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Local sayings from yesteryear!


peterinfrance

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My late grandfather had a saying that I’ve only ever him come out with. If he was confronted by a fool he would say “That lad’s eleven pence three farthings”, meaning not a full shilling.

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Just now, DaveJC said:

My late grandfather had a saying that I’ve only ever him come out with. If he was confronted by a fool he would say “That lad’s eleven pence three farthings”, meaning not a full shilling.

Only ever heard him come out with

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"It's abaht is barra"...a rather derogatory expression when comparing someone or someones actions or someones possessions.🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“ Abaht his barra” refers to a wheelbarrow and the person that its refers too means all he can cope with is whatever a small wheelbarrow can carry, he’s restricted to larger things.

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Interesting.... in my experience the expression is used to denegrate an individual....even down to the clothes he/she is wearing.

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1 hour ago, Lysanderix said:

Interesting.... in my experience the expression is used to denegrate an individual....even down to the clothes he/she is wearing.

You have to look at the word “ Barra” a typical Sheffield pronunciation of Barrow, denigrate yes, as my earlier post suggest they have limited skills but not in the clothing he or she wears.

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1 hour ago, tozzin said:

You have to look at the word “ Barra” a typical Sheffield pronunciation of Barrow, denigrate yes, as my earlier post suggest they have limited skills but not in the clothing he or she wears.

Correct, it was often used by someone who wanted to denigrate someone who he (only ever heard it used by a man, on a man) decided was inferior to him. As for clothing, this master of the English might use something like ‘tha looks like a rag man’s dummy’, we really have a way with words don’t we? 
😅

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Thanks tozzin....I am aware that "barra" ,,as used in the phrase, is a  Sheffield slang form of (wheel) barrow and not a burial mound!

In my many years of living mainly in these parts the expression, (certainly in Shiregreen and Firth Park) was often used by older people...in my case my Mum, who  typically commented on my best pals "drainpipe" trousers or his latest Frankie Lane shirt... "Ther abaht 'is barra"....

"Language lives and evolves in all its forms.🧐

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41 minutes ago, Lysanderix said:

Thanks tozzin....I am aware that "barra" ,,as used in the phrase, is a  Sheffield slang form of (wheel) barrow and not a burial mound!

In my many years of living mainly in these parts the expression, (certainly in Shiregreen and Firth Park) was often used by older people...in my case my Mum, who  typically commented on my best pals "drainpipe" trousers or his latest Frankie Lane shirt... "Ther abaht 'is barra"....

"Language lives and evolves in all its forms.🧐

‘Expressions’ are normally used more by ‘older people’ because they have been around longer than younger people and have absorbed far more than them, when the younger people become ‘older people’ they will do just the same.

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And we have had more opportunities to pick up more of them from different situations....sometimes making it difficult to recognise which really are "local".

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I have great grandparents who derive from Stannington, Boston Lincs, Horncastle and Dublin, not a lot of ‘local’ there

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9 minutes ago, DaveJC said:

I have great grandparents who derive from Stannington, Boston Lincs, Horncastle and Dublin, not a lot of ‘local’ there

My grandparents came from Dublin too, part of the family were rubbing shoulders with the men who shaped the Irish Free State. My childhood was peppered with Irish words which I wasn’t aware of then but now I know them, two of them were Cac and Skoil, look them up.

The commemorative stamp shows my two Great uncles. Michael was shot fighting the British in the 1916 Easter rising and William was killed on the Somme fighting for the British, his body was never found.

DA165A6D-A8F0-400D-92D0-65364456607F.jpeg

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Fascinating! My great grandparents originated, so far as I can tell, from Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Co. Monaghan. and Cheshire. Again. not much local there!

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Just now, Lysanderix said:

Fascinating! My great grandparents originated, so far as I can tell, from Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Co. Monaghan. and Cheshire. Again. not much local there!

My wife is from Glaslough in Co Monaghan, she still has family there. Lt Michael Malone was named the hero of the Mount Street Bridge siege, this plaque adorns the house where he died.

68F4C1B9-136A-4223-9E07-C4F5825D301A.jpeg

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My Irish ancestors were Mc Governs. A couple of them ( twins) joined the Queens Bays and served throughout the UK.....ending up at Sheffield barracks where both retired and settled. One became a publican and the other opened a blacksmiths .

