GNC
King-Sized Canary
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2001
- Messages
- 33,634
I'm a geek, so my new-fangled expresion is "Be on this or be a rhombus."
It's a bit like Barry Manilow's deathless "See it from my angle/Bermuda Triangle".
I'm a geek, so my new-fangled expresion is "Be on this or be a rhombus."
He should say 'it's super-dooper'.Hmmmmmm......Whenever I ask my husband if my dupa looks big in this or that, he just says, 'What??'
That means 'lovely bottom!' and was popularised by Brits who heard Polish airmen saying it about women in pubs during the war.He should say 'it's super-dooper'.
Yeah...bleedin Poles....comin' over 'ere with their strong work ethics, good food, sense of strong community and family values....how dare theyPolish people - comin' over'ere, flying fighter and close reconnaissance missions, helping defeat Fascism, teaching us funny phrases.
Do you have any good authority on this? It's hilarious if true. Of course the phrase precedes WWII, but that doesn't mean this origin isn't correct. Certainly this usage is believable.That means 'lovely bottom!' and was popularised by Brits who heard Polish airmen saying it about women in pubs during the war.
As far as I recall I read it in t'Guardian. A Polish colleague confirmed its native provenance.Do you have any good authority on this? It's hilarious if true. Of course the phrase precedes WWII, but that doesn't mean this origin isn't correct. Certainly this usage is believable.
I was surprised when I heard that the word "doozy" was supposedly a contraction of Duesenberg (the car) - although other explanations exist. I always thought it came from "duży", the Polish word for "big".
Or maybe not. I thought it did because of its use in "Puttin' on the Ritz", but then I did some research and found that the lyrics were changed in the 1940s. The original, which was about living it up in Harlem, did not include the phrase, nor a reference to Gary Cooper.Of course the phrase precedes WWII
He should say 'it's super-dooper'.
That means 'lovely bottom!' and was popularised by Brits who heard Polish airmen saying it about women in pubs during the war. ...
Rhyming reduplication in American slang certainly pre-dates the Forties, but I haven't found proof that this particular phrase pre-dated the war years.
SOURCE: http://wordwizard.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?t=192751940 (advertisement for the movie ‘The Lion’s Roar’ starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland) “After seeing this new M-G-M SOOPER DOOPER musical smash, our little voice went pattering all over the house.”–‘New York Times,’ 27 September, page 17/7
A friend and I were talking about this the other day. When we were at school (70's) we had Religious Studies. I don't remember us actually being 'taught' bible stories, but we certainly picked up quite a lot of biblical knowledge that way. Nowadays Religious Studies tends to consist of a lot more Comparitive Religion and less actual christian based background stuff (which is not necessarily a bad thing). So if you mention someone who looks a bit ill as looking like Lazarus walking, kids nowadays have no idea what you mean. Most biblical allusion is being lost, so it doesn't surprise me that pearls before swine provokes blank stares in anyone under the age of about forty.A recent UK survey identified a bunch of formerly well-known phrases that are falling out of use:
News story (with video)
Top of the tree is "casting pearls before swine", which seems oddly appropriate. To be honest, it seems about half the people asked knew what the phrases meant anyway, which is not too bad. Bit sad to see "Be there or be square!" slipping from favour, though. "Cold as a witch's tit" seems to be a strange one to inquire about.
Seems that larger bottoms are getting more admired these days, at least where I'm living - whatever happened to the times of Twiggy, lovely thin, beautiful women, with gorgeous faces!Did british women have lovely bottoms though? That seems important.
Seems people from the 1960's were much thinner though, in general - looking at the photos of Woodstock, it is striking how slim almost everyone is, men and women.In fairness, the 60s Twiggy, Shrimp(ton) and other such body images were really only reprising the straight up and down figures of the early 20s, which in itself were merely a reaction to the over emphasising of the feminine form from the Edwardian and the post Belle Epoque periods, with the daft bustles and corsets, etc.
All are equally unrealistic ideals, mostly unrelated to real women of then or now.
It wasn't about British women having lovely bottoms or otherwise. It was about passing judgment on women in public, in a language they don't understand so they can't object.Did british women have lovely bottoms though? That seems important.
I love the name Lazarus and wanted to call one of my kids that. Ex wasn't having it at any price.A friend and I were talking about this the other day. When we were at school (70's) we had Religious Studies. I don't remember us actually being 'taught' bible stories, but we certainly picked up quite a lot of biblical knowledge that way. Nowadays Religious Studies tends to consist of a lot more Comparitive Religion and less actual christian based background stuff (which is not necessarily a bad thing). So if you mention someone who looks a bit ill as looking like Lazarus walking, kids nowadays have no idea what you mean. Most biblical allusion is being lost, so it doesn't surprise me that pearls before swine provokes blank stares in anyone under the age of about forty.
We had Religious Education which was actually all about Bible stories - I enjoyed the one about the woman who killed a bloke with a tent peg, as I'd been camping and was good with a mallet - but we didn't get the sayings.A friend and I were talking about this the other day. When we were at school (70's) we had Religious Studies. I don't remember us actually being 'taught' bible stories, but we certainly picked up quite a lot of biblical knowledge that way. Nowadays Religious Studies tends to consist of a lot more Comparitive Religion and less actual christian based background stuff (which is not necessarily a bad thing). So if you mention someone who looks a bit ill as looking like Lazarus walking, kids nowadays have no idea what you mean. Most biblical allusion is being lost, so it doesn't surprise me that pearls before swine provokes blank stares in anyone under the age of about forty.
Whit? Woah, woah haud on a wee meenitie here!!(This line of discussion transplanted from the WTF thread and mentions of 'dupa' being Polish for 'arse'.
Whit? Woah, woah haud on a wee meenitie here!!
In Scotland, us aulder fowk hae ayeways caa'd yir erse, yir "dowp" (an mebbies thi richt same wurd is uised doon in Yorkshire an Northummerlan? Bit am nae deid certin o' that kinna Doric ....).
'Moan yis ither feelow cairters fae thi norn pairts o' thi isle......! Aye, lykes o' @Frideswide / @Min Bannister / @Comfortably Numb (an @maximus otter oan yir mithir's side o' thi family, or siklykes kin tae ye).... Am a richt, or am a richt aboot this?
Aye ah ken dowp.Whit? Woah, woah haud on a wee meenitie here!!
In Scotland, us aulder fowk hae ayeways caa'd yir erse, yir "dowp" (an mebbies thi richt same wurd is uised doon in Yorkshire an Northummerlan? Bit am nae deid certin o' that kinna Doric ....).
'Moan yis ither feelow cairters fae thi norn pairts o' thi isle......! Aye, lykes o' @Frideswide / @Min Bannister / @Comfortably Numb (an @maximus otter oan yir mithir's side o' thi family, or siklykes kin tae ye).... Am a richt, or am a richt aboot this?
Now there's a phrase I remember well from my upbringing in Glasgow - haven't heard it for years, thank you!My Grandmother used to say, "Bob's your uncle" Never knew what that meant!
Coincidentally, or Forteanly otherwise!Doric? Doric? My mother was from civilisation, i.e. Perth!
Coincidentally, or Forteanly otherwise!
MRI scanner in Aberdeen speaks in Doric dialect to comfort patients
29 January, 2022
BBC Scotland News
Patients having MRI scans in Aberdeen can now hear the instructions in the north east Scotland dialect of Doric.
The University of Aberdeen's MRI scanner has undergone a £1.2m upgrade, including new software which offers multiple language options.
(...)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-60069190
Thanks...Videos...
"...ye cannae change the laws of physics..."MRI scanner in Aberdeen speaks in Doric dialect to comfort patients