 sj |
||
|
||
Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun!
|
|
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Gary T Date: 13 Apr 00 - 07:53 PM I remember growing up with "Don't get your bowels in an uproar"=don't get all upset--seems along the same line as "Don't get your knickers in a twist", knickers here being underdrawers (but we always said underpants). You can find catercorner (=diagonally across the corners of an intersection) in the dictionary. I grew up (U.S. east coast) with "wait for"=bide your time, while "wait on"=serve, as a waiter in a restaurant. Here in the Midwest, "wait on" is used both ways, "wait for" is seldom heard. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Hotspur Date: 13 Apr 00 - 07:50 PM The soda/pop debate rages on...here in Eastern NY state, we call it soda, but west of Syracuse they say pop, or even soda pop, to cover all bases. I've heard old folks call these drinks "phosphates" too. Sounds poisonous, doesn't it? Colloquialisms: some people still call a small stream a kill, from the Dutch. Otherwise, it's a creek, pronounced crick. We also have lightning bugs, not fireflies. If you have a hankering for something, you have a sudden desire for it. My grandmother says somehting is "the berries" when she means it's the best. One of my teachers used to use the expression "God returning on a shingle," but i never figured that one out. Anyone know this one? We have a Worcester here in New York, too, but it's pronounced Worster. We also have towns called Chili (Chy-lye)and Pulaski (Poo-las-kye). My favorite, though, is Skaneateles, pronounced, "skinny atlas." |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: GUEST,BeauDangles Date: 13 Apr 00 - 07:04 PM In my Mom's family, when they needed to have a serious family talk about something it was called a "Come to Jesus." Also, when something is located diagonally opposite you, it was not "kitty cornered", but "cattywumpus." And if something was really far away, it was "way out yonder in plum nelly," which I have decided comes from "plumb nearly." BeauD |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Billy the Bus Date: 13 Apr 00 - 06:47 PM Forgot to add to the "Piss" item above - it's all really just piss-and-wind (bullshit)
Sam |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: kendall Date: 13 Apr 00 - 06:45 PM Numb as a pounded thumb Useless as a trap door in a canoe " " " a screen door in a submarine Popular as a wet dog at a wedding Screwed up like a Chinese fire drill
Cudgel..club
Harder than a brides bisquets
|
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: GUEST,Rex Date: 13 Apr 00 - 05:53 PM In southern Louisiana, inhabited largely by "Cajun's", (that is, people descended from Arcadians, who came from Arcadia in Canada), it is customary to "make groceries", meaning go grocery shopping at the local supermatket. Also, if a Cajun wants to call you over to discuss something, the expression is likely to be "Hey Joe, come see". And if a Cajun mentions "eating tails and sucking heads" he is talking about feasting on crawfish, which are essential on any true Cajun menu. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Billy the Bus Date: 13 Apr 00 - 05:49 PM Ok, me old Auzzie cobras out there, who can remember the words of that wonderful old ditty of the 50s "Chunder in the old Pacific Sea", about the noble art of vomiting, when piss-crook? All I remember is... ______________________________ I had a mate called "Murph", we were sitting in the surf.... I've had liquid laughs in bars, and I've hurled from moving cars. I've chundered when and where it's pleas-ed me. But if I could choose the spot, to regurgitate the lot, I would chunder in the old Pacific Sea.
Cheers - Sam |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Billy the Bus Date: 13 Apr 00 - 05:27 PM Here's a wee yarn I used 25 years back, in NZ, to take the piss out of (make fun of) Americans' use of the term "I'm pissed" (annoyed) - If I was "pissed" I was drunk. _________________________ It was pissing-down (raining hard), and I was pissed-off (annoyed), so I pissed-off (went) to the pisser (pub) to get on the piss (have a drink). I was pissing-up-large (drinking a lot), so pissed-off to the pisser (toilet, dunny, dyke, shithouse, outhouse, long-drop, crapper, etc NOT bathroom - that's where you have a bath) for a piss (leak, slash, etc) in the piss-tin (urinal). The piss (beer) was getting to me, and I got as pissed as a parrot [newt, chook etc] (very drunk). I went on to a piss up (party). And.... Wheww... This old piss-pot (drunkard) was piss-crook (hungover) in the morning. Stop pissing yourself (laughing) and piss-off (go away) - it wasn't funny! Cheers - Sam |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 13 Apr 00 - 05:07 PM Place names are interesting:
Lancaster, Pennsylvania is LANN-KASTER
Here in Indiana there are a lot of old-world place names, with our own Hoosier pronunciations:
Then of course Cairo, Illlinois (like the Egyptian city) is always KAY-ro.
