Colloquialisms & Slang

[glasgowcyclist]

Getting down to the nitty-gritty.

Comes from the slave trade, the nitty-gritty were the poor folk on the bottom deck.

I thought it was later, mainly used by black jazz musicians. There is no record of its use before the 1930s and it seems odd it wouldn’t be found far earlier if it came from slave trade connections.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Can anyone translate this (from another thread):

Late at night, he is going to smash in the windows of some peanut neighbours.

 

[classic33]

I thought it was later, mainly used by black jazz musicians. There is no record of its use before the 1930s and it seems odd it wouldn’t be found far earlier if it came from slave trade connections.

"Nitty gritty' emerged as a corruption of 'nigritique'. The French colonists called the African slaves and creoles 'la population nigritique'. So to get down to the 'nitty gritty' as the English speakers pronounced it was to mix with the people downtown. The standard dictionaries are coy about this derivation."

https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-19635,00.html

 

[Baldy]

I thought it was later, mainly used by black jazz musicians. There is no record of its use before the 1930s and it seems odd it wouldn’t be found far earlier if it came from slave trade connections.

The phrase 'Nitty-gritty' - meaning and origin. (phrases.org.uk)

 

[glasgowcyclist]

"Nitty gritty' emerged as a corruption of 'nigritique'. The French colonists called the African slaves and creoles 'la population nigritique'. So to get down to the 'nitty gritty' as the English speakers pronounced it was to mix with the people downtown. The standard dictionaries are coy about this derivation."

https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-19635,00.html

Doesn’t explain its absence from written records, stories, news reports, books, articles etc. until well into the 20th century.

The OED casts doubt on the slave connection too, suggesting it’s a reduplication of gritty.

Etymonline (another very reliable source) suggests it may come from ‘nits and grits’, finely ground corn.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

pot-wallopers

A class of electors in a borough who claimed the right to vote on the ground of boiling a pot within its limits for six months

 

[ClichéGuevara]

Pardon my French

Used when apologising for swearing

If you consider words where one is taboo slang and the other acceptable, even though they mean the same thing, it soon becomes clear that it's the Germanic based words that are 'offensive'. This dates back to when most people were functionally illiterate, and French was the language of the Courts.

 

[Profpointy]

Getting down to the nitty-gritty.

Comes from the slave trade, the nitty-gritty were the poor folk on the bottom deck.

apparently that's bollocks and it has nothing to do with slavery. There was a bit of a PC gorn maad hooh hah recently where someone had claimed the slavery link and said we shouldn't use the term. Or possibly Daily Mail gammons had claimed someone had said it was racist and therefore what fools these (mythical) right on types are

 

[classic33]

Lug it/one over here
Carry/Bring one over here.
Not to be confused with "Wang one over here". The latter being a quicker, but often less precise way of moving things.

 

[PK99]

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".

My mum used it for a girl at a dance standing at the side not invited to dance

 

[matticus]

Lug it/one over here
Carry/Bring one over here.

From the same latin root as luggage

 

[Jody]

Thas a rum 'n
How terribly, terribly queer

Round here that would mean "you're obviously up to no good or you like trouble"

 

[glasgowcyclist]

From the same latin root as luggage

Latin?
(Or have I just trampled a subtle joke?)

 

[matticus]

Latin?
(Or have I just trampled a subtle joke?)

I just may have been bluffing ...

 

[swee'pea99]

I enjoy some of the new ones my girls bring home. Recent favourites have included (when I screw up the gravy, say) "You had one job...", and, when I complain about something, "It sucks to be you."