"Slick as snot on a doorknob." Eww. Thanks Dad. 
Interesting, funny, odd colloquialisms
- Thread starter KaiserKrebs
- Start date
In Michigan when someone mentions the weather being bad in some way, the other person will usually respond "Wait ten minutes". This refers to our drastic weather changes in short time spans. This is a typical conversation with a stranger;
"How 'bout this weather?"
"Yeah. Wait ten minutes"
"How 'bout this weather?"
"Yeah. Wait ten minutes"
"Quicker than a duck on a junebug."
That must be pretty darn fast.
That must be pretty darn fast.
"Stupid as a bag of hammers."
"As weird as a bucket of hair."
"As weird as a bucket of hair."
" You wouldn't pull my leg, would you? "
I have heard if a person was to be executed by hanging they would want a friend to be present. If the person's neck did not snap the friend would jerk his legs and snap his neck. This was to prevent suffocating to death.
I have heard if a person was to be executed by hanging they would want a friend to be present. If the person's neck did not snap the friend would jerk his legs and snap his neck. This was to prevent suffocating to death.
I think I speak a differnt kind of english then most people I know and my use of language is radically differnt then most BandBers
This is probably because at 23 I am one of the younger members. I grew up in a quite poor neighborhood but had middle-class educated parents and because of my affinity for british youth culture picked up allot of my vernacular in the years I spend in london.
I caught my self dropping "inn't" the other day for example (or the use of the term dropping in that context).
Things I say that you probably dont:
"hot as balls"
"on the regular"
"re-up"
"bro-y"
"actively stupid"
"inn't"
"don't even worry about it"
"hustle" as in "hustle harder" or "i hustle every day"
This is probably because at 23 I am one of the younger members. I grew up in a quite poor neighborhood but had middle-class educated parents and because of my affinity for british youth culture picked up allot of my vernacular in the years I spend in london.
I caught my self dropping "inn't" the other day for example (or the use of the term dropping in that context).
Things I say that you probably dont:
"hot as balls"
"on the regular"
"re-up"
"bro-y"
"actively stupid"
"inn't"
"don't even worry about it"
"hustle" as in "hustle harder" or "i hustle every day"
Madder than a deaf-mute playing Bingo, getting Bingo, and trying to holler "Bingo."
Easy like Sunday morning (often referring to a person)
Quicker than a greased pig
Take a shot in the dark
Dead as a doornail
...like a fat kid on a cupcake
Easy like Sunday morning (often referring to a person)
Quicker than a greased pig
Take a shot in the dark
Dead as a doornail
...like a fat kid on a cupcake
"Too wet to plow".
I often DO have bells on both legs, being a morris dancer! I wonder if that's where it came from?
My favourite was my mother's from many years ago. Sunday dinner time, she'd try the carving knife then get my father to sharpen it on the back doorstep saying "You could ride bare arsed to London on this knife..."
Gareth
"It's cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey"
Back in the canon days they stacked the balls on a brass rack called a monkey and when it got very cold the brass shrunk and the cannon balls would roll off.
Back in the canon days they stacked the balls on a brass rack called a monkey and when it got very cold the brass shrunk and the cannon balls would roll off.
Unfortunately that is still a common term for a small shop here in Britain at least. Unfortunate because of its derivation from the racial slur, unlike your own version of less offensive origins.
Is anybody else having the problem that a lot of their slang contains rude words?
Well, I am sure I have a couple of clean ones though. I was recently talking to my grandmother whilst putting on my shoes when she asked what sized 'plates of meat' I had, rhyming slang for feet.
If you like somebody's general style you might say you 'like the cut of their jib'; this is derived from a naval term, like a lot of British slang.
Another common phrase I like is to 'have a butchers', this is short for a butchers hook and so it means to have a look.
It is fun to call somebody who has acted in a particularly stupid way 'as thick as two short planks'. I have no idea how this is derived but it is fun to say, or else you could claim somebody is 'not the sharpest knife in the drawer'. Also, phrases like 'two sandwiches short of a picnic' are good for when when the situation calls for them.
A little story with this one. My friend had enjoyed an evening of light drinks (read as he was 'two sheets to the wind') and he managed to attract the attention of a police officer for some minor indiscretion. However, as he tells it, there were two people on a nearby bench 'going at it hammer and tongs' so this distracted the officer enough for him to make an exit, perhaps he even 'scarpered'.
Going at it hammer and tongs in the last story has the same meaning as the more modern phrase PDA, although the story contains an extreme version of a public display of affection.
Finally, there is the story of how in industrial England urine was in such demand as part of the wool milling process that it was transported from cities to factories in boats. This was not seen as the greatest career for a ship's captain, so many lied and claimed they transported wine. This was met by the incredulous response 'No, you're taking the ****'. This is now a common response to an unbelievable claim or excessive demand, often accompanied by 'you're pulling my leg' or 'pull the other one' (other leg I would guess).