If you ask for a mango in a Southern Indiana grocery, you're likely to get a green pepper, not a tropical fruit. Dave Oesterreich |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Caitrin Date: 13 Apr 00 - 04:38 PM My brother's urging me to get off the computer, so I didn't get to read all the thread. Pardon me if I post something that's already been said. It's a peecan, accent on the first syllable, not a p'cahn, to most people around here. If something flew all over you, it made you mad. If you're dumber than a box of rocks, you're pretty stupid. "Crackers" and "trailer trash" are not good things to be. The town of Winterville is "Winnervul", and the town of Pink Hill is more like "Pank Ill." The mountains of NC have more strange phrases, like "the hawk is flying low" to mean it's cold. The most interesting NC accent, though, is what's known as a Hoi Toider, possessed almost exclusively by Harkers Islanders and Hatteras Islanders. I'm told it's very similar to Elizabethan English. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Sailor Dan Date: 13 Apr 00 - 04:25 PM Down here in Miami we have a lot of people suffering from a "rectalcranialinversions"??? Having their heads stuck up their asses.
|
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Jim Dixon Date: 13 Apr 00 - 04:03 PM Hey, I just found this old thread and decided to revive it because it's fascinating. I live in Minnesota, so I'll tell you the Minnesotanisms I know: "Aunt" is pronounced "awnt" although most of the US pronounces it "ant." (My father, from Kentucky, pronounced it "aint".) Some old-timers call traffic lights "semaphores" and rubber bands "rubber binders." Minnesotans will say "come with" for "come with me" as in "I'm going to the park. You wanta come with?" A very short haircut (crew cut) is called a "Heine" and pronounced "hiney". I'm told it comes from a German name (I don't know why) and is unrelated to the southern term for buttocks. A polite but childish term for buttocks is "hinder" pronounced with a long "I" as in "hind." Sweet carbonated drinks are called "pop." Liquor can be either "on-sale" or "off-sale"; a bar has an "on-sale license", which is short for "a license to sell liquor for consumption ON the premises", while liquor stores are off-sale. (I believe Brits say "off-license" for the same reason.) We use the term DWI for "driving while intoxicated" while in some other parts of the US they say DUI, for "driving under the influence." "Ish" is an expression of disgust, like "yuck" elsewhere. "Uff-da" (with a vowel sound like the one in "book") comes from either Swedish or Norwegian (I forget which - maybe both) and is an expression of dismay, like "Ohmigosh!" or "Oy!" Here in the home of Target stores, a lot of people call it "Tar-Zhay" as if it were French, but that's a deliberate in-joke. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 12 Apr 99 - 04:39 PM Steve: couldn't resist one last post to this one, before going on to Colloquialisms II. I think it's absof*ckinglutely! ***just havin' fun*** katlaughing |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Steve Parkes Date: 12 Apr 99 - 03:50 AM No, Pete - that's why I asked! There's a town in Staffordshire, just up the road from me, called Rugeley. People who were brought up there pronounce it Rudgelee, but outsiders and incomers call it as if it were Fench, to rhyme with rouge. Dr John: abverbs?! Like f*ckly or f*ckingly? The mind boggles! Steve |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Pete M Date: 11 Apr 99 - 05:40 PM A dialect word I learned from a climbing mate from Nottingham was "nesh" = to complain overly about being cold. My mum was stationed in the potteries during the war and remembers people there being "starved with cold". Then of course there's the ubiquitous "it's brass monkies", "Brass monkey weather" etc. And finally "A lazy wind" = one that can't be bothered to blow round you. As you may have gathered, it's finally got round to proper autumn weather here in NZ. One term which was common in Kent but which I haven't heard elsewhere was "Chave" = mate, cobber etc (possibly a contraction / mispronunciation of Chief) On the subject of "hallian" a common description of said mucky infants in Dover was "rapscallion" possibly the same source? As to