Another local expression - do you have a variant?

[ritchiewilk]

When I was a lad (many moons ago) and I came in from playing and I was dirty my dad would say to me "You're as black as the earl o' hells waistcoat".

Ritchie

[Roger in Sussex]

Is this the place to ask if attercop is still used up North? I once used it in a poem which needed several different words for spiders, which I looked for in dictionaries. Apparently it was also used for a peevish, ill-mannered person.

[IgorStrav]

Hi Roger

You may get a reply here to your Attercopy query - on the other hand you could post a separate thread headed

ATTERCOP UPDATE REQUESTED

or some such.

That should get people's attention!

[cad]

When I bothered my Suffolk grandmother for something, she would reply "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride!"

I heard an interesting item on Radio 4 a while back that mentioned this phrase and how by changing one word and swapping two around you get a whole new meaning, think about it...
One way, "If wishes were horses, beggers would be riders"
and "If horses had wishes, riders would be beggers"
Kind of beautiful, I think.

[robbo43]

(Going) all round Will's mothers  - used for either talking all round a subject and not getting to the point, or taking the long way to get somewhere.

Lazy wind - strong, bitingly cold wind, ie one that was too lazy to go round you so went straight through you instead.

hodmedods - snails

Totty Fay - woman who was overdressed &/or had excessive make-up on.

Fainites or pax for a break in a chase game.

mawther - cheeky or forward girl

old boy - elderly man as opposed to a little old boy, a small male child

Robert

[James1950]

Another favourite of mine was a reference to a bowlegged man who could not stop a pig in a ginnel
 

[Sherwood]

Mention of ginnel reminds me gunnel (both presumably derived from general as in general access).  Jitty is fairly common and the Nottingham equivalent is twitchel.

Other odds and ends I've heard from my days in Nottingham include:

A word in your shell-like (your ear)
Mardy (easily upset or sulking)
A blind man would like to see it (the job or quality of finish will do)
A gnat's (a very small measurement; in full, a gnat's boll***)
Sarnie (sandwich) for your snap (lunch) in your snap box
Cob (southerners say roll, others have balm or bap)
Shiny ar** (suit-wearing manager)
Ankle biter (baby, crawling infant)
Playing hookey, capping off (truant)
Jagging off (leaving work early when job done)
Were you born in a barn? (shut the door)
A croggy (a ride on the crossbar of a bicycle)
Mash tea then let it brew or get a brew on (suspect many variants on this)
What goes round comes round
Nesh (feel the cold more than an average person)
Rag up (clean your tools and prepare to finish the day's work)
Give it a coat of looking at (inspect a faulty item)
Bread and lard island (West Bridgford, an area south of the Trent, thought to be "posh")

Sherwood

[robbo43]

A couple more, bait = food and dockey = lunch - hence dockey bag, what you carried your lunch in.

Robert

[Gaille]

Mention of ginnel reminds me gunnel (both presumably derived from general as in general access). 

You're nesh (you feel the cold more than an average person)
Sherwood

LOL At work the other day someone called one of the younger staff members "Nesh" ........... it seems theres now an age divide as well on local slang - all the younger ones didnt have a clue what it meant, those of us about 30 & over understood completely!

We have ginnels here in Manchesters - also knows as 'Backings' or 'Backies'

Riding on the crossbar of a bike was a 'crosser' when I was a kid, and sitting on the seat while the rider pedaled the bike was getting a 'Backer'

"a blind man could see that" meant something was obvious

'Pegging off' - Bunking off school

'Black as the ace of spades' meant you were filthy dirty.

Cant think of any more right now!

Gaille