Colloquialisms & Slang

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Ming the Merciless

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
Jammy

Have good luck
 
VelvetUnderpants

VelvetUnderpants

Über Member
My Grandfather used to say on occasion “By the cringe”

Whatever that meant.
 
M

MichaelW2

Guru
I am Bamboozled by nautical and naval slang. Everything you can hit your head on seems to have a special slang or colloquialism or is prefixed by the word "sea". One of the charms of Patric O'Brian ( Master and Commander) novels is his refusal to tell you in landlubber terms what you just hit your head on
Let me get my Sea Boots from my Sea Locker, close the Sea Valves, and feed my Sea Dog.
 
Accy cyclist

Accy cyclist

Legendary Member
Location
The hills of Accrington
swee'pea99 said:
Never heard that, but I love it! According to a bit of googling it comes 'from the mill towns of Lancashire, where fourpence was considered expensive for cheese hence cheese for sale at that price would not be bought.' So, say, a woman whose date failed to show up: "He left me standing there like cheese at fourpence".
Click to expand...
That explains it very well!:okay:
 
Moodyman

Moodyman

Legendary Member
Wife beater = Stella Artois beer

It's all gone Pete Tong - Cockney slang for gone wrong.

Two a penny = something that is easy to find/common and so, not worth much.

I'm on my Jack Jones = Cockney slang for I'm alone
 
ClichéGuevara

ClichéGuevara

Legendary Member
Location
Kingston upon the River Hull
Ming the Merciless said:
Sweet fanny adams

Fook all
Click to expand...

That got a mention on a programme not long back, and the origins are naval, and decidedly macabre.

NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH


Labourer Thomas Gates (a Crimean War veteran who partook in the famous Charge of the Light Brigade) found the head of Fanny Adams stuck on two hop poles, while he was tending to the crops. An ear had been severed from the head, which had two large cuts, from mouth to ear across the temple. Further investigation discovered the remains of the child; the head, arms and legs were separated from the trunk. There were three incisions on the left side of the chest, and a deep cut on the left arm, dividing her muscles. Fanny's forearm was cut off at the elbow joint, and her left leg nearly severed off at the hip joint, with her left foot cut off at the ankle point. Her right leg was torn from the trunk, and the whole contents of her pelvis and chest were completely removed. Five further incisions had been made on the liver. Her heart had been cut out, and her vagina was missing. Both of her eyes were cut out, and found in the nearby River Wey. Most of her body parts were collected on that day but an arm, foot, and intestines were not found until the next morning. One foot was still in a shoe, and still clutched in one hand were the two half-pennies that Baker had given to Fanny. The breast bone was never found.

In 1869 new rations of tinned mutton were introduced for British seamen. They were unimpressed by it, and suggested it might be the butchered remains of Fanny Adams. "Fanny Adams" became slang for mediocre mutton,[27] stew, scarce leftovers and then anything worthless. The large tins the mutton was delivered in doubled as mess tins. These or cooking pots are still known as Fannys.
 
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