distinctive pronunciations, for some reason the Froggies pronounce "cinque" as in the Cinque Ports, as "sarnke" instead of the correct "Sink". Which reminds me Steve, I've been thinking about names for furriners, and I can't really think of any that I would consider offensive in intent. Had you any in mind? Pete M |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Joe Offer Date: 10 Apr 99 - 03:14 PM Lahser? Gee, I didn't know it was spelled that way. Until I was ten, I lived near the intersection of Six Mile (McNichols, but nobody called it that) and Grand River in Detroit, which is closer to that street than any of the the rest of ya. I always thought it was spelled and pronounced "Lasher," which rhymes with Santa's reindeer "Dasher." I had to call Mom to get verification on that. Mom says it's pronounced just like it's spelled - "LAH-ser," but that a lot of people with a shorter Detroit heritage wouldn't know that (part of my family claims to have gotten there when Cadillac founded Detroit in 17-aught-something). My dad got laid off from his automotive engineer job in 1958 and we moved to Wisconsin, but my parents never adjusted. We went to Detroit every summer for vacation, and my folks STILL go there (from their home in Florida) every summer. I guess I left Detroit too young, because I didn't learn how to pronounce or spell Lahser. Having lived in my birthplace for only 10 years and Wisconsin for only 11, and the rest of my life in California, I may be a man without a home. Lahser, eh? Well, I'll be damned. The things you can learn on Mudcat never cease to amaze me. -Joe Offer, who useta think he knew what he was talking about- |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AlistairUK Date: 10 Apr 99 - 02:39 PM They were always plimsolls to me as well. About place names. There was a village near Luton that was called Flitwick but pronounced 'Flitick' Luton would never be called LuTon by a local it was always Lu'on ( the /u/ as in up) |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Penny Date: 10 Apr 99 - 02:29 PM I thought cushty was from Romany, don't know why. And, a long way back up the thread, I saw reference to catty corners meaning diagonal - Sussex dialect has caterways fro the same thing, apparently related. There's a lot of variation in placename pronunciation around here (Southern England), and some of it has to do with class. My parents lived in Rolvenden for a while, and were told the "correct" way to say it was Rovinden. This only works in an upper crust accent, not the broad country accent of the ordinary people. And we have Wrotham - root'm, Trottiscliffe - Trosley, Shipbourne - Shibburn. These follow a rule of being the easiest way to say a long word in the local accent. Bob Hope fogot this on a return visit to his birthplace at Eltham - elt'm. (Caution for Americans not wanting to be laughed at by the natives - ham on the end of names is usually 'm - on Tory candidate sunk himself in Streatham by pronouncing every letter, so crossing the Thames can be as much of a problem as crossing the Atlantic.) My father has moved to the really difficult one - Cirencester. Full version, Sirensester. Other versions - Sister, Ciceter, Cisister, Ciren (the latter by most locals now). I've chickened out, and use the name in full! LEJ, we have glow-worms here, not as wonderful as lightning bugs, because they just sit around on twigs, grasses etc, waiting for a mate, and the flying males only glow a teeny bit when disturbed. I saw my first one four years ago, having thought they had all died out years back. I thought someone had left an LED in the woods! There's a reasonable colony hereabouts, but not as many as people remember. Back to colloquialisms - "there used to be so many glow-worms, they were festooned along the banks, we used to be able to put them in a jar and read by the light. Funny, you don't see them nowadays." Words for chase games can be mapped on Britain, like the words for truce during them - I think the Opies did it, fainites, squits, etc. Something I needed when I started teaching was a lexicon of words for the rubber soled canvas shoes used for physical education lessons, as, if you used the wrong one, you were met with total imcomprehension. I called them plimsolls, but I have also met daps and pumps.
