Old Sayings and Modern Counterparts

[Nettie]

Perhaps someone here has heard of the following... My mother was born and raised in Crumlin, Dublin in the 1940s-1950s. When my daughter was born, she was singing her lots of different rhymes and ditties, one of which she couldn't remember in its entirety but I didn't feel was appropriate for a baby.

1, 2, 3 the boys are after me
4, 5, 6 they're after me with sticks
7, 8, 9 they're skinning me alive
...

Any thoughts?

[Mike in Cumbria]

Perhaps someone here has heard of the following... My mother was born and raised in Crumlin, Dublin in the 1940s-1950s. When my daughter was born, she was singing her lots of different rhymes and ditties, one of which she couldn't remember in its entirety but I didn't feel was appropriate for a baby.

1, 2, 3 the boys are after me
4, 5, 6 they're after me with sticks
7, 8, 9 they're skinning me alive
...

Any thoughts?

A variant of:

To the tune of Old Lady Leary.


One, two, three

The devil's after me

Four, five, six

He's always throwing bricks

Seven, eight, nine

He misses every time

Glory, Hallelujah, Amen!



Nine, eight, seven

I'm on my way to Heaven

Six, five, four

There's always room for more

Three, two, one

The devil's on the run

Glory, hallelujah, Amen!

[Nettie]

Thanks, Mike. I'd say you're right!

[jaybelnz]

Read this one once somewhere on a Glasgow website:

"Ye'll get yer heid in yer hauns an yer teeth tae play wi"!

Jeanne   

[MaxD]

What I find interesting is that apart from Nettie's thought about a modern counterpart to an old saying on her very first post, here we are 16 pages later and (if I've read them all OK) no-one has been able to come up with a modern take on an old saying!  Plenty of old ones (lots of nostalgia there!) but nothing new.  Perhaps two generations from now, people will be asking their grandparents "What do you mean by Blimey/LOL/BTW"

maxD (devoid of ideas for modern sayings)

Just noticed the Roots computer won't accept the most common of 3 letter sayings, interesting when one realises what Blimey is actually short for.

[DavidG02]

What I find interesting is that apart from Nettie's thought about a modern counterpart to an old saying on her very first post, here we are 16 pages later and (if I've read them all OK) no-one has been able to come up with a modern take on an old saying!  Plenty of old ones (lots of nostalgia there!) but nothing new. 

Fair cop that

Lets try some

Look before you leap = Check before you press send
Don't count your chickens before they're hatched = Don't name your baby till its born
The pot calling the kettle black=  Pot.Kettle.Black
If you pay peanuts , you get monkeys = wouldn't get out of bed for that

There ya go

[MaxD]

Fine effort!

[auntykate]

the one expression I can remember my mother saying with a broad Irish Accent was a scottish expression about a crying child. " She is like a Christmas Card, She is always greeting"

[auntykate]

Why do you need a modern counterpart to an old saying, Do they not basically mean the same, or is it just a play on words.
Look before you leap= Keep your mouth shut unless you know the facts.
Dont count your chickens= Anything can change.
pot kettle black= No one is perfect
If you pay peanuts= Not everyone is an Allan Sugar.
Plus I only found out recently that LOL does not mean Lots of Love. Did on all letters I wrote.