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On a Line

R

Rod

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John my mum was always ON A LINE with me, usually for getting home, late, or mucky. It's a smashing expresion, I wonder about it origins?
 
I always understood that to be ON A LINE with someone was to be annoyed with them over something they had said or done.
 
:D jkc, I can't remember when our Mom was never "On a line" with someone, family, or neighbours. My Mom was always Cross, Mad, or in a Temper with someone all her life. :(
 
John as a matter of interest, were these folk you asked significantly younger? might it be that its just part of the past that is dying ?
 
Got a cob on

We always used to say if someone was angy that they had "got a cob on "

I have a relative who seems to "have a cob" on regular , I have never worked out why . Juts leave em to it .
 
wwodentops

I can remember when the woodentops used to aks whats for dinner the reply would be

"sawdust and hay for dinner today "

although in their case that was probabaly a good meal .

and spotty dof would say "rawrust and ray" rraa raa
 
It would be brilliant to assemble a collection of sayings, I'm sure your right about wat has dissapeared over the years, they need preserving.

I still use the expression, "having a piece" Or "get a piece, out of the bag" when supporting people to cook at work, I get puzzled looks from service users and other staff. For the very young it was a "Piecy" and referred to a slice of crust buttered and dipped in sugar.....UGHHHH :shock:
 
The explanation I was given, many years ago, for on a line was thus.

If two blokes had a dissagreement to resolve, they would draw a line on the ground and would step up to it. They would then take it in turns to punch each other. This went on until one of them couldn't stand on the line. The other one would be declared the "WINNER" :roll:
 
On a line yesterday, having a benny tomorrow

There was a piece in last night's Evening Standard (in London I'm afraid) about new words. Apparently the latest kid's talk for being "on a line" is "having a benny". The big nfour-wheel drivers that Chelsea mums take their brats to school in are now called "mumtrucks".
Peter
 
I'M FIRST, NO,I'M FIRST...

Hey Postie I like the Idea of two blokes taking turns to punch each other to sort a problem out, as long as I was not involved.
But you did not say who got the first punch. If I were in that situation I would want the first punch and I would make sure it was the final one.

My darling wife called me a chump the other day and I had'nt even done anything, is chump a Birmingham expression, I don't hear it down here in North Devon
 
Chump was one of my dads sayings - when he was in a good mood. He didn't speak when he was in a bad one. :D
 
Di, Michael calls me chump when I do something silly or wrong! lol
 
Something that rhymes with chump is hump and that's what men usually get when they don't have their own way. Jean.
 
In Derby if someone is in a temper they say "He has got a bag on ", if he is really bad " Hes got a rite bag on, my Dad
always said Dont talk to him he has got his a==e in his hand, Bernard
 
My dad called me a tripehound a lot, I not sure it was nice, anyone??
 
Probably not connected but it may have a bearing. I was told of doss houses for homeless men in Victorian times being a large room strung with washing lines but no beds. The men would drape themselves over the lines and fall asleep. It sounds very uncomfortable but was perhaps safer than the streets and warmer. I understand it was the cheapest form of lodging you could buy.
 
Hello again nishja,
The New (1993) Shorter Oxford English Dictionary contains tripe-hound as a derogatory slang word meaning " (a) an unpleasant or contemptible person; (b) a newspaper reporter; an informant; (c) a dog, specifically (Australia and New Zealand) a sheepdog.
It's up to you to decide what your father intended??!? (Wink) David
 
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OH NO, and I thought my dad loved me. :( On second thoughts could be right. I have been called all sorts before so will take it with the proverbial pinch. Could be who you ask.
 
Heard somebody called a twerp the other day, thats one I hadnt heard for donkeys years.

Anybody got any idea where it came from - or what it means ?

Come to that, where does donkeys years come from ?
 
Where does ... hes lost his rag ,or hes got his rag out come from cheers Tom
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Keep ya hair on ! Actually Carl Chinn along with another guy wrote a book called " Proper Brummie ".List nearly all Brummyisms .
You'll be in ya oil tot .
 
Good morning Rowan and col h,
There is no reference in the New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary to prat or twerp having the meaning of a pregnant fish. The noun prat means “the buttocks, the backside” or “an insignificant person; a fool a blockhead”. The dictionary states that in Scotland prat is still used with the meaning of “a piece of trickery or fraudulence; a prank, a frolic”.
Twerp is defined as “an objectionable or stupid person; an insignificant person, a nobody; a nincompoop”.

The origins of the two words with the meaning “an insignificant person” is unknown.

Perhaps forum members have come across the internet trick question “Is a pregnant goldfish called a prat or a twerp?” The answer is that there is no such thing as a “pregnant” goldfish because goldfish are not live bearers. The female lays eggs so there is no way a goldfish could be pregnant and therefore she has no special name. A more appropriate word to describe an “expectant” female goldfish would be egg-bound.

I imagine the expression "donkey's years" meaning a very long time is a pun based on the fact that donkeys have very long ears (years). Just my imagination. db84124
 
my mother always used that term" being on a line ", when she did l knew l was in trouble...but then later dad would say "lve got a bone to pick with you" then l knew l was really in trouble....Brenda
 
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