|
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AlistairUK Date: 10 Apr 99 - 09:33 AM Lion: 'cushty' as in that car is not quite cushty. or we're cushty now? Also dodgy "'Ere Arfur, you bin sellin' dodgy motors again? You bloody toerag, gertchya." |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 10 Apr 99 - 01:11 AM LEJ: those must not be native Coloradoans! We always said Lou-a-ville and Pooh-eh-blow! My great-aunts, who died of Tb are buried close to there in Niwot (Nigh-watt), named after a Native American chief. I know about Louisville, KY, though. My son lives across the Ohio/Ahia and says it as though he has marbles in his mouth! No never camped in the Wind Rivers, but as I said go to Indian do's over there a lot. Not too bad for skeeters at them, but it's probably because of all the smudging and fires. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Lonesome EJ Date: 10 Apr 99 - 01:01 AM Now Cara, about this zoo concept. Unfortunately the folks in Cincy have Newport,KY across rhe river which tends to reinforce the concept that Larry Flynt is the prototypical Kentuckian. We were probably also wrong in saying that the reason there were so many Ohio Tourists in KY was because they had to drive that far to get away from the aroma of Cleveland.(a-hilk hilk) Speakin of town pronunciations, you have to live within 50 miles of Louisville to get the pronunciation right. It's kind of like " LUH'-vul" but that doesn't do it justice. The first vowel has a sound all its own. When I moved to Colorado, I was surprised to find out there was a Louisville here, but pronounced "LEWIS-ville." They also pronounce Pueblo CO as "PEE-yeblo." When I lived in Kentucky we had the most wonderful insect in the world-" the Lightnin Bug." What a beautiful sight on a warm summer's night to see the lights suddenly blinking on and off all around you. I believe these are called "fireflies" elsewhere.On nights like that, we would sit on the front porch of my Grampaws home and tell " Booger Stories"- ghost stories, not tales of nasal exploration.My grampa liked to cook biscuits and gravy in the mornings, gravy so thick he called it " stackin gravy" because you could stack it up on your biscuits. Kat- ever camp in the Wind River Range up by Lander? I lost about 2 pints of blood to the mosquitoes up there one July weekend...LEJ |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Lonesome EJ Date: 10 Apr 99 - 12:41 AM |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Alex Date: 10 Apr 99 - 12:07 AM I was always amused by a Liverpool expression. "I'll gerroff at Edge 'ill" Edge Hill station was the penultimate station on the RR line from London to Liverpool Lime Street. There also being a large number of catholics in the town, to get off at Edge Hill meant you intended to use Coitus Interruptus. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Anne Date: 09 Apr 99 - 10:51 PM Here's a couple I grew up with: Are Yunz coming? = Are you all coming? Weasel Piss = WD40 or lubricating oil, Useless as tits on a nun = TOTALLY useless. My dad is a real colorful guy... |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Mo Date: 09 Apr 99 - 08:51 PM How about ICBA - I Can't Be Arsed - pron ICK-BAH. We use it at work quite a lot now. As in - "what about running through some crash scenarios?" "Nah, I'm feeling a bit ICBA today". If you want some good Glasgow colloquialisms try The Patter by Neil Munro - if nothing else, a hundred ways of describing being drunk - pished, blootered,et al... Cheers, Mo |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Jack Hickman - Kingston, ON Date: 09 Apr 99 - 08:25 PM Great thread. To the person who spoke of the pronunciation of street names, etc. in Detroit, my folks moved to Detroit in 1952, while I remained in Canada, and eventually they ended living on Puritan at Lahser. I never could figure that one out. Also, having had some exposure to French, I thought it awfully strange that St. Antoine would be pronounced St. AnTOYN and Livernois would be pronounced LiverNOISE. But the strangest of all was in the small city across the river in Canada, Windsor, which officially had a French Canadian population nearing the 50% mark. In that town was a street named Pierre, but pronounced by all, without exception as PEERY. Also a small village outside Windsor, River Canard, known to all as River CanORE. I'm surprised we haven't heard from the faithful Tim Jacques, pronounced JAKES. Jack Hickman |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 09 Apr 99 - 07:49 PM Bruce O.: Yup, thet's right, son, but we won't hold it agin ya'!***BG*** That's so cool that you know where Lander is! We go there quite often, to Ethete (say it after me, everyone: EEth ah TEE, Good!), actually to the Reservation for sundances and powwows. The Indians just rebuilt an old hot springs they have there. we haven't been yet, but in its heyday of the last century, everybody who was anybody used to stop there and "take the waters", including Teddy Roosevelt. So conveniently on the way to Jackson Hole, ya' know? Also, Roger, has to go up there a lot because the tv station he works for has a transmitter up there. Have you been through Riverton and past Boysen Reservoir? To the north of Boysen is Boysen Peak. They also have a transmitter up there. It is my very favourite place to go. You can see for hundreds of miles, nobody else is up there, and I always see eagles. One winter everytime Rog went up a coyote followed in his tracks. It was really neat. Just to keep on subject, for the rest of you that's Ri ver ton and Boy sun! katl |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bruce O. Date: 09 Apr 99 - 04:53 PM Good Lord! Katlaughing, you mean I've been pronouncing Popo Agie wrong for about 35 years? One of my favourite spots in Wyoming is a National Forest campground near a the start of a canyon of the river, some 12 to 15 miles SW of Lander. I've been there about a half dozen times on cross country trips, and found it hard to tear myself away each time.
