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Things you said when you was a kid

terry carter

terry carter

Birmingham Pals
I have been going through all the old threads in the 'Brummie sayings and Language' section with avid interest.

I have been writing them down and then giving my Mom & Dad a phone call (both in their early 80's) and to see if any of them rang a bell with them I am glad to say it has and they certainly had a good chuckle at some of the old sayings that they have not heard for years.

I could not believe our Mom had not heard Arley Barley before though.

One of the past threads mentions that young birds were known as 'cuk cuks'. According to my Mom that is what they called sweets... and yes I can rember that as a kid. I can also remember suger coated jelly sweets being called 'Juju's'.

What else did we have? and what did us Brummies call them.

Cheers all

Terry
 
Never heard of Arley Barley, but yes to all the others you spoke of. I think I have mentioned before that dustbins were called miskins.

Maggs.
 
Yep, cuk cuks was sweets.

Sayings I remember our mom using were, 'Oh well sez Nell' and the phrase ' he dont know ar se from a bulls foot' neither of which I've heard for a long time now.
 
Yes, Arley Barley when you wanted not to be caught out with a weak excuse - but you had to have your fingers crossed and I seem to remember one foot off the ground.
Look at the thread "Bills" for another saying, " It's a bit black over Bill's mothers".
 
Does any remember the saying if you saw an ambulance.

Touch your collar
Never swallow
Till you see a dog.

What was that all about I ask ?
 
I definately remember my grandmother and mother saying it look's black over Bill's mother's, when a storm was brewing, I often wondered where the saying came from.
Another one of their sayings was "tell it to the marines" when they thought someone was lying. Where did that come from I wonder.

cheers Pauline
 
Mike I remember something similar when a funeral went past. Arley Barley is an expression used by my twins and they are 42 years old so it has lasted the sands of time. Jean.
 
Hi All'

Whenever I was miserable my mother would say "You have got a face as long as Livery Street" I believe it was a common Birmingham expression.

Old Boy
 
Hello Old Boy,

Yes, I remember being told that I had a face as long as Livery St. Also if someone was cross they would say that they were 'On a line'.

Maggs
 
As a child those dreaded words......your moms on a line with you or moms got a bone to pick with you,would get me shaking........also wait till your father gets home.....that was definatley the longest wait....Brenda
 
" Put the shed up "
A reference made when raining to put the hood up on a childs or dolls pram.
I still use this term today.
Bo
 
Not so much a saying, but a verse...

Anyone heard this before?

Ginger nut, fell in the cut, & frightened all the fishes,
a fish came up, swallowed him up, & that was the end of ginger nut.

My wife is 7yrs older than me (mmmm!!!) & had never heard it till i said it a short while back. no-one else seems to either, apart from one person who wasn't sure.

BiLL
 
Old Boy said:
Hi All'

Whenever I was miserable my mother would say "You have got a face as long as Livery Street" I believe it was a common Birmingham expression.

Old Boy
Click to expand...
Yes I remember my mother telling me 'I had a face as long as Livery Street'.
'Arly Barley' seem to be a sort of truce in a game where the rules of the game needed to be clarified.
I worked in London in my 20's and 30's and I remember nobody understood the phrase 'It's real parky!' i.e. It's bloody cold!'

ladywood
 
ALB10N said:
Not so much a saying, but a verse...

Anyone heard this before?

Ginger nut, fell in the cut, & frightened all the fishes,
a fish came up, swallowed him up, & that was the end of ginger nut.

My wife is 7yrs older than me (mmmm!!!) & had never heard it till i said it a short while back. no-one else seems to either, apart from one person who wasn't sure.

BiLL
Click to expand...
i remember this we used to sing it to anyone we seen with red hair, were,nt we horrid
regards anniekei
 
Soooo,.... That was you, was it Annie? Grrrrr!!!! lol

Yup. I was a 'ginger' kid. Got lighter into my 20's.... Now got 'shades' in between the grey, where i have it.....

Oh well......

Glad someone else knows it

x
 
Hi Albion
Yes we used to say the ginger nut rhyme especially when a family of ginger lads passed by. Bit daft of us really cos they were "hard"!!

Whats happening to the Albion. My poor husband and son are agonising about them going down again.
WendyP
 
Is that rhyme just local to Birmingham? Never heard outside of.... & very rare here.

We can still stay up... "It's in our own hands" as the saying goes. The remaining fixtures, albeit 2 - 3, are winnable. We're definately due a win against the 'Clayheads.' BAGGIES!!!
 
Aah bless! You sound just like my husband, ever the optimist! Like I keep telling him, its not going to happen!! Divorce coming up soon.

Yes I am sure that is a Brummie saying. I will ask my friends here in Suffolk if they have heard it.
WendyP
 
I remember when children were grizzly, parent used to say they were mardy. But I think I have heard this recently said on Heartbeat.
 
When I was a kid we all used to make kites from brown paper and sticks cut from the privet hedge, or arrows which we would throw with the aid of a piece of string. If one of us turned out a particularly good one it was said to be 'A BAZZA'.
 
All sweets were called 'rocks' when I was a kid in in the 1950's,
A plank with soapbox & with pram wheels was called a' trolley 'by us kids in Weoley Castle but a new kid from Winson Green called them 'mokes'
A neighbour who was from the Black country called traffic lights ' Goostops'
We used to 'go to the pictures' never using the USA baby talk' movie' because it was a moving picture,lol
Goo & play up yer own end, shouted by mothers if kids were outside the house
If you keep pulling that face it'll stick
Mother would say to the kids 'stop mithering me'

Hungry kids would say 'mum ! can I have a piece ?' meaning bread & dripping most likely

This won't get the babby a new coat, if you were struggling to earn money
If you were seen eating an apple some kid would always say' can I ave the core? '
 
Ray and Izzy,

How I remember all the things mentioned. I use a lot of them now and have educated my Cambridge Hubby. He uses them too now. A lot of them he had never heard of...well would he eh?
 
Hi Lloyd,

I have just been reading your link on phrases and was instantly transported back to a good 70% of the sayings that I have used myself at sometime or other. A fascinating site. I have put it in my favourites on the computer.

Thank you so much.
Cheers from Pauline in Granada, Spain an ex Brummie from Gordon Street Lozells, and Lozells Sec. Mod. School in the 50s.
 
olds saying;s i have never liked even today (shut ya gob or shut your cake ole) meaning shut your mouth, i always considered them common and i was bought up in the backs streets of ladywood and brookfields. i am not a snob honestly i just did not like them has anyone out there got a dislike to the old sayings or is it just me.
best wishes all anniekei
 
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