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Brummie sayings & language

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An expression my mom used to use was "Oh well, summat'll turn up if it's only me toes" !


Hi Silhouette53,

I remember this one well, - my father in law was always using it. I think
it's a reference to being laid out with your toes pointing skyward- and
meaning that it is the only certainty in life. Rather like another expression-
'snuffing it' !

Kind egards

Dave
 
My Dad also used to say "you need a bit of gumption on that" but as he was a Yorkshireman I always thought it was a Yorkshire saying, so I was surprised to see it down as a Brummie saying.

Judy
 
''You just wait till your father comes home''that used to do the trick

Mossy
 
another one which I think was his invention was like gumption" Show some Azum Jazum"

If he was ill whatever it was his remedy was to "put some Blackjack on it". It stank to high heaven
 
Another thing my Mom would say if she didn't want to tell you where she had been. I would ask where have you been, she would say "there and back to see how far it was"
 
When I asked my mom where she had been or what she had been doing she would say I have been to Five to play sixes up seven street. Jean.
 
Another saying if you were clumsy and kept dropping things - you've got butter fingers, I found myself saying this the other day when I dropped two or three things in a short time.
 
bonb pecks to us was for playing on marbles,hide and seek cowboy and indians,also collecting wood for bonefire night.we had some fun on bomb pecks.
 
if i had ""played mom up"she would say"yowve showed me up"if i had realy upset her it would be"yowve showed me up blind"then she would say" wait till ypur dad cops hold on you,youl get a towelling"since the only towelling i ever had was when i had a bath ,this didnt frighten me much
 
I live in the Cotswolds now and down here they have ' OFF LICENCES ' where i will always call it the 'OUTDOOR'
Another old saying i love is ' DRUNK AS A BOBHOWLER' fantastic still use it today and get many a strange look.
 
I have just thought of a couple of saying that used to be said in our house all the time. One was if you were fidgetting, someone would say stop ryling (not sure of the spelling of that one) Also they would say 'He/she was cussing her blind.
 
I have just thought of a couple of saying that used to be said in our house all the time. One was if you were fidgetting, someone would say stop ryling (not sure of the spelling of that one) Also they would say 'He/she was cussing her blind.


Gosh, I'd forgotten about the 'ryling' (as you say - sp?) around.
That's another one my Nan used to say!

I am sure a lot of these sayings have already virtually died out - the younger Brummie generation wouldn't have a clue what you were talking about!
 
I am sure you are right Sparks, they wouldn't be used now. Of course we also wondered if some of the saying were in our homes only. It is a shame that accents etc are dying out. I still use a lot of the old sayings.
 
if i asked what was for tea my mom had two answers,either"fresh air and eye-piece" or "bread and scrape it".
 
I still use one or two sometimes without thinking ( e.g 'round the Wrekin' ) but as I live in London now I get some very strange looks ....!!
 
I still say all around 'The Wrekin' when I moan about the bus going all round Bills mothers. I wonder what the Wrekin was.
 
.....oh and another thing, not really a saying but calling your mother 'Mom'.
It's very much a Midland thing - there is only myself an an American colleague who use it. We were recently commenting on the impossibility of getting a mother's day card with 'Mom' on it in the UK!
 
when you say "What"to my mother-in-law she says"Whats dead his a***se.... is cold"(another word for bottom)
 
An elderly friend of mine who grew up in Erdington told me when her sister and her played up her mother would shout "I'll part you from yer breath". It made me laugh!
 
Oooh I remember being told to stop 'riling' about too & I've often heard my Mom etc talk about 'cussing blind' as well.
 
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