Sharon said:

MegC said:

 

Btw, “god love her heart” probably a distinctly Southern phrase, along with “bless her heart”, which, having been said, will automatically lessen the impact of any negative comment made after it.  For example, “Bless her heart, she's just not that pretty”.

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“god love her heart,” is a new one for me, and very sweet, but…”Bless her heart,”….is said here quite a bit…lol.  

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And here I thought “Bless her heart” said in a certain tone of voice was a genteel, Southern way of saying, “She's an idiot!” There's a lady at work who says, “Bless her pointed little head” in this syrupy sweet tone of voice. And then gives you this innocent face, daring you to take offense. I usually start laughing about then…

Okay a question about the word “Bloody.” We were watching The Guns of Navarone the other day and there was a narrative after the movie talking about the actors and the filming of the movie. In the movie Richard Harris says, “Bloody Bloody Bloody.” The narrator said that was changed to “Ruddy Ruddy Ruddy” for the English version of the movie. The reason given was that Bloody is a profanity to rural English.
Why and what does it mean that makes it profane?

My father was a pure breed c*ckney Basically that means that people born within the sound of the Bow bells are considered as true c*ckney. We also have the old pearly Kings and Queens, they are just people who I believe are sort of elected every year to dress up in a coat/Jacket and trousers which are completely covered in pearl buttons. Generely when c*ckney rhyming sland is spoken it usually just one word, such as where Louise mentions a Ruby Murray it’s generally just said as going for a Ruby. Frog and Toad (Road) is usually just Frog,. Apples and Pears just Apples.
Whistle and Flute (suit) is just Whistle. c*ckney slang isn’t used that often now but I think in one or 2 market Places it is..
I live in Kent and the dialect down here is a real mix You have those that were born east side of the Medway people are know as men of Kent on the west side of the Medway they are knew as Kentish men and the dialects are very different.
Just as Worcestershire and Herefordshire have different dialects. I was born in Sussex Brighton being very close to where I was actually born but moved to Malvern in Worcestershire when I was 4 however my accent is like someone from Devon, and yet I’ve never ever been to Devon however both my eldest kids have got a strong Worcestershire accent.

My Brummie hubby who lived 22 miles away from Worcestershire..has never heard of this and his brother who is a Wossy import has never heard of this…
and D’Hoffryn’s Worcerster rellies have no idea what you’re on about…

Anyanka said

My Brummie hubby who lived 22 miles away from Worcestershire..has never heard of this and his brother who is a Wossy import has never heard of this…
and D’Hoffryn’s Worcerster rellies have no idea what you’re on about…

Where I actually lived in Malvern was very rural and it could be that my “Slang” is indicative to just that area, I take as being part and package of the whole area as it’s understood by those who don’t neccassarly use this “slang” in their everyday speech. Dinosaur says that some of the “slang” I speak is very Brummie like so again this is a prime example where you have a whole lot of different cultures and dialects living in different places other then in their own cities or towns and over time dialects get mixed up, and get changed, adopted and excepted as the normal speech of that area.

Yes you are right about the rhyming slang changing to fit the modern world, the rhyming slang my dad taught me is very different to what you hear today. In short it has become bastadized and has lost a lot of it’s charm and novel quality. The only place you can really hear the true rhyming slang that we knew as kids is really now from the elderly members of East end of London and especially around the the Bow bells area.

Anyanka’s right about a lot of “Mockney” doing the rounds now. Middle-class types with money coming out of their ears trying to make out that they’re the voice of the people. Personally I think it’s a load of pony.

Neil Kemp said

Boleyn, as far as I know, plenty of people in this country are now on the ear’ole, whilst your’e bound to need a Jimmy after getting Brahms. I think I’ll just close my minces now and give my plates a rest. As for Ginger, I’m not going there.

LOL Neil you really are a card, but I love you for it.
Yep quite right the amount of people “on the ear’ole” really does get my goat, as for those who pretenders to the c*ckney Slang they can kiss my ‘arris or less common “slang” term bottle.

Bella44 said

I’m completely confused….

LOL here’s a few more for you to get even more confused.
Boat?
Chatting gear.
Have your trousers taken down, or had by the short and curlies?
Bobbies?
Bent as a nine bob note
2 bob bits.
Every area in the world has their euphemisums for different words.
For instance a Dollar in America is often reffered to as a greenback or a buck, our Pound is called a quid
A pony is £25
A Monkey is £500

Boleyn said

In Worcestershire Stairs are referred to as Dancers don’t ask me why, in much the same way if you call someone and Idiot in Worcestershire it’s yudyut every area has it’s own slang sayings. I can tell you though it come in handy sometimes to have your own slang language, because when Dinosaur gets up my Bugle (another way of saying on your nerves) I can rant and rave at him in worcestershire slang and he hasn’t got a clue what I’m saying, so he doesn’t know how to answer back.

My dad is from Walsall and round there they call them dancers too, as in ‘get up them dancers’. So it’s not just Worcestershire. I have a sneaking suspicion it might have originated from a kind of rhyming slang – dancing bears perhaps?

While we’re on the subject of funny slang, my mum, who’s from Yorkshire, always says “well I’ll go t’foot of our stairs’ to express astonishment. Seriously, what the hell…? LOL I could never figure out why anyone would go to the stair foot after being astonished!

MegC said

Impish_Impulse said:

Sharon said:

MegC said:

 

Btw, “god love her heart” probably a distinctly Southern phrase, along with “bless her heart”, which, having been said, will automatically lessen the impact of any negative comment made after it.  For example, “Bless her heart, she’s just not that pretty”.

---

“god love her heart,” is a new one for me, and very sweet, but…”Bless her heart,”….is said here quite a bit…lol.
 

---

And here I thought “Bless her heart” said in a certain tone of voice was a genteel, Southern way of saying, “She’s an idiot!” There’s a lady at work who says, “Bless her pointed little head” in this syrupy sweet tone of voice. And then gives you this innocent face, daring you to take offense. I usually start laughing about then…

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Indeed, you are right!  “Bless her heart” said by itself is taken to mean, “He/she is not the brightest crayon in the box” (usually, though sometimes it can be used to denote sympathy.  It’s all in context, really).  Though, if followed by something that is clearly an insult, it is meant to soften the effect of the comment, indicating that the person really has no control over it.

A slight deviation to that saying is He/she is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
There are many sayings to denote a stupid person such as: All the lights are on but no-one is at home, A sandwich short of a picnic. A few bricks missing from his/her building. His/her Elevator doesn’t quite make the top floor, or an older one which is still used every so often is tuppence short of a shilling.

I forgot the “On the Ear’ole definition in my last post it means asking for things usually money.