alisoncc 379 Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 As the thread relates to "Things our parents used to say", thought I might add some significant variations. My Dad served with the Ox and Bucks in India before and during the first part of WWII, and for some time my Mum was out there with him. So you can guess our household was a hotbed of British army slang derived from warmer climes. We never had a tummy-ache, we had a gyppie tum - from Egyptian food poisoning. If we were acting silly, then we were a bit doollalie - from an asylum operated by the Brits in India at "Doollalie". My Mum never made a pot of tea, we had a brew, or a mug of char. If anyone was having a lie down, they were having a kip. If my parents wanted to see something we had, they would request a shufty. Could go on for hours, and still use most ot the phrases to the consternation of Ozzie friends. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,094 Posted August 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 My dad used words he picked up in India and Burma also, like let's take a dekko, for a look. In fact his Burma Star magazine, now I come to think of it, was called Dekko. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,705 Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Thats three of us then . My dad was in India too with the Royal Engineers throughout WW11 , building docks mainly . One of the words he sometimes used was punkawalla for someone doing a menial task . I think a punkawalla was actually the guy that operated one of those large manual fans . There was also a tea-walla , someone who made the tea . Getting back to doolally , the full saying was doolally-tap . It was actually from the first world war and came from the place called Deolali that was a staging post where soldiers who had finished their enlistment waited for a ship to take them home . Sometimes they could wait for months for a ship and without the ordered army life that they were used to , some went a bit mental through the heat and boredom . The tap bit was Urdu for fever . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley 288 Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Alot of well known words come from India, including the name for a one story home, this comes from a time when 2 walla's were building a house and ran out of materials, so they decided to bung a low roof on it ,lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beefsteak 305 Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Char Wallah made the tea. Jaldi Jaldi ! I actually use that one to my kids when I want them to get to bed quickly................ "Uppastairs pappa gee , jaldi jaldi" Mick knows where it comes from ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
carni 10,094 Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Quickly Quickly, I won't ask! Lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,705 Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 char-walla of course not tea -walla ! char was an asian word for tea . Still sometimes say a "cup of char" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,094 Posted August 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 My dad used wallah for every job, like, has the paper wallah been yet [delivering the Evening Post] Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,705 Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Amongst the photos that my dad brought back from India was one of a large outside clothes washing area called a dhobi . The workers there were called dhobi-wallahs ! This is another photo of a dhobi . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley 288 Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 then they moved to Radford http://lds.localdataimages.com/large/2126/21263153.jpg 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,094 Posted August 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 If we were ready to eat and hadn't got the knives and forks on the table already, mam would say 'go and get the grappling irons'. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alisoncc 379 Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Jaldi Jaldi ! That brought back memories, although I remembered it as Jildi - jildi. Almost always used in the context of "bed" of an evening to us kids. As in "get there - NOW". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,094 Posted August 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 If I was singing, mam would say, sounds like the tune the cat died on, or alternately, can you sing Over The Hill and Far Away? Preferably, as far away as possible. If say the tomato sauce bottle was all goopy around the top, she'd say it was 'gobbed' up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tomlinson 879 Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 If there was a row going on, it sounded like, 'Billy Ball's Tap Room', whatever that was. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,705 Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 From t'internet , though I can't see any evidence to back it up or even of when he was supposed to be landlord : When things got so noisy that you could not hear your self think, someone would say - "Sound like Billy Balls tap room in here" Billy Ball ran the Black Swan (locally refered to as theDirty Duck) public house (pub/bar) in Goosegate, where the Tap Room at the back was very small and noisy. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Commo 1,292 Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 Thanks David, I'd forgotten that, it was one of my Gran's many sayings. Brought back memories of her, although many of her sayings may not be quite the thing to put onto an open Forum ! ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
StephenFord 866 Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 I don't know whether this was local or nationwide, but it was a phrase that came in, had it's day, and then seemed to quietly die a death : "Belt up!" = be quiet, or stop whatever you are doing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tomlinson 879 Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 #1140 Thanks for taking the trouble I should have taken myself. At the time I heard the expression used I was very small and noisy myself! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,574 Posted August 20, 2013 Report Share Posted August 20, 2013 That's one I haven't heard for years..... my grandparents who lived in Radford always used the "Billy Ball's tap room" phrase for any kind of noise, whether it was from kids or anything else. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackson 301 Posted August 21, 2013 Report Share Posted August 21, 2013 Remember this one?: 'Your eyes are bigger than your belly!' Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tomlinson 879 Posted August 21, 2013 Report Share Posted August 21, 2013 In the early fifties when times were particularly hard, I often heard the phrase, 'We'll all end up in the workhouse', which seemed to show them to be a still recent memory. Not so long ago I mentioned this to a doctor who said, 'Yes, and they still exist but under another name'. Hmmmm! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
StephenFord 866 Posted August 21, 2013 Report Share Posted August 21, 2013 Local authority "care" homes? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Commo 1,292 Posted August 21, 2013 Report Share Posted August 21, 2013 For the Workhouse you had to have nothing to give, for todays Workhouse, sorry "Care" home, you have to give everything you have. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bing 78 Posted August 21, 2013 Report Share Posted August 21, 2013 'Char' is the word for tea here in Thailand, probably derived from the Chinese. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beefsteak 305 Posted August 21, 2013 Report Share Posted August 21, 2013 "Sing at the table, die in the workhouse" was one of my Mums favourite pieces of lore. She was always saying things like that, till my Dad glued her teeth up !...................... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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