|
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Lion Date: 09 Apr 99 - 04:04 PM Hey! Bert and Alistair it is great discover that you are English (British, if you prefer) I am from Bournemouth and we have colloquialisms coming out of the ying yang! I just spoke with my sister, who still lives there, she asked me to mention cushty, which you might know, Alistair, since you mentioned Only Fools and Horses, which is where Jan (the sister) heard the phrase. Bert, are you still in England or have you moved elsewhere? It is great to hear all these expressions, which I have long since allowed to rust! By the way, don't you think that the Austin Powers movie (new one) has a rather bad taste title? The Spy Who Shagged Me!!** Can't imagine the US releasing something titled The Spy Who Fucked Me. Or maybe, it won't be released in England, it's too horrifying to imagine, I am not a "maiden aunt" but .... really! |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: catspaw49 Date: 09 Apr 99 - 03:57 PM Yes Cara you are. With me...Southern Ahian ... went to college at Berea KY. Just stop now and you'll be OK. catspaw |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 09 Apr 99 - 03:42 PM Dr. John: do you know the name of the song? I'd like to hear it or read the lyrics. It sounds like a good'un! For linking, although I've not studied it, but I have printed it out (HEY! my intentions are good!)***BG***, go to the forum search and look for a thread entitled "HTML Stuff". I believe you will find what you are looking for. Thanks, katl |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Dr John Date: 09 Apr 99 - 03:22 PM Katlaughing:- with regard to that unfortunately named English county north of Suffolk, there's a wonderful rugby song where they fall over a precipice, finish it, go to N-r-f-l- and other things I forget. AlistairUK - swearings ok and necessary even but the problem is listening to some of those who stand on street corners, every other word's the f-word - nouns, advs, adjs the lot - which must make their sentences very long. Perhaps that's why they need to stand around. And what do they say when they need to swear (as we all do)? Apart from someone on another thread who doesn't like such words on the web. For a wonderful collection visit: www.viz.co.uk and then onto Roger's Profanaraus. Help please: how to put hyperlinks on the Mudcat. DRJohn |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Cara Date: 09 Apr 99 - 02:42 PM Just thought of another mispronounced Ohio town: Ironton--I knew someone from there who pronounced it with almost no consonants-Ahrn'in. But of course, that's Southern Ahia, and what do they know? (Did you hear they're building the largest zoo in the world in Cincinnati? Yep, they're putting a fence around Kentucky.) I think I may have gotten myself in trouble on that one...
