Words and phrases

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

In the uk evaporated milk on tinned fruit seems to be popular – Lidl thinks it worth stocking as a staple.

Sugar ants about 50 thou long were the problem, not big ones which didn't seem to come into the house.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Remember being plunged into darkness – "shilling's gone!"

Neil

[Taf_PembsParticipant @taf_pembs]

We did a few of these in the pub t'other evening..

Dead Ringer, Thresh hold, Bring home the bacon etc etc..

All the younger ones had no idea where they came from and to be fair, why would they

Dead ringer still gives me the shivers though!

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Country's on its beam ends.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I’m not sure if this qualifies, Bazyle … but I thought I must share it

Someone on the microscopy forum is looking for:

Advice on theorycrafting a Flash Photomicrography setup.

I get what he means, but ‘theorycrafting’ is a new one on me.

MichaelG.

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Posted by Mick B1 on 16/11/2022 09:01:55:

Country's on its beam ends.

Another Navy phrase.

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

By and large is Naval too.

[MichaelRParticipant @michaelr]

Dim as a Lamp Wick

[modeng2000Participant @modeng2000]

How about a Naffi candle?

[A SmithParticipant @asmith78105]

Ship Shape & Bristol fashion? Dim as a Toc H lamp?

[Nigel BennettParticipant @nigelbennett69913]

Stair rods… that reminds me; we had those funny little clip things, one each side on each stair tread to keep the carpet in place; of course there was a strip of painted treads all the way up the stairs each side of the narrow carpet. Not that long ago I'm sure I recall somebody showing a picture of one in a magazine, wondering what it was for.

Wall-to-wall carpeting… you were posh if you had that.

"Threppeny" bit.. and why "Tuppence"?

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

“Lost a bob and found a tanner” is yet another.

The alcohol proof was actually derived from 100%. If the liquor (usually rum) could be lit, that was 100% proof that it had not been tampered with. Had it not burned, the fellow in charge of the rum store, on the boat/ship might well be ‘walking the plank’.

[JellyParticipant @jelly]

"Tea without biscuits"

As far as I know another naval phrase (possibly RAF also), but it's a good one and surprisingly subtle.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Posted by Taf_Pembs on 15/11/2022 23:01:08:

……..

Dead ringer still gives me the shivers though!

That seems to be an urban myth. It comes from horse racing, where a 'ringer' was a duplicate horse, and 'dead' meant exact

[File HandleParticipant @filehandle]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 15/11/2022 17:59:17

Once upon a time everyone knew how much work an average horse was capable of doing. Now hardly anyone has a feel for it because horses rarely work, and not many have any experience of driving them.

And sad to say, despite successfully reproducing a couple of times, I've never had an actual 'roll in the hay'.

Dave

Typically a horse can plough an acre a day.
Rolling in the hay can be fun.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, "Bob a Job week" could be almost anything, but my elder brother got to run with a dog in a park, just so the local rag photographer could get a story. There are other meanings for Tuppence, but I'll let you all search for them yourselves, although the twopence coin has a connection.

Regards Nick.

[ChrisLHParticipant @chrislh]

For those who are not quite "on the ball", "tuppence short of a shilling".

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

To elaborate on Duncan’s comment:

[quote] … the idea of a fraudulent substitution is originally from the British English verb to ring. It dates from the early nineteenth century and is an abbreviation of the older to ring the changes, originally from bell-ringing, but used to indicate that something inferior has been substituted. … [/quote]

Ref. __ **LINK**

https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-rin1.htm

MichaelG.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by ChrisLH on 16/11/2022 14:52:04:

For those who are not quite "on the ball", "tuppence short of a shilling".

.

That would be the people who introduced decimal coinage then, would it ?

MichaelG.

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Posted by Keith Wyles on 16/11/2022 14:46:18:

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 15/11/2022 17:59:17

Once upon a time everyone knew how much work an average horse was capable of doing. Now hardly anyone has a feel for it because horses rarely work, and not many have any experience of driving them.

And sad to say, despite successfully reproducing a couple of times, I've never had an actual 'roll in the hay'.

Dave

Typically a horse can plough an acre a day.
Rolling in the hay can be fun.

Typically a horse could only work for half a day but as you say they would plough a chain in width by a furrow long (furlong). 22 yards by 220yards.

regards Martin

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by modeng2000 on 16/11/2022 11:25:38:

How about a Naffi candle?

I knew something was wrong, but it's taken me 5 hours to realise what. Proves that I really am as dim as a NAAFI Candle, that is not very bright!

NAAFI candle is interesting because it's an update from an earlier phrase, which presumably our parents couldn't explain. How many know what a Toc H lamp was, or what Toc H represented. Pip pip may be from the same source, old chap.

Dave

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Was this your Toc H source, Dave ? **LINK**

‘(as) dim as a Toc H lamp’: meaning and origin

… it seems to be quite a good site

MichaelG.

[MichaelRParticipant @michaelr]

Yes Dave, I know about Toc H, had many a cuppa and cake at the Toc H in Berlin during my National Service days 1957/59

MichaelR

[AdrianRParticipant @adrianr18614]

"Eats like a pig" and "Nosey Cow" I doubt many people have ever heard a pig eat ro seen how nosey cows are.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Feeding time for factory-farmed porkers is like a vision of the damned in hell and I think most folk would not want to witness it.

There might be more relevance in "eats like a boar"!

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