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Steph, I would never get on a scale in public...you are so brave!!! LOL
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how about bloody twit very expressive and not as bad as o sod it
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An American friend of mine preferred stones. She said that 10 stones sounds so much lighter than 140 lbs.
On the other hand, she didn't appreciate going up a dress size when she bought clothes in the UK. |
"Bob's your uncle": means everything's OK, you've nothing to worry about - from the ease with which the nephew of the then Prime Minister (Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, hence Uncle Bob) rose to high office in government.
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Adverse Camber - saw it on a road sign in England and had to check the Oxford English Dictionary. It means wonky road, or something.
Yes, squiffy - learned that one from a friend in London. Love it! |
Can't resist joining in again - I think it's "barnpot" [or possibly "barmpot"] and fit as a "butcher's dog" - a "butchered dog" would be about as much use as a chocolate teapot!
So what if Robespierre thinks we're all round the bend, off the wall, or completely barking? |
or off our trolleys.
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As cold as a well-digger's fanny
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"like a rat up a drainpipe" - yes, know that one, and in Australia at least, "as cunning as a shithouse rat".
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Mind the Gap .. always a favorite!
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"Adverse camber" I think is what I'd call negative camber. My completely unscientific explanation: "camber" refers to the way the road tilts when it's curving - on a left curve, for example, the left side of the road should be lower than the right, to assist in cornering. It should then level when you hit a straight stretch. Think of the way a bike rider leans into a curve. Sometimes, though, the road "leans" the other way, making the curve more difficult to negotiate (and on one occasion depositing yours truly onto the road's boggy verge).
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Incidentally, most Australians, brought up on the "whingeing Pom" stereotype, would be astonished that a phrase like "mustn't grumble" could have come out of England of all places. In fairness, I doubt that I ever heard my English-born father, or his mother and siblings, utter a single whinge.
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Having been raised by Irish folk, I believe the expression is "colder than a well-digger's arse" as "fanny" has a completely different anatomical connotation particular to women only!
"Ta", "scarce as hen's teeth", "go on with ya", and the ever popular lament "I'm living in the House of Nonsense" were regular expressions in our household. (Sorry folks, today would have been my late mum's birthday, and I'm missing her keenly today.) My Irish grandmother, a matriarch who had 9 children used to admonish them (when they requested of her something they themselves were perfectly capable of doing for themselves) "You're big enough, old enough and ugly enough to do it yourself!". She also referred to her beloved ciggies both as "fags" and "cheroots". BC |
My DH asks that I add "Shut your great bleedin gob" to the list.
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It wasn't a butchered dog.
I missed out the S. Another Yorkshire one "Everyone's mad but thee and me And even thee's a bit peculiar sometimes" And (avert your eyes, Sheila) of a place that is unexpectedly empty and deserted Like Aberdeen on a flag day |
This may be bit recherché, but a sort of companion to the butcher's dog is the barber's cat, which for some reason indicates sickliness, hence the phrase a friend of mine uses: "farting like a barber's cat".
Another one I've seen but rarely had occasion to use is "the rough end of a ragman's trumpet", which I think carries much same meaning as the rough end of a pineapple. Or as my sweet old mother occasionally said "Well, bugger me gently". |
like a rat up a drainpipe" - yes, know that one, and in Australia at least, "as cunning as a shithouse rat".>>>>>>>>>
In England shithouse rats aren't cunnning - they're mad (loopy not angry). I like the phrase "all over the place like a mad woman's knitting" |
Another favorite, this one courtesy of one of my Irish-American grandmothers:
"...only on occasions of state and bonfire nights..." |
what a fun post - as it is getting late I will have to read the last 1/2 tomorrow!
Growing up in England (now live in US) I can remember hearing my father yell "Bloody Hell" - all the kids then ran for cover as is meant someone was in a big load of trouble!! The one phrase I still use is "leave the door ajar" - which confused my husband until I told him it meant just pull the door till it almost latches! |
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