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Give us yer donny

  • Thread starter Thread starter Seabird
  • Start date Start date
My Mother always said FANDAZZYDOBY
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Just spent ages wondering where I've heard that before Ed, then it came to mind the Crankies.
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Yes, I'd say the origin (blame??!!!) lies with the Crankies.
 
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My Nan used to threaten to call Copper Ni-Ni if the kids in our family didn't behave (either that or she'd tell us we'd be off to the orphanage in Pype Hayes Park...). Anyone else come across that?
 
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My mum always used to say "give us yer donny" when we had to wash our hands. I think it's almost certainly from the French word "donner" - "to give."
My dad always called a funnel a tundish, an off-licence was an outdoor, we used to eat pikelets, not crumpets, and it was a piece, not a sandwich. I did get confused as a child when my dad would say "Come on, we're going to visit our kid," as we set out to see one of my uncles. I always assumed I was the kid. When I went to university, I discovered a whole new world. The other students, mainly from the home counties, couldn't understand my accent or my vocabulary. I remember during one meal in the hall of residence, looking at my plate I said to the young lady next to me "We're having faggots for tea tonight then." She seemed confused until I pointed to the contents of my plate. "Oh you mean savoury ducks," she replied, "and I suppose you mean supper, not tea." I guess that's when my induction into the world of posh began!
 
We were talking about S&U not long ago and out of the blue I happened to say WE HAD THINGS ON THE KNOCK.My wife said I haven't heard that for years..
 
Another thing .While on the phone my wife said to her cousin she had some Rolls from the bakers delivered. Her cousin didn't know what she meant. She then said you mean COBS
 
I always remember that whichever Woolworths you went into, the Kali counter was always the first counter on the right inside the door. I remember as kids we could not afford Sherbet, which was a white powder sweet sold in packets with a stick of liquorice, so we used to buy Kali which was yellow and sold officially as lemonade powder.
 
" Round the Wrekin" and "Bottle of Pop" were common Brummie saying when I was growing up. In the film 'Le Mans 1966' Christian Bale playing the Brummie racing driver Ken Miles uses both both of these expressions . His Brummie accent was pretty good as well. At one point in the film his son appears in a Villa top that looked right for the period.
 
bullring boy said:
My mum always used to say "give us yer donny" when we had to wash our hands. I think it's almost certainly from the French word "donner" - "to give."
My dad always called a funnel a tundish, an off-licence was an outdoor, we used to eat pikelets, not crumpets, and it was a piece, not a sandwich. I did get confused as a child when my dad would say "Come on, we're going to visit our kid," as we set out to see one of my uncles. I always assumed I was the kid. When I went to university, I discovered a whole new world. The other students, mainly from the home counties, couldn't understand my accent or my vocabulary. I remember during one meal in the hall of residence, looking at my plate I said to the young lady next to me "We're having faggots for tea tonight then." She seemed confused until I pointed to the contents of my plate. "Oh you mean savoury ducks," she replied, "and I suppose you mean supper, not tea." I guess that's when my induction into the world of posh began!
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Yes, we used to go to the outdoor, have a piece - or a cob - for our dinner, and it was always pikelets, never crumpets - although funnily enough, my wife's from North Yorkshire and also calls them pikelets.

Loved the savoury duck story - a very similar thing happened to me a few years ago. I was in the office on the phone to Mrs. Jonny and we were having our usual 4pm conversation about that evening's catering arrangements: I said "so - what do you fancy for tea then" after which my boss, a posh home counties type, looked over the screen and asked me why I always talked to my wife every afternoon about drinking tea. I explained that tea was what we ate in the evening, whereupon I was told "Oh you mean your SUPPER". I confused him further by telling him "no, no, supper's the snack you have before you go to bed".
 
JohnJames said:
" Round the Wrekin" and "Bottle of Pop" were common Brummie saying when I was growing up. In the film 'Le Mans 1966' Christian Bale playing the Brummie racing driver Ken Miles uses both both of these expressions . His Brummie accent was pretty good as well. At one point in the film his son appears in a Villa top that looked right for the period.
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My uncle tells a lovely story about when he changed jobs years ago, moving to an organisation based in Shrewsbury. On his first day the drive to his new office proved quite complicated and when he got to work he said he'd been all round the Wrekin - his astonished colleague then asked him why he'd gone all that way!
 
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When I was a kid at Raddlebarn Primary School, if we were playing a game in the playground and wanted to pause the game to talk or negotiate we'd shout out "Barley!" and everyone would stop, gather round and listen to what we had to say. Sometimes we also held up crossed fingers. When talking about this with friends from other part of the country they also had a special word, but never "Barley." I've come across "Feyknights" in the north of England, "Pax" in the south and also "Crusoes." is Barley something used across Birmingham or was it just in my school? Is it a corruption of "Parley?" And I guess that comes from the French "Parler" to talk or discuss.
 
jonnybrowne said:
My uncle tells a lovely story about when he changed jobs years ago, moving to an organisation based in Shrewsbury. On his first day the drive to his new office proved quite complicated and when he got to work he said he'd been all round the Wrekin - his astonished colleague then asked him why he'd gone all that way!
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I'm wondering if people from Shropshire use that phrase - I worked (in London) with a girl who came from that county but she had never heard of the saying 'round the Wrekin' !
 
