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Brummie sayings & language

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I had to educate these southerners about pikelets as well. They thought they were small fish. Are they?
Reminds me I've got some pikelets in the freezer. Just the thing for tea----dripping with butter.

A Black Country expression 'it's a bit black over Bill's mothers'.

Another one for someone who went a long way round or spent ages explaining something ' he's gone all round the Wrekin'.
Janet
 
My mom used to say 'i.m gooing to clean the suff.

Pikelets for tea - great.

and one I never hheard anyone else say [from my dad] I've suffered mortrums.

always 'the miskin' for the rubbish.

the coalhole - for the coal.
'you'll have more that a peck of dirt before you die

.miriam.
 
That's not worth a tripe supper my nan used to say , in the days of pig bins ,Hedges L 260 snuff and penny winkles . Does anyone remember if pig bins were collected daily?. Bernie
 
Sir Stificate

This is not a member of the nobility as you might suppose.
It is the Brummie form of a diploma.
 
Cough and a cold

This is what you ALWAYS had when your mom wrote you an excuse for not being at school.
It is definately what you would write if it was you wot really writ it.
Brummies NEVER just have a cough. Likewise they NEVER just have a cold.
One MUST in Birmingham have a cough AND a cold. Always in tandem.
Bear this in mind or the doctor can't save you.
 
Pill.

A "Pill" is NOT what you take after paying your two bob to get your prescription filled at the Chemist.
It's real meaning should be obvious to all small Birmingham boys.
A "Pill" is a small ball - usually an old tennis ball - used to pay a game of footer on the streets.
But by all means if you want to take a pill for your cough and cold, go ahead.
 
When I was a kid I always used to go "up" town and "down" "the green (Acocks Green). I have no idea woi and its snot a Brummie slang thing. But I felt I had to say it.
 
Well, I'm on a roll (bap or even a cob). I may as well keep going.

This one, said forcibly in your face during a conversation. This little charmer usually happened somewhere between the start of an argument and actual fisticuffs, usually aimed at a person who "took the liberty" of "butting in" to a discussion .......

"Yow tawkin to me ...... or chewin a brick ? "

I've never been able to figure out the origin of this one. But it was always useful during pre punch-up moments while one gathered one's strength and deciding to stay and fight or scarper.

Often, no excuse was needed to get beaten up. One would meet a gang when going down the street. Bear in mind a gang could be as few as one person, or fewer. They(it) would greet you cheerily with the grunted demand, "Blues or Villa" ? It was done so often it was not deemed necessary to preface this startling intrusion with the prefix, "who do you support". This question was always a dilemma to a classicaly trained mind such as mine and one had to think for a while to ruminate on the proper response. It took a few "bangs on the boko" or "smacks around the lug 'ole" before it dawned on me that it didn't much matter what I replied because I was in for a punch in the gob any road up.

All this does remind me somewhat of question time in the House of Commons and believe me there was nuthink more common than my house. The only difference between our street and Westminster was that we were much more civilized than that lot.
 
"It's dark over your grannies", was what was often said when inclement weather approached. My mom, however, always used to say, "It's dark over Nechells Green".
This always puzzled me so I asked her once why she said that.
She told me she had to because our nan lived in Small Heath.

At this point I would go to "play out" taking my piece(one slice of bread with jam) with me and try to catch me a few "bob Howlers" or if it was spring time search for "guzgogs".

We, as stated elsewhere, would from time to time get lost on our travels and "Go round the Wrekin" as many others have. In fact my mom wanted to travel a lot as when surprised she would usually say, "Well, I'll go to the end of our Street". But she never actually went. Personally the thing that scared me most was going down (or up) Mucklows Hill. I don't remember any specific phrases but often times could be heard emanating from the A30 would be all kinds of naughty words exhorting the little car to safety. The next best thing and infinitely more terrifying was sitting on a corporation bus at the top of Hill st, with the bus driver revving the engine like crazy and riding the clutch till his knee gave out or the lights changed. Once or twice the silly bugger would stall the thing and we would start to slide back down the hill backwards, the brakes not being up to it and the wheels were locked and sliding on the greasy road in any case.
 