There is also always some fun slang in the Wodehouse books. One last phrase though, if something is in particularly good order it could be called 'shipshape and Bristol fashion'.
Oh, and how could I have forgotten 'boffin' for a smart person?
Edit: Well done on catching my mistake Barber-Eile. It is a skill of mine not only to make many mistakes, but to make them in the most embarrassing way possible.
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Hmm we say "not the sharpest knife in the drawer" and also "not the shiniest penny in the fountain".
As for the rude words... lol... yes. Here in Ireland the "f" word can mean a lot of things. For the purposes of keeping it clean on here I'm going to tell the following story but replace that word with the word "muc". I hope that's ok.
So over here if you throw something down roughly you say you'd muc it. So you'd say something like "don't just come home and muc your coat on the ground" to someone who had thrown their coat on the floor.
I was in college many years ago and was having a chat with a tutor of mine whom I got along with very well and we often chatted just about our day to day kind of things. Now in England, and most places, the word "muc" often means to be carnally intimate with someone. So the following conversation was very amusing for us both once we realised we had our meanings crossed.
Me: "so I was in jujitsu the other night and that guy I like was there"
Tutor: " oh yea? Did you get a chance to talk to him?"
Me: " yeah, halfway through the class we were paired together and he muced me on the floor"
Tutor: "what?"
Me: "yeah it was really hard and everything! He just grabbed my gi and muced me on the floor in the middle of class and pinned me down"
Tutor: "... ..."
Me: "I probably have some bruises from it and everything. I'm okay though. We're a pretty good pairing physical-wise".
Tutor: "you mean he just (carnal term) you? ...WHAT?"
Me: "Ooooo!! Oh no! No he just threw me to the ground. Wait... do you not use that term in that way here?"
... followed by a whole lot of laughing. I never made that mistake again!
What makes it even funnier to me is that the term "gi" is what the martial arts outfit is called but it is prounced "gee". In Ireland "gee" is sort of an outdated but funny term for an intimate lady area! Our jujitsu teacher said he could always tell the Irish people in the class each year because whenever he would say "ok now grab her by the gi" all the Irish would giggle!
He's all hat and no cattle.
A heavy rain is a "toad-strangler."
My mom would always say, "well I'll be John Brown!" or "well, I'll be a monkey's uncle!"
A heavy rain is a "toad-strangler."
My mom would always say, "well I'll be John Brown!" or "well, I'll be a monkey's uncle!"
I just remembered a great one my mum says that I do too now:
"she's all fur coat and no knickers"
meaning she's trying to act upper class but is really just trashy.
"Mad as a box of frogs" - introduced to me by a British-expat friend.
- Thread starter
- #36
Great post guys, Thanks many of these have me laughing.... I just thought of one, What exactly does it mean when an Englishman says " Bob's your uncle"
"Tougher'n a lighter knot" is an old Southern expression that refers to the hard pine knots found in pieces of kindling wood.
If IFs and BUTs were candy and nuts we would all have a Merry Christmas.
If wishes were fishes we would all have them fried
The Third Degree--- which comes from the 3rd Masonic Degree
As happy as a clam
I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole
Son of a Gun-- when sailors would travel to the West Indies they would take the native women on the ships and have there way with them between the cannons. These women would get pregnant and the boys were called Sons Between The Guns.
I'll post more later
If wishes were fishes we would all have them fried
The Third Degree--- which comes from the 3rd Masonic Degree
As happy as a clam
I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole
Son of a Gun-- when sailors would travel to the West Indies they would take the native women on the ships and have there way with them between the cannons. These women would get pregnant and the boys were called Sons Between The Guns.
I'll post more later
Worthless as a screen door on a submarine.
... more tricks than a monkey on a mile of grapevine (to explain something that is really versatile or neat)
... slacker than a mile of rope (to explain laziness or worthlessness)
We used to call shovels "ignorant sticks". If you didn't finish school you'd have to use a ignorant stick for your job.
For those like myself that grew up in the south; do you cut the lights on/off? Whereas everyone else usually turns off/on the lights...
... more tricks than a monkey on a mile of grapevine (to explain something that is really versatile or neat)
... slacker than a mile of rope (to explain laziness or worthlessness)
We used to call shovels "ignorant sticks". If you didn't finish school you'd have to use a ignorant stick for your job.
For those like myself that grew up in the south; do you cut the lights on/off? Whereas everyone else usually turns off/on the lights...
"Busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest"
"Nervous as a long tail cat in a roomful of rocking chairs"
Sorry. Bit of Folk lore only;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_monkey_(colloquial_expression)
http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/brass.asp
"Nervous as a long tail cat in a roomful of rocking chairs"
Sorry. Bit of Folk lore only;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_monkey_(colloquial_expression)
http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/brass.asp
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