I thought 'All Round the Wrekin' was a Shropshire phrase that had got as far as the Black Country but not to Birmingham where I had never heard it used. I was surprised when a friend from Birmingham used it and it turned out that he had been to school at Wrekin College.

I remember 'Barley' from school often with crossed fingers meaning 'truce'. I am told it is from the French 'parlez' which is the command 'speak'.

I have also been told that 'Donny' is from the French 'Donnez moi le main' which is 'Give me your hand' although if talking to a child (or girl/boy friend) it should strictly be 'Donne moi ta main'
 
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My mom used the phrase “I’ve been looking All Round the Wrekin for you”. Her dad was from Shropshire, but it did seem a Birmingham phrase.

I recall “Arly Barley” as a truce phrase too when playing tig and tag and feet off ground.
 
Morturn said:
My mom used the phrase “I’ve been looking All Round the Wrekin for you”. Her dad was from Shropshire, but it did seem a Birmingham phrase.

I recall “Arly Barley” as a truce phrase too when playing tig and tag and feet off ground.
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As a child I used Arley Barley and Feet off Ground. :laughing:
 
Hi jmadone and Hi Moturn. I think "Arley Barley" might actually be "Allez, Parlez" - French for "come on let's talk." if so, I'd really like to know why there are so many French words in Brummy language! What's weird is in French they have the same kind of expression. "Chat perché!" is what kids say when they play "tig off ground." It means "cat perched (off ground) so they can't be touched. And my children (who grew up in France) used to cry out "Pouces!" ("thumbs up") when they wanted to call a truce in a game.
 
bullring boy said:
When I was a kid at Raddlebarn Primary School, if we were playing a game in the playground and wanted to pause the game to talk or negotiate we'd shout out "Barley!" and everyone would stop, gather round and listen to what we had to say. Sometimes we also held up crossed fingers. When talking about this with friends from other part of the country they also had a special word, but never "Barley." I've come across "Feyknights" in the north of England, "Pax" in the south and also "Crusoes." is Barley something used across Birmingham or was it just in my school? Is it a corruption of "Parley?" And I guess that comes from the French "Parler" to talk or discuss.
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Hi bull ring boy, , Yes we always said "barley" if we needed to stop a game for something, , if you were playing tag or chasey, you couldn't be tagged etc while you were "barley" with your fingers crossed. I lived in sheldon, i think it was a common word for kids to say.
 
bullring boy said:
Hi jmadone and Hi Moturn. I think "Arley Barley" might actually be "Allez, Parlez" - French for "come on let's talk." if so, I'd really like to know why there are so many French words in Brummy language! What's weird is in French they have the same kind of expression. "Chat perché!" is what kids say when they play "tig off ground." It means "cat perched (off ground) so they can't be touched. And my children (who grew up in France) used to cry out "Pouces!" ("thumbs up") when they wanted to call a truce in a game.
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At the risk of straying off topic I think a lot of pseudo french phrases were brought back with soldiers returning from the Great war. Plonk is one example (Vin Blanc), San Fairy Ann (Ca ne fait rien) is another. Those two phrases are known throughout the country so why particular ones such as Donny and Arley Barley are peculiar to Birmingham I have no idea.
 
Hi jmadone,

San Fairy Ann was certainly something my dad learned to say from his father's generation- and I've certainly drunk a lot of plonk in my time! It's an interesting idea that all these French words found their way into our vocabulary via the First World War but I suspect that certain may date right back to the arrival of northern French in our language back in 1066. Why they've stuck in the region in and around Birmingham I've no idea, but I'd like to find out. By the way, have you ever as a child eaten barley sugar and do you know why it's called that?
 
Originally it was made from an extract of barley, though I doubt if it has been made that way for many years
 
Well not exactly. When the Normans arrived in England in 1066, they brought their cooking with them, including a little dessert called "sucre brûlé" (literally "cooked sugar"). But the Anglo-Saxon population who rather liked this new kind of food couldn't say "brûlé" (the French "r" is difficult for Anglo-Saxons to pronounce) so they changed it it to "burley." Also, as French adjectives come after the noun they qualify, but in Anglo-Saxon they come before the noun they qualify , "sucre burley" became "burley sucre" and then over the years "barley sugar." The weird thing is, in the nineteenth century the French discovered a sweet in England called "barley sugar" and imported it literally as "sucre d'orge" - as it is still known today. "Orge" in French means "barley." So in that sugary sweet we know in both countries, no barley, just "cooked sugar" with a misunderstanding on both sides of the Channel! Not very Birmingham I know but there you go.
 
Here's another one. In Birmingham we often begin a comment with "Any road up..." or end one with "actually." I've never heard this use anywhere else in the country. Sorry to bang on about the French connection but in France people often begin a comment with "à propos de rien" and finish one with "actuellement." Are Brummies and Froggies closer than we imagine?
 
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