|
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Barbara Date: 09 Apr 99 - 12:31 PM I once had this conversation with an upstate NY friend: Me: Going to the store, get you anything? NYer: yeh, get me some baggles. Me: Huh? NYer: A dozen baggles, you know like donuts? but not sweet? Me: Ohhh, Bay-gles. Sure. NYer:That's what I said. BAGGLES. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 09 Apr 99 - 12:03 PM Bert: ROTFLMAO!!!!HEHEHE!!! |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AlistairUK Date: 09 Apr 99 - 11:52 AM aaargh...It's tag damn you, TAG!!! :o) |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bert Date: 09 Apr 99 - 11:52 AM Kat, I was talking to someone in Dallas about Tejon, that street in The Springs. She insisted on pronouncing it Tee-John instead on Tay-Hone. Bert. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Steve Parkes Date: 09 Apr 99 - 11:46 AM Oh, you mean tick, Alistair! |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: katlaughing Date: 09 Apr 99 - 11:44 AM BSeed, you'e right of course, with some papers. The one here that I write for is Wyoming's only statewide paper, but it is also not that grand. Up until the new editor came (who is now living, thank gawd!) my opinion pieces wereon the editorial pages, with letters to the editor being on the opposite page. Now, I am still in the Sunday edition, just on a "Forum" page all it's own across from the editorial page. who knows what teh new editor will do. Out here, I've always heard them called op/ed pieces. In the Liberal Opinion Week (www.liberalopinion.com) it is allreprints of editorial and opinion pieces from around the country. I think, in general, at least from what I've seen, the lines have blurred a little. Our editorial page always has opinion columns on it. As for words: my dad always called the glove compartment in a car the "grub box" meant for food. I didn't realize I did this until the other night, we women are called and call ourselves "gals". Who can forget that famous mountain range the Grand Tetons, which my french speaking hubby says means big breasts and which the uninitiated call "Teh uns" while we call them the "Tee-tawns". Then there are the town and river called Belle Fourche, which in french is mostly said "bell foosh", but if yer a native you say "bell four shay". The Popo Agie River is pronounced "Poe poe shah". I'm gonna have to call dad and get some from him. His language is so colouful. I am so used to these I can't think of any! katl |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AlistairUK Date: 09 Apr 99 - 11:17 AM I have read an awful lot recently about White Castle burgers and I am actually willing to sacrifice a day on the loo just to taste these strange and exotic beasts. The burgers are steamed aren't they? And only cost 59 cents from what I can gather. If you want a real arse burner, next time any of you go to the UK after a night in the pub find the nearest kebab van and get a kebab with extra chili sauce, guarenteed to clear the tubes for at least three days. Uh-Oh I feel thread creep coming on...this is turning into a food thread again. Back to colloquialisms, I was talking to a mate of mine last night, who comes from round Barnsley way, and he was talking about a game they played when he was a kid called Tig, it took me a few moments to realise that he was talking about the game I know as Tag. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: catspaw49 Date: 09 Apr 99 - 10:57 AM Just wanted to say that I survived the night without a trip to White Castle. I especially want to thank Barbara for bringing them up, so to speak, and katlaughing for starting this miserable thread. Actually, I love you both, but a "slider" at 3 AM would have made today an endless blur of Maalox, Pepto-Bismol, baking soda, and Gaviscon. catspaw |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AlistairUK Date: 09 Apr 99 - 10:36 AM Ritchie: when I used to go to the chippie, I would also ask for scrumps. When I first started teaching english out here, I didn't have the refined and cultured accent wot I have now. One evening after one particular lesson a student came up to me and said "Teacher, why are so many people dying when you speak?" "Dying?" Replies yours truly, "No body died tonight." "Yes they did, there was Mondie, tuesdie and also yesterdie." I knew I had problems also with my squashed vowel sounds in words like "Town"..which came out "tewn" and "Brown"which came out "Brewn" so I had a lot of fixing on my accent before I felt confident again. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Steve Parkes Date: 09 Apr 99 - 10:17 AM My first pint cost me 1/10.1/2d - that's supposed to be "one and tenpence ha'penny". The thing is, when £sd went out, it stopped having inflation: £1 in 1972(?) would be, maybe, £5-£10 today (or even more, God help us!). So paying half-a-crown (2/6d - 12.1/2p) for a pint could be the equivalent of, er ... £2.44 today. That still sounds expensive to me! "It's dark over Bill's mother's", as I know it: I don't know who Bill was, but if I was his mum, I'd move somewhere where the weather was better! "Well, I'll goo [sic] t'aer 'ouse/to the foot of aer stairs/t Cannock Chaerse [Chase]/etc.": I've heard Ken Dodd use it, so it's not just Black Country. No idea where it comes from ...
