Know any good regional/national expressions?

[Crackle]

ears like a shithouse rat - Dunno where it comes from but it's a favourite of mine.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I didn't know that was regional

I could have just led a sheltered life, but given my background I hasn't thought I had... It was just down south when I first encountered it...

 

[Mr Celine]

English has a double negative but not a double positive.

Aye, right.

Except of course in Scotland.

 

[Red17]

When working on my motorbikes / car - Gentlemans persuader = lump hammer

"he's got short arms and deep pockets" = tight git

 

[subaqua]

ears like a shithouse rat - Dunno where it comes from but it's a favourite of mine.

eyes like one too.

 

[subaqua]

English has a double negative but not a double positive.

Aye, right.

Except of course in Scotland.

cos its Jockanese not English

 

[Hacienda71]

I'm gonna do one because it is all a bit shnide. Is local to Manchester. Meaning I am leaving because it is all a bit dodgy.
When I was at Uni in Sheffield Blokes calling you love and women calling you duck took a little getting use to.

 

[ColinJ]

Are there any expressions you & yours use that wouldn't be used by people elsewhere?

One from Hebden Bridge - Get thee o'er t' SciTechGeeks forum t' read ColinJ's post about digiboxes!

 

[marknotgeorge]

Ginnel, narrow alleyway between buildings.

Jitty round 'ere. And we tend to pronounce nowt to rhyme with boat, rather than shout.

 

[classic33]

Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey
=> brass monkey weather

Navy origion.

 

[machew]

Navy origion.

Bollocks

It is often stated that the phrase originated from the use of a brass tray, called a "monkey", to hold cannonballs on warships in the 16th to 18th centuries. Supposedly, in very cold temperatures the "monkey" would contract, causing the balls to fall off.[18] However, nearly all historians and etymologists consider this story to be an urban legend. This story has been discredited by the U.S. Department of the Navy, etymologist Michael Quinion, and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).[20]

They give five main reasons:

The OED does not record the term "monkey" or "brass monkey" being used in this way.
The purported method of storage of cannonballs ("round shot") is simply false. Shot was not stored on deck continuously on the off-chance that the ship might go into battle. Indeed, decks were kept as clear as possible.
Furthermore, such a method of storage would result in shot rolling around on deck and causing a hazard in high seas. Shot was stored on the gun or spar decks, in shot racks—longitudinal wooden planks with holes bored into them, known as shot garlands in the Royal Navy, into which round shot were inserted for ready use by the gun crew.
Shot was not left exposed to the elements where it could rust. Such rust could lead to the ball not flying true or jamming in the barrel and exploding the gun. Indeed, gunners would attempt to remove as many imperfections as possible from the surfaces of balls.
The physics does not stand up to scrutiny. The contraction of both balls and plate over the range of temperatures involved would not be particularly large. The effect claimed possibly could be reproduced under laboratory conditions with objects engineered to a high precision for this purpose, but it is unlikely it would ever have occurred in real life aboard a warship.
More likely the reference is almost certainly 16th to 18th century humour, just like it is used today to emphasize how cold it is.

 

[Hitchington]

"fark orf ya caaaarnt!" - common greeting between friends and acquaintances in Dulwich, South London

 

[donnydave]

mrs donny dave reliably informs me there is a german phrase "one hand washes the other"

 

[donnydave]

If you want some funny phrases, try literal translations of Japanese. I started learning a few weeks ago and even simple greetings are a source of amusement. "yoroshiku onegaisemasu" (equivalent of how do you do) means "please be nice to me"

 

[Mrs M]

Lived up here for many moons but still learning the local lingo
Eg
Bosie = cuddle/hug
Aye aye = hello
Fit like? = how are you?
Quine = girl
Loon = boy
Wifie = woman
Mannie = man
Fit? = what?
Far dir ye bide? = where do you live?