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Recent content by JohnO

  1. J

    White Rabbits

    I’ve just remembered that back in the day, the same thing used to apply to pig-killing too!
  2. J

    Saturday jobs

    Not Olives, no, but acres of bleedin’ potatoes, and stone-picking too! Mind, I must admit that the fields were generally quite flat, so I’ll give you that one. The worse of it was having to occasionally work with a gang of overly excitable, feral women - they scared the hell out of me! It was...
  3. J

    Nan's Health Warning...1947...

    There is even a mild culinary version that you can plant from bought seed, which doesn’t have quite such a bitter taste.
  4. J

    polly on the mopstick

    In the Black Country we called this game ‘buggy’ or ‘buggy-warning’ - and it usually ended in tears; especially if some fat kid joined in!
  5. J

    Pronunciation

    Yep, the correct pronunciation is indeed ‘forrid’ - although it was spelled as an abbreviation of forehead, but I cannot now recall exactly how. ‘Forehead’ is actually an anatomical term, which has only relatively recently gained in popularity. ‘Recent’ to me being the last fifty years!
  6. J

    Nan's Health Warning...1947...

    One of the old names for ‘dandelion’ was ‘wet-a-bed’ - and with some cause, as they were once frequently used in medicine as a diuretic. They also have an amazingly therapeutic effect upon dodgy gallbladders.
  7. J

    Accents

    Alberta: how lovely to have been born, and part-raised, amidst the Staffordshire moorlands. Even to this day one of the areas of England least explored, and yet often very beautiful.
  8. J

    White Rabbits

    I recently came across a mention of the ‘white rabbits’ saying, in a book about folk lore, legends, and witchcraft; although there was no explanation as to why it was said, or why it was said when there was an ‘r’ in the month - but seemingly it was originally said whilst turning ‘three times...
  9. J

    'Orse Road

    I still occasionally say ‘oss road’ - I don’t think I ever heard it as ‘orse road, leastways not in the Black Country.
  10. J

    Give us yer donny

    “Donny” derives from an old Norman-French expression, which I think I might have written something about, elsewhere on this site; but I can’t now recall the exact meaning ... sighs, it comes to us all ...
  11. J

    Saturday jobs

    Worked in a photographer’s shop 1962-64, from just turned the age of ten. Began 8.30AM to 6.30Pm, for ten shillings for the first year, and £1 for the second. Began the day sweeping-up outside the shop, mopping the doorway and, if necessary, polishing the store window; vacuumed front of...
  12. J

    Magnet Fishing!

    No body parts as yet, but I have several more ‘finds’ which I shall photograph and upload - my i-pad camera has died, so I’ll have to get someone else to do it for me. Apropos my post of Wednesday: as stated, I used my washing-line ‘prop’ to stir up the silt and, as was almost inevitable...
  13. J

    Magnet Fishing!

    I’ve been using a metal detector for years, and have had several models, the price of which increases every time; but the best detectors are very expensive indeed. Which is why I’m now amusing myself with magnet fishing - magnets are relatively cheap, they don’t require expensive batteries, or...
  14. J

    The Brummie for Lunch?

    Recently came across another old rural name for lunch: ‘Baggins’ (baggings) - delivered to field workers by their wives/children, in tightly woven flour sacks, of the smaller variety; which were relatively narrow, compared to their length. Perhaps the origin of R.R.Tolkien's ‘Bilbo Baggins’...
  15. J

    Paternoster Lifts

    Newcastle Uni had them too, in a relatively new tower block during the 1980’s - I don’t know if they are still in use. I was always nervous when using them, often waiting until an empty one came along. I used to hate it when trying to get off when others were trying to get on. I wonder if...
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