"Dirty/mucky/noisy Arab" (short "A") are still common round my way. I wonder what they did to qualify for that? How about animal metaphors: mucky pup, daft bat, dirty cat/dog, donkey's years (on 'is yead!). Maybe we could invent some new ones!
|
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: The_one_and_only_Dai Date: 09 Apr 99 - 09:28 AM Steve - in the BC, don't they say: a) It's black over Bill's mother's b) Well, I go to the foot of our stairs under various circumstances? Explain please, if you can. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Ritchie Date: 09 Apr 99 - 09:27 AM My eldest son has just come in and said he'd just heard someone use the phrase " Like a dog at broth " he loved it but was n't sure what it meant. We've used that phrase for years. I'll have to give wee Archie our westie some broth to show him. Just wait till the young un comes in and asks what a knee trembler is ..... Steve, a while ago I was in a pub in Islington ( I think it was the Kings Head ) where the landlord still had the prices in 'old money' except they were the current bar prices not pre-decimal so a pint of Guiness was £2.4s.8d . The effect was that you could n't check your change & you were amazed at how much prices had gone up. When we go to any fish & chip shop in Gateshead ,where I live ,I insist on asking for a paper when I want fish & chips.I know in other area's they ask for different things we also ask for chips with some batter. Ritchie. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bert Date: 09 Apr 99 - 09:08 AM The boracic lint that I remember was pink, and yes it was used to cover and protect minor injuries. It looks somewhat like those felt squares that you can buy in craft stores. Also, in the army, Spam was referred to as "pink lint" Bert. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: AndyG Date: 09 Apr 99 - 07:52 AM Steve: As I remember it, Boracic Lint is that white medicated cloth that the school "nurse" used to stick over your cut knee with that terrible purple plaster strip that really hurt when it was removed. The lint also meshed with the scab and ripped open the cut again unless you soaked it off in the bath. (This still reopened the cut but didn't hurt nearly as much.)
I really wish I had no memory of this :)
alison:
Toao_Dai:
AndyG |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Bill in Alabama Date: 09 Apr 99 - 07:43 AM Alison-- In the mountains of East Tennessee, hyperactive, rambunctious, troublesome children were referred to as hellions; that might possibly be the origin of your term halian. |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: alison Date: 09 Apr 99 - 07:42 AM Hi, Just looked it up in my 'Speakin' Norn Iron as she shud be spoke.. a guide to the language spoken in the North of Ireland." book...... it spells hallion with two 'l's... it isn't from the gaelic as far as I could see in my Irish dictionary... it's just one of those words you can put a heap of feeling behind. Does anywhere else have "your head's cut" or "he's a thick as champ," (meaning not wise.)?? another I used to like was "that takes me to the fair".. roughly translated as "I find that hard to believe." I used it to an aussie and was asked "which fair?" But they're getting used to me a bit now... they understand "watch out for that shuck" (ditch), and when I'm asked what's for tea and I say "steughey" (pronounced ste-yucky) they know I've created something from whatever was lying around in the fridge. Slainte alison |
|
Subject: RE: Colloquialisms- Post & Define 'Em! Fun! From: Steve Parkes Date: 09 Apr 99 - 07:24 AM Apeth = 'ap'orth = ha'pennyworth. (See my previous post.) You won't be old enough to remember this, Dai, but before about 1970 we still had 240 pence to the pound; one penny (1d) being two ha(lf)pence, and 1.1/2d being a penny ha'penny or three ha'pence. I tell my kids about doing long division in £sd and they don't believe me. I can still do it too! I suspect poke for ice-cream cornet comes from hokey-pokey, which I believe is still common in Scotland? It's supposed to derive from the Italian hoco uno poco - take a piece - which was the cry of the Italian ice-cream sellers; there was a lot of Italian immigration into Britain around the turn of the century, probably for historical reasons of which I am totally ignorant. So, what's boracic lint then? Presumably some kind of textile impregnated with borax, but what's it for? Steve |
| Share Thread: |
