Strange phrases and their origins.

[Reynard]

Agreed. I was disappointed when I discovered it was false - it‘s a better reason than the supposedly real one.

Indeed...

 

[Ian H]

Yes I think strewth is Australian.

It predates the 'discovery' of Australia.

 

[marzjennings]

'Blimey', which my mother forbade us to use as it seemingly meant 'god blind me'.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

It predates the 'discovery' of Australia.

Thats interesting, I didn't think it was that old.

 

[Ian H]

"Cast not a clout till may is out" doesn't refer to the month.

Then there are some very familiar phrases which look odd when you dissect them. For instance: Nowadays.

 

[DRM]

Inhabitants of Hartlepool are called 'Monkey Hangers'

And of, South Shields (I think) 'Sand-Dancers'

That’s true, the residents of Hartlepool thought a monkey that came off a shipwreck was a French spy, so they duly hung it, the Sand dancer name for anyone from South Shields is due to the large amount of Yemeni people that lived there, I believe the town was one of the first, if not the first to have a mosque, the number of Yemeni names on the War memorial up there is astounding

 

[DRM]

The “ Something Rhymes with Purple “ podcast is excellent for snippets of information such as this. There are even a few episodes on swear words and their origin. One fact that I found fascinating was the origin of the word “ Wife “ it’s from “ Wif” a Middle English word meaning woman or lady. So the “ Wife of Bath’s tale” and “ The Merry Wives of Windsor “ take on a different meaning.

I’ve actually heard it being said in the North East, threw me the first time when told you need to see the wife on reception at one firm I was working at

 

[DaveReading]

"Wifey" is also a common term in Scotland, and then of course there is fishwife, midwife, etc.

 

[Alex321]

"Cast not a clout till may is out" doesn't refer to the month.

Properly, it is "Cast not a clout till the may is out", which as you allude to, refers to the may blossom (hawthorn flowers).

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

That’s true, the residents of Hartlepool thought a monkey that came off a shipwreck was a French spy, so they duly hung it, the Sand dancer name for anyone from South Shields is due to the large amount of Yemeni people that lived there, I believe the town was one of the first, if not the first to have a mosque, the number of Yemeni names on the War memorial up there is astounding

Yes
We used to have a girl, who worked with us, who was from Hartlepool
She was actually surprised that a couple of us knew of the origination of the name

‘Sand Dancer’ gained popularity (if that’s the right word?) after a couple of guys in Egyptian(?) did a shuffling dance on cinema screens

Another version is due to standing on large clumps of the specific sands used in glass manufacturing