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Now defunct sayings
Baldybonce
Posts: 9,640
that are still in everyday use,
I like `Not enough room to swing a cat'
I like `Not enough room to swing a cat'
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Why is that defunct - we still have cats and we still have rooms.0
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On the bus/train - " Get up [insert child's name here] and let the lady sit down".0
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but we don't have flogging.
The saying refers to the cat`o' nine tails.
Unless you swing your cat around your head.1 -
I'll give you a clip round the ear 'ol if your not careful
just wait 'til your father gets home
and don't forget to wash behind your ears before you go out0 -
'Curbs could manage that premier league team'
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I think you're wrong, or it's at least open to interpretation.Baldybonce said:but we don't have flogging.
The saying refers to the cat`o' nine tails.
Unless you swing your cat around your head.
From phrases.org.uk
"Whether the 'cat' was a real moggy or the flail-like whip used to punish sailors in the British Navy isn't clear. Many reports claim that the cat in question is the 'cat o'nine tails'. As so often though, they don't supply evidence, just certainty. As a candidate for folk etymology goes the 'cat o' nine tails' story has it all - plausibility, a strong storyline and a nautical origin. That's enough to convince many people - the actual evidence shows the theory to be highly dubious. The phrase itself dates from at least the 17th century. Richard Kephale's Medela Pestilentiae, 1665:
"They had not space enough (according to the vulgar saying) to swing a Cat in."
The nature of that citation makes it clear that the phrase was already in use prior to it being committed to paper. The 'cat o' nine tails' isn't recorded until 1695 though, in William Congreve's Love for Love:
"If you should give such language at sea, you'd have a cat-o'-nine-tails laid cross your shoulders."
If those dates are in fact the earliest uses then the 'cat o' nine tails' theory is wrong. The task for anyone who wants to claim that theory correct is to pre-date those citations. "
And QI said it wasn't the cat o'nine tails as well.
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So people used to swing their cats around then. You learn something new every day.1
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Rule of thumb.0
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Anything referring to Millenium Bug/Virus/Dome.0
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Whaaaasssssssuuuuuuupppppp1
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Lummy1
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The Valley0
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"Did you tit her up?"0
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Itchy Beard
Bulge0 -
Beardo0
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Part of the punishment for a wrongdoer in the RN of the time was to fashion his own 'cat' which was inspected and then put safely into a bag.
When the time for the punishment arrived, the miscreant was tied, his back bared, and 'the cat was let out of the bag'.
Just helping.0 -
Not heard "Goodness gracious me" for a long time either
"Jesus wept" is still used though0 -
Stiff, as in he's a stiff. Same goes for mallet0
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Excuse me. For some reason people now stand there saying "sorry" instead of excuse me when they want to get past you.
Sorry for what? I ask them.0 -
The ****** in the woodpile isn't heard as much these days.0
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Funnily enough many tourists I meet at work say "excuse me" instead of "sorry"0
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Calling someone a Joey (as in Joey Deacon)0
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One that sent shivers down my spine when I was a child... "I'll tell your mum what you've done"0
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one in the wood0
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I'm sure some of you would like to 'throw a spanner in the works' though. And having chewed it over, wash your mouth out with soap and water.0
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at loggerheads0
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'Copped off', as in "You'll never guess what, Adam Sutton copped off with Amanda Crosby in Zens last night".
This might be because I'm not 17 anymore, rather than it disappearing though.0 -
I'll have your guts for garters0
