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Weird sayings in the English language

PostPosted: 12 May 2021, 10:14
by cromwell
I was just musing.
Around here they used to say that if a couple are living together but weren't married they were "Living over the brush".
I mean - ????
Where do sayings like this come from?
Do you know any?

Re: Weird sayings in the English language

PostPosted: 12 May 2021, 12:22
by Workingman
"How are you?"

"I'm as right as rain."

What does that even mean? :D

Re: Weird sayings in the English language

PostPosted: 12 May 2021, 12:29
by Kaz
Crommers it comes from Gypsy weddings, where they held hands and literally jumped over a broom :) Also during winters in olden times, if a vicar or priest couldn't get to isolated villages or homesteads, it was a form of temporary marriage, until the legal ceremony :)

Re: Weird sayings in the English language

PostPosted: 12 May 2021, 12:32
by Kaz
My mum used to say "Over Will's mother's" in relation to the weather in the distance - as in "Looking cloudy over Will's mother's" :? Who Will was, I have no idea :lol:

Re: Weird sayings in the English language

PostPosted: 12 May 2021, 12:34
by Kaz
"Daft as a brush" :shock: That makes no sense whatsoever :lol:

Re: Weird sayings in the English language

PostPosted: 12 May 2021, 15:22
by cromwell
Thank you Kaz!
As right as rain.
That's a bit like "As fit as a fiddle"!

Re: Weird sayings in the English language

PostPosted: 12 May 2021, 15:23
by JoM
Kaz wrote:My mum used to say "Over Will's mother's" in relation to the weather in the distance - as in "Looking cloudy over Will's mother's" :? Who Will was, I have no idea :lol:


Around here we say “it’s a bit black over Bill’s mother’s”.
It’s said that the Bill referred to was William Shakespeare but that could just be in this area, with Stratford being nearby.

Re: Weird sayings in the English language

PostPosted: 12 May 2021, 15:56
by Kaz
Mum grew up just outside London, my nan used to say it too, and she grew up on the Suffolk/Norfolk border :)

Re: Weird sayings in the English language

PostPosted: 12 May 2021, 20:50
by JoM
I wonder who Will was in that area then :lol:

One we have around here is “going/went all around The Wrekin”. The Wrekin is a hill in Shropshire, we can see it from the common, and the phrase means that you went the long way round on what should be a short journey, or a person rambles and takes a while to get to the point when saying something.

Re: Weird sayings in the English language

PostPosted: 13 May 2021, 09:31
by cromwell
Apparently fit as a fiddle comes from the middle ages. A fiddle had to be kept in good order - fit - so that it could be played. Hence, fit as a fiddle.

And "Sling your hook" comes from a nautical origin. Hook was a name given to the ship's anchor, and the sling was the cradle that housed the anchor. Therefore, to sling your hook meant to lift anchor, stow it and sail away.

Every day's a school day! :)