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Give us yer donny

  • Thread starter Thread starter Seabird
  • Start date Start date
Am not from Birmingham, as most of you know, but suspect that in the south of England anyone asking a child to hold my donny would be looked at with great suspicion
 
Not only did we hold donnys but we kept our donnys warm in mittens, we warmed them by the fire and we washed them ! Viv.
 
I was quite discouraged from using any slang words. However, that is not to say I didn't know or hear them. I believe my first swear word was when I was 19 and in the RAF - well, if you couldn't beat them you had to join them it is said. My father, even towards his death, did not thing I used any swear words, despite his use of them.
Father and two of his brothers who had the same surname were born in London. They moved at a later time, after my grandmother had remarried (my grandfather was killed during WW1), to Birmingham to take charge of part of a well known store. As a result one uncle was fluent with London rhyming slang which he took delight in acquainting me with. I still remember it - and more - and now and again use it.
On one of my frequent visits to Cambridge I visited some friends in Sutton Bridge. A large spread of food was laid out for everyone. I casually asked my wife what 'the bird' was, (Bird Lime meaning time), the host replied "what bird, it died years ago". :D
 
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Radiorails said:
I was quite discouraged from using any slang words. However, that is not to say I didn't know or hear them. I believe my first swear word was when I was 19 and in the RAF - well, if you couldn't beat them you had to join them it is said. My father, even towards his death, did not thing I used any swear words, despite his use of them.
Father and two of his brothers who had the same surname were born in London. They moved at a later time, after my grandmother had remarried (my grandfather was killed during WW1), to Birmingham to take charge of part of a well known store. As a result one uncle was fluent win London rhyming slang which he took delight in acquainting me with. I still remember it - and more - and now and again use it.
On one of my frequent visits to Cambridge I visited some friends in Sutton Bridge. A large spread of food was laid out for everyone. I casually asked my wife what 'the bird' was, (Bird Lime meaning time), the host replied "what bird, it died years ago". :D
[/QUOTE, Nor me i dont swear,smoke or drink, ho! dear i have left my ruddy pipe in the pub om.
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Radiorails said:
I was quite discouraged from using any slang words. However, that is not to say I didn't know or hear them. I believe my first swear word was when I was 19 and in the RAF - well, if you couldn't beat them you had to join them it is said. My father, even towards his death, did not thing I used any swear words, despite his use of them.
Father and two of his brothers who had the same surname were born in London. They moved at a later time, after my grandmother had remarried (my grandfather was killed during WW1), to Birmingham to take charge of part of a well known store. As a result one uncle was fluent win London rhyming slang which he took delight in acquainting me with. I still remember it - and more - and now and again use it.
On one of my frequent visits to Cambridge I visited some friends in Sutton Bridge. A large spread of food was laid out for everyone. I casually asked my wife what 'the bird' was, (Bird Lime meaning time), the host replied "what bird, it died years ago". :D
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Like you I was discouraged from using slang and the only expletives I heard around the house were darn & blast, unlike today where young ladies use all the obscenities as part of their everyday conversation, but I had aunts and grandparents from the Harborne side who used 'donnies', 'tootsies and 'fizogg' regularly. This thread took me back quite a few years.
Bob
 
l never heard my father swear he always said l can cuss as good as the next bloke but never in front of a women...my mother had to be really upset to say dame and blast under her breath so l guess l lived a very sheltered live...untill l met my inlaws that's when l really had an education...the young people of today have no idea what they sound like when they cuss ..l am the one who is shocked and when l bring it to their attention they really don't see whats wrong....by the way l only bring it up to my kids and g/kids so they know they have to leave their potty mouth at the front door.
 
Brenda,that's good to hear.Im 80 and can honestly say that I have never ever Sworn in front of my Wife or Children even after working with some choice people.My father never swore at all.But my mother used to,but never understood what she said because she swore in ITALIAN.But she would say YOU MAK A ME .MAD
 
Edifi said:
Brenda,that's good to hear.Im 80 and can honestly say that I have never ever Sworn in front of my Wife or Children even after working with some choice people.My father never swore at all.But my mother used to,but never understood what she said because she swore in ITALIAN.But she would say YOU MAK A ME .MAD
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Especially for you, note no swearing. ;)
 
“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 ...
 
My mother use to use the word Fandangle .I remember her using this word (which I believe means useless ornament) when the mobile phones came out the ones that looked like a black brick she would say ^another useless Fandangle^ How wrong she was ^bless her^.
 
Robert don't know we're she got it from.But this was in the 50s.She was the forewoman in the Sausage house atMarsh & Baxters and worked with a lot of Scottish women
 
Seabird said:
Do any of you Brum dwellers hear it now?

I haven't heard it for years, but then I do live in Wales. (where they have 'babi' - pronounced 'babby', and 'becwys' - pronounced 'bek-oose', meaning 'bakery' and many other Brum/Black Country type words)

How about ' napper' for 'head'. The old folks used to say 'mind your napper', when we walked near the table edge as little children.
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I suppose it's not so surprising there are a lot of expressions in common between us and the Welsh is it?
 
pollypops said:
My mum used to say it to me - usually in winter she would say 'are your donnies cold?' or giving me gloves/mittens she would say 'these will keep your donnies warm'

My dad always referred to hands as donnies, as did I and my sisters when we were kids.
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mariew said:
I still say give us your donny to my grandkids, and I say babby, but my daughter keeps correcting me saying its baby.
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My Nan never called me anything but Bab, right up to her death in my mid-thirties. When I was a kid I used to wonder if she actually knew my name, but I still loved it.
 
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