Don't I ever shut up ? Not likely. My cakehole or gob is rarely closed for business.

One more before another cup of coffeee and a piece of cake.

My mom was always rather disparaging towards those on our street with delusions of grandeur. She was not a fanatic about it but was fastidious in keeping us kids clean and having sparkling sheets and linen at all times. Having a fancy house or furniture was less important to her. She even ironed our underwear, "just in case". Oh my O my. She once was roundly praised when a nice old lady on a corpo bus, when mom was taking all four of us somewhere or other, commented on how nicely turned out we all were. To this day my dear old mom swells with pride when she recalls it. Like the day the next door neighbour forced her hubbie to go into the back yard and look over the fence and take a look at me moms washing on the line because it was so clean and white. Mom used to "poss" the washing in a large aluminium tub with a "Posser" a copper bowl shaped thing with holes in it on the end of a broom handle. The term "posser" might be North Country, though, rather than Brummie.

At any rate she used to say of a pretentious or "stuck up" neighbour that they were, "all kippers and curtains". I suspect this is not particularly Brummie but it was a common saying.
 
My dad, and others would say "I'm going to see a man about a dog". Probably not uniquely Brummie, but often used.
 
Jayell said:
We used to have a pig bin, but I think it was collected weekly - not sure!
Click to expand...

In Frederick Road Stechford there were 2 pig bins on the pavement in the 50's. My memory of them is of dogs pulling them over to get at the contents, the smell, and the huge number of flies they attracted. They
didn't seem to be collected that often, and were always overflowing.

Happy days

Kind regards

Dave
 
When we started yawning, my dear old mother used to say 'The bed is calling...'

I had forgotten all about that until I used it recently......... Mabz
 
The heart that loves is always young

people only see what they are prepared to see

a little spark can kindle a great fire
 
For someone who rambled on they could talk the hind leg off a donkey or had been vaccinated with a gramaphone needle .You wern't at the back of the queue when they handed out " noses ,cheek or big mouths or several other things, better late in this world than early in the next ,for anyone driving too fast or cutting corners to get somewhere or finish something Bernie
 
At bed time my mother always used to say - up the wooden hills to Bedfordshire.

and

you'll catch it, when yer dad gets home! Miriam.
 
When playing cowboys and indians - when we wated a truce we used to shout "Barley".

I think this was the nearest a Salltley boy got to an exotic foreign language - I think we meant "Parlez"!!
 
like most mothers when we were all young kids after out playing all day they would call you in for tea and before you get your tea they would say to ya get your self cleaned up before you have ya tea ,and more often than not
they would say cor blimey have you seen the back of your neck ;
well how on earth would you see the back of your own neck
crazy thing to say to a child oh well ; astonian ;;
 
Never asked that one of me Astonian - LOL That is really funny
 
my mother and fathers saying sit up right at the table and do not slouch
at the table and get your shoulders up do not slurp
and eat those crust it will make your hair curl and then old one after tea up the wooden hill -meaning going to bed after your tea ,
 
chrisbusbyoutbase said:
My mother said she was going to have pikelets for tea. We use to sit in front of my nans fire toasting them on a fork. The packet in which they were bought the other day pronounced crumpets. So a round flatish thing with lots of holes in the top to me is a pikelet so what do the rest of you Brummies call them.
Click to expand...

Arr to right pikelets is what they are. brings back memories for me too. Johnhr
 
Hi all, I am a expat brummie living in spain (loads of brummies over here) and the other day we went into the local shop that sells brit grub, ‘have you any pikelets’ dumbfounded stares all around ‘round things with holes in, you toast them.’ the owner said ‘you mean crumpets’ so for the next half hour every one that came in the shop was asked ‘do you know what pikelets are’. One of life’s joys is to eat a pikelet swimming in butter. The butter dripping down your chin and best shirt.
Baz
 
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