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Odd Sayings

my father , when encountering problems during carpentry operations , would often shout in frustration "christ's teeth!" i've never heard anyone else say this aloud, but have sometimes read it in very old literature.
 
GNC said:
I've heard of people getting "het up" and thought it was a Scottish expression! Must be from all over, then.
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Many Southern people are of Scots/Irish descent - in Northern Alabama, where I was born, this is certainly the case.
 
Could be. I'm no linguist by any stretch of the imagination, but it sounds like it to me.
 
"nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs" is a brilliant expression! And one I hope to use in the future :D
 
My Cornish father and his friends (all of whom were at least 30 years his senior) used to say "Dumbtit" when talking about baby bottles/dummys. They would say to me, when I would play with my dolls as a child "go an get um a dumbtit". Also, the expression "teasey as an adder" was used a lot by him when I got into a childhood strop. The word "Tuss" is still used frequently by my family who still live in Cornwall, it basically mean "pr*ck". "That Tuss 'as made me teasey as an adder!" :D
 
My mother used to say that someone was as cunning as cat's meat meaning they were not to be trusted.
On being asked what something was that she didn't know she'd say it was a wing wong for a goose's bridle.
 
Shady said:
I dont know if anyone has mentioned the one 'Built like a brick shit house' meaning they are a BIG strapping person
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My Dad used to say ththat when my mom was a young woman she was "built like a brick shithouse" which meant that she was, erm, voluptuous. And she was. Back in the 70s there was a song by the Commodores, _Brick House_ and it was on the radio and my dad told me the whole saying and then my mom said something like "Well, Gates, darlin', looks like you're gonna be built like a brick surfboard." And sure enough, she was right. But, since I had been well indoctrinated in my formative years by images of Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton and Cher, I was more than ok with that.
 
"Ooh - I bet that came tight!"

When you see someone get hit or slapped by something or someone.

Common parlance in Warwickshire at least - nobody down South knows what I'm on about when I say it - so I use it as often as possible.
 
You will often hear this in my house (usually after a night on the ale): "my heads banging like a shit house door". does anyone else use this to describe headaches?
 
cherrybomb said:
My Cornish father and his friends (all of whom were at least 30 years his senior) used to say "Dumbtit" when talking about baby bottles/dummys. They would say to me, when I would play with my dolls as a child "go an get um a dumbtit". Also, the expression "teasey as an adder" was used a lot by him when I got into a childhood strop. The word "Tuss" is still used frequently by my family who still live in Cornwall, it basically mean "pr*ck". "That Tuss 'as made me teasey as an adder!" :D
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Sadly you don't hear much Cornish speech down here nowadays. Even youngsters born and bred here mostly use yoof-speak picked up from the telly!

Some Cornish expressions you still hear - "I'll do it drekkly" (meaning roughly manana!), and "My bird" (a term of affection for someone of either sex).
 
I've heard "well I'll go to the foot of our stairs" to express astonishment. Is it "real" or a catchphrase?
 
rynner2 said:
Sadly you don't hear much Cornish speech down here nowadays. Even youngsters born and bred here mostly use yoof-speak picked up from the telly!

Some Cornish expressions you still hear - "I'll do it drekkly" (meaning roughly manana!), and "My bird" (a term of affection for someone of either sex).
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I know a lot has died out, sadly. "My bird" is lovely to hear. I also like "right on, boy" which you sometimes here down there. Another great expression my father still uses is "As much use as tits on a boar pig" :D
 
"Ive seen more life in a bag of filler sand"

A fave saying that a builder used say to me when I was his apprentice.
 
Another one of that hairy builders - "Cuppa tea Aunt Sally?" Here he was asking the customer to bang the kettle on.
 
Another, which has a different meaning for the Americans is 'I'll knock you up' meaning to give you a call or a knock on your door to arouse you.
 
cherrybomb said:
You will often hear this in my house (usually after a night on the ale): "my heads banging like a shit house door". does anyone else use this to describe headaches?
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Here it's "banging like a screen door in a storm". Or tornado, or hurricane, depending on how hard it's banging, I guess!

Re: "het up" - the first time I heard this phrase was in a British movie, so always assumed it to be a British expression, but some phrases did cross over, certanly. I've heard that "y'all" (which is generally associated with the American South) actually came from the Scottish settlers in Appalachia.
 
'she was handsome as a gaol door' and 'it was nowt to write home about.' 'He came from somewhere outadoors' are all remembered from my yoof-unfortunately not heard so much these days.
Frideswide-My Grandad quite frequently claimed he'd 'go to the foot of his stairs' for astonishment/exasperation.
i have a fond memory of telling my Gran that when she talked about 'your chemise', (referring to a vest or ladies camisole/undergarment) she was using a french word. (This is a lady who viewed anything 'foreign' (or originating more than 50 miles away) with suspicion, to the point of refusing to eat pasta/pizza as it was too 'out there') :rolleyes:
 
jacolantern said:
My Grandad quite frequently claimed he'd 'go to the foot of his stairs'
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excellent! validation at last :D nearly 30 years that's been worrying at me. On and off I mean.... :)
 
cherrybomb said:
You will often hear this in my house (usually after a night on the ale): "my heads banging like a shit house door". does anyone else use this to describe headaches?
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In my youth, in the 60s, "banging" was a euphemism for 'having sexual intercourse'.
So if someone was said to 'bang like a shithouse door', it meant they were a bit of a goer! :p
 
Reminds me of the chic 1980s Cinema du look movie Betty Blue which contains the line: "While we screwed, her IUD was like a broken door banging in the wind!" Not sure how romantic that is, might have lost something in translation.
 
Naughty_Felid said:
"She had a face like a bag full of smashed fannies"

He/she is "wired up to a mars bar" - meaning they are crazy
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I was reading an article one time about Pink Floyd ( I am an enormous fan, have been since childhood) and the author was talking about Roger Waters who had to stand next to the totally hot David Gilmour "with a face like a slapped arse".
 
jacolantern said:
'she was handsome as a gaol door' and 'it was nowt to write home about.' 'He came from somewhere outadoors' are all remembered from my yoof-unfortunately not heard so much these days.
Frideswide-My Grandad quite frequently claimed he'd 'go to the foot of his stairs' for astonishment/exasperation.
i have a fond memory of telling my Gran that when she talked about 'your chemise', (referring to a vest or ladies camisole/undergarment) she was using a french word. (This is a lady who viewed anything 'foreign' (or originating more than 50 miles away) with suspicion, to the point of refusing to eat pasta/pizza as it was too 'out there') :rolleyes:
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Here, a chemise was called a "shimmy". Don't hear it much anymore, though. It was an "old folks" expression.
 
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