Colloquialisms & Slang

[Profpointy]

And I always thought it was because the butchers dog would live off what it could steal and run away with

You may be right; I just assumed ...

 

[mistyoptic]

“As much use as a chocolate fireguard/teapot” is in regular use for ”useless or poor quality” and has led to a shortened version where, particularly cheap tools, are just referred to as “chocolate”

 

[classic33]

I think originally it was "sticks out like a dogs bo**ocks" as in it's out standing. So anything that is out standing is the dog bo**ocks.

Stigmeologists might disagree,
"Printers in the UK refer to what publishers call “the pointer” as “the dogs bollocks” because it looks like a pair of dogs testicles as seen from below :-


View]View: https://medium.com/@robinbloor/10-publishing-words-you-dont-know-webisode-3-stigmeology-and-wayzgoose-6358a4b2e39a]View

 

[Baldy]

“As much use as a chocolate fireguard/teapot” is in regular use for ”useless or poor quality” and has led to a shortened version where, particularly cheap tools, are just referred to as “chocolate”

As much use as a hand brake on a canoe.
a trapdoor on a submarine.
a nun in a brothel.

 

[DRM]

Wigan, Hindley, Leigh....
If you ever visit you will be completely lost! People going round with a Monk on because they ran out of Babbies Yed and Pea wet!
I kid you not!
https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/stuff/dialect1.php

Strange that, to “have a monk on“ is frequently heard round the Wakefield area, there’s also some words on that link that’s are said in Yorkshire, also West & South Yorkshire your packed lunch for work is your snap, whereas in County Durham/Tyneside it’s your bait.

 

[DRM]

Another one, He/She isn’t worth a light, originally came from the coal mines in reference to the young kids, whose job was to open and close the trapdoors that kept the ventilation working when closed, but were opened to allow the passage of the tubs out on their way to the surface, these children weren’t allowed a light as they weren’t worth having that expense spent on them
Another one is See all, hear all, say nowt, eat all, sup all, pay nowt, and if tha ever does owt for nowt, allus do it for thi sen

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I thought the point was the butcher's dog would be extremely well fed; granted on scraps but lots of 'em and the dog isn't fussy.

Quite the opposite with the butcher selling any good cuts of meat

 

[Ming the Merciless]

As useful as an ash tray on a motorbike

 

[MichaelW2]

My cockney grandmother had no end of daft sayings.eg:
I'm not as green as I'm cabbage looking

My grandfather liked to use Cockney Rhyming Slang which mystified the girls at the Co-op in a small Norfolk market town.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

French Summit refers to a col or lesser top on a mountain. If someone does not manage to get to the highest point of a peak, it’s said they visited the French summit.

The phrase dates from 1950 when a French expedition failed to climb Dhaulagiri 1 (8,167m) but soon after succeeded on the lesser peak to the west, Annapurna 1 (8091m)

 

[gbb]

Or as we used to say in the 70s in Nottingham, an old fella was an 'old boy'. A young fella was a 'young old boy'

 

[Profpointy]

As useful as an ash tray on a motorbike

The alternative I like is "catflap on a submarine"

 

[classic33]

"Tint tint tin"
It isn't in the tin

"Who woshi wi? Or, woshi bi ersen?"
Who was she with? (Usually a man) Or was she on her own?

"Side t'pot's"
Clear up after a meal

 

[classic33]

Strange that, to “have a monk on“ is frequently heard round the Wakefield area, there’s also some words on that link that’s are said in Yorkshire, also West & South Yorkshire your packed lunch for work is your snap, whereas in County Durham/Tyneside it’s your bait.

Also heard in Ireland when I was younger. From relatives, and their neighbours, that had nether left ireland.

 

[kayakerles]

I watched the film “ Layer Cake “ recently. It stars, among others Daniel Craig, who is so uncannily Bond like that I thought it was a spin off from the Bond franchise, only to be told that the film predates his Bond roles.
One of the characters in the film comes out with the expression “ easy peasy Japanesy” only to be reprimanded by one of the “ baddies “ who tells him that he’s being racist. The character then points out that he’s Japanese so it can’t be racist before reluctantly agreeing to use “ lemon squeezy “ instead. 😁

So a 2004 British movie brought back easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. Good find, Tenkaykev. But can we make it popular again in 2021/2022?