form 'Dogs Bollocks'. Probably used in viz initially.
Loopy_Laura_lou
16-09-2004, 10:41
<TABLE cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=3 width=601 align=center bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=right width="5%">SYLLABICATION:</TD><TD vAlign=top>bakˇsheesh</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=right width="5%">PRONUNCIATION (http://www.bartleby.com/61/12.html):</TD><TD vAlign=top>http://www.bartleby.com/images/pron.jpg (http://www.bartleby.com/61/wavs/47/B0034700.wav) bhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/abreve.gifkhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/prime.gifshhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/emacr.gifshhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/lprime.gif, bhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/abreve.gifk-shhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/emacr.gifshhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/prime.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=right width="5%">NOUN:</TD><TD vAlign=top>Inflected forms: pl. baksheesh
A gratuity, tip, or bribe paid to expedite service, especially in some Near Eastern countries.
<TR><TD vAlign=top align=right width="5%">ETYMOLOGY:</TD><TD vAlign=top>Persian bakhshish, present, from Middle Persian bakhshishn, from bakhshhttp://www.bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/imacr.gifdan, bakhsh-, to give presents, from Avestan bakhsh-. See bhag- (http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE40.html) in Appendix I. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Its a derivation of this word..Right, I see - kinda! lol
HAHA! another oldtimer that uses that phrase.. question is, did she say it with a sigh and an exasperated tone.. If so I know exactly how that sounds :)
That's the one. :)
My dear old nan (who was Irish) back home in liverpool had some really sweet sayings like,
thick as pig shit!
you'll be laughing on the other side of your face if you carry on!
If she didnt like someone she used to say that "if they were on fire on the other side of the road she wouldn't even cross over to piss on them" this was usualy only used for liverpool fans and the orange lodge!
or eat up, it will put hairs on your chest!! Im sure thats why the females in our family are constanly buying BIC razors. te he
col
Loopy_Laura_lou
16-09-2004, 11:30
My dear old nan (who was Irish) back home in liverpool had some really sweet sayings like,
thick as pig shit!
you'll be laughing on the other side of your face if you carry on!
If she didnt like someone she used to say that "if they were on fire on the other side of the road she wouldn't even cross over to piss on them" this was usualy only used for liverpool fans and the orange lodge!
or eat up, it will put hairs on your chest!! Im sure thats why the females in our family are constanly buying BIC razors. te he
col
Yeh, the whole eat your crusts, you'll get curly hair thing was always used in my family - if you never - you would get sent to the "Jaggy Jumper!" lol, has anyone heard of that?
:lol:
Well, my Camelon relatives were very fond of knitting 'jaggy jumpers' for us children, and you had to wear them sometimes coz of all the work that goes into arrans :(
Loopy_Laura_lou
16-09-2004, 12:16
Well, my Camelon relatives were very fond of knitting 'jaggy jumpers' for us children, and you had to wear them sometimes coz of all the work that goes into arrans :(
Yeah, my gran knitted us them when we were young, we thought we had been bad - I can only assume that the "Jaggy Jumper" was a childrens home where you were made to wear jumpers against your skin that were made from itchy wool - for your sins?
Cruel parents eh?
My mum also usedd to say to my sister if she refused to have her hair brushed - that "she would get her hair cut like Alan" - Alan was my little cousin who had a skin head!
Poor wee mite! lol
HAHA! another oldtimer that uses that phrase.. question is, did she say it with a sigh and an exasperated tone.. If so I know exactly how that sounds :)
....wierd.... i say "aye-aye jock mackiay" as well sometimes..... no idea where i got it from, and it is said in weary exasperated kinda way too......
on another note, thinking of lavs "get to yer room ya wee bastard" quote from his dad, my dad used to win every time with "..are ye callin me a liar??" to which obviously you didnt dare answer yes.... :(
mad cat woman
16-09-2004, 14:24
Well, my Camelon relatives were very fond of knitting 'jaggy jumpers' for us children, and you had to wear them sometimes coz of all the work that goes into arrans :(Seems to be about the only thing that oldies in Camelon have the time to do - my old aunties still knit them to this day!
vBulletin® v3.7.0, Copyright ©2000-2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.