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1 minute ago, Lysanderix said:

My Irish ancestors were Mc Governs. A couple of them ( twins) joined the Queens Bays and served throughout the UK.....ending up at Sheffield barracks where both retired and settled. One became a publican and the other opened a blacksmiths .

The Irish roots spread everywhere mainly for a better life, I’m proud of my dads family sadly I don’t know much about my mothers, but with a old English name Ratcliffe.

Sorry  for going off topic but it’s like the domino effect.

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I was educated in Derbyshire where many of my schoolmates were indigenous to their villages and could trace their families back for a very long period of time. Many didn’t have to think of buying a property, they simply benefited from the ‘dead men’s shoes’ system that had served their families well over the years. When they got together they used almost a different language to the one that they used at school, I recall telling one of a recent trip that I had made to Sheffield CC with relatives, he simply replied that he had never been, he lived in the area of Ford, which is a lot closer to the Town Hall steps than many parts of Sheffield.

I reckon that there are folk in areas such as Stocksbridge and Penistone who will have expressions that go back centuries.

 

 

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16 minutes ago, DaveJC said:

I was educated in Derbyshire where many of my schoolmates were indigenous to their villages and could trace their families back for a very long period of time. Many didn’t have to think of buying a property, they simply benefited from the ‘dead men’s shoes’ system that had served their families well over the years. When they got together they used almost a different language to the one that they used at school, I recall telling one of a recent trip that I had made to Sheffield CC with relatives, he simply replied that he had never been, he lived in the area of Ford, which is a lot closer to the Town Hall steps than many parts of Sheffield.

I reckon that there are folk in areas such as Stocksbridge and Penistone who will have expressions that go back centuries.

 

 

There’s no place like home, I myself have never been to London but the first time I stepped on Irish soil somehow I felt at home and my my long dead family was welcoming me back. Strange but true.

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2 hours ago, Lysanderix said:

My Irish ancestors were Mc Governs. A couple of them ( twins) joined the Queens Bays and served throughout the UK.....ending up at Sheffield barracks where both retired and settled. One became a publican and the other opened a blacksmiths .

What village did the come from in Monaghan or did the hail from Monaghan town itself?

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@Lysanderix Very true.  Trying to separate truly local expressions from those we pick up from our parents is incredibly difficult.  And in my case I lived in five different localities spread over four cities or towns before the age of 21 so I've picked up expressions from all of them.  Dad lived in three locations spread across two countries before his National Service, and both Dad and I went away to boarding school.  Mum lived elsewhere as a girl.

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Tozzin.....They originated in Donagh ( Domnach)

MartinR......I spent some time in Canada and have adopted such expressions as having "supper" when in UK its having "dinner" or "tea"....!

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1 minute ago, Lysanderix said:

Tozzin.....They originated in Donagh ( Domnach)

MartinR......I spent some time in Canada and have adopted such expressions as having "supper" when in UK its having "dinner" or "tea"....!

Donagh encompasses Glaslough, Emyvale plus other villages, the UK dinner time early afternoon comes from the servants in the big houses throughout England, the gentry wanted their dinner in the evening but because the servants were busy serving and preparing the meals, the servants had to eat their “ dinner” in the early afternoon otherwise they couldn’t eat a substantial meal until midnight or later which was not practical. This is why we have dinner time in the afternoon to this day.

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Growing up on a Council estate in 1940/50s Sheffield, my family had....breakfast, dinner, tea and supper..... none of your fancy "lunch", "afternoon tea" or even "morning coffee" . 🙂

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5 minutes ago, Lysanderix said:

Growing up on a Council estate in 1940/50s Sheffield, my family had....breakfast, dinner, tea and supper..... none of your fancy "lunch", "afternoon tea" or even "morning coffee" . 🙂

Same here, I worked at David Mellor Design in Hathersage for ten terrible years, they supplied your cups of tea for your breaks, they used cups and saucers and for me just being a cutlery worker who’s never used a saucer in my life, so after around two weeks I stopped using the saucer and the manager wasn’t best pleased, “ you might spill tea on the floor” now this was a cutlery making and polishing area, I affective dust extraction so dirt was everywhere, I pointed this visible fact and told him “ I don’t use a saucer at home and I’m certainly not using one in my workplace” after around three weeks only the manager and the cleaner were saucer users. Once a mug of tea always a mug of tea.

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