Sayings: logical/illogical/translated

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

My Dads a cockney. I’ve always really enjoyed his slang, growing up in the West Country with people my father referred to as ‘Carrot Crunchers’ I always thought he sounded very cool
I particularly like the money names, but I never really remembered how much they meant so consequently he’d tell me something was a monkey and I’d be none the wiser

A nicker - £1
A score or a blue - £20
A pony - £25
A ton - £100
A monkey - £500

There are more I think but they’re the ones he uses

 

[karadekoolaid]

Cockney rhyming slang is mostly used sparingly these days, I'd imagine; just an occasional expression in a sentence.
I doubt you'd hear anyone say:
" 'ello, me old china! Fancy a ball of chalk down the frog to the rub-a-dub? Bring the trouble and we can 'ave a pig's ear an a bubble! "
Translation: "Hello my old mate! Fancy a walk down the road to the pub? Bring your wife and we can have a beer and a laugh!"

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

Cockney rhyming slang is mostly used sparingly these days, I'd imagine; just an occasional expression in a sentence.
I doubt you'd hear anyone say:
" 'ello, me old china! Fancy a ball of chalk down the frog to the rub-a-dub? Bring the trouble and we can 'ave a pig's ear an a bubble! "
Translation: "Hello my old mate! Fancy a walk down the road to the pub? Bring your wife and we can have a beer and a laugh!"

It was always used sparingly by the vast majority, nobody wanted to appear like a parody of themselves!

 

[badjak]

China means "good mate" here
Like "he's my China"
Wonder if it comes from Cockney slang, 'cause the Chinese are not really popular here

 

[MypinchofItaly]

A Tuscan saying goes:

“Se mia nonna avesse le ruote, sarebbe un carretto”.
Translation: 'If my grandmother had wheels she would be a cart' which refers to those people who in front of anything make endless assumptions about who knows if/how/why what would happen or what would have happened if she/he had.

In other parts of Italy, the same concept is expressed by saying:
“ se mia nonna avesse le finestre, sarebbe un aereo”
Translation: 'if my grandmother had windows, she was an aeroplane'.

Legendary Gino D'Acampo's version during a broadcast on Channel4 (I think) in which he told the presenter
“Se mia nonna avesse le ruote sarebbe una bici”
“'If my grandmother had wheels she would be a bike”.

 

[badjak]

Ours would be "if you knew everything in advance you could travel around the world on a dime"
I like yours better

 

[TastyReuben]

China means "good mate" here
Like "he's my China"
Wonder if it comes from Cockney slang, 'cause the Chinese are not really popular here

Yes, mate equals china plate, then you drop the rhyming part, so it becomes just china.

“Se mia nonna avesse le ruote sarebbe una bici”
“'If my grandmother had wheels she would be a bike”.

We have that saying here!

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

Calling someone a bike over here has very different connotations

 

[JAS_OH1]

My Dads a cockney. I’ve always really enjoyed his slang, growing up in the West Country with people my father referred to as ‘Carrot Crunchers’ I always thought he sounded very cool
I particularly like the money names, but I never really remembered how much they meant so consequently he’d tell me something was a monkey and I’d be none the wiser

A nicker - £1
A score or a blue - £20
A pony - £25
A ton - £100
A monkey - £500

There are more I think but they’re the ones he uses

Are carrot crunchers vegetarian hippies? If so, our version would be tree huggers.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Yes, mate equals china plate, then you drop the rhyming part, so it becomes just china.



We have that saying here!

Don't know either of those!

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

Are carrot crunchers vegetarian hippies? If so, our version would be tree huggers.

It’s a derogatory term for a rural person. A country bumpkin or in American probably a hick?

 

[JAS_OH1]

It’s a derogatory term for a rural person. A country bumpkin or in American probably a hick?

Ahhh, yes. Hick, redneck, country bumpkin applies here as well, someone who lives out in the boonies or the sticks.

 

[TastyReuben]

Calling someone a bike over here has very different connotations

Reminds me of being in Ireland and one of the guests at the B&B inquired about “getting a ride later on” - they wanted to go into the nearby town.

Our B&B owner giggled a little, said it was possible, and then said that the proper term was “lift…you’ll be wanting a lift later on, as a ‘ride’…well, whether you get a ride later on will be entirely up to your wife there.”

 

[karadekoolaid]

China means "good mate" here
Like "he's my China"
Wonder if it comes from Cockney slang, 'cause the Chinese are not really popular here

Yep - it's Cockney rhyming slang: China Plate = Mate.

 

[TastyReuben]

One of my great-uncle’s favorites:

“That’ll put you up on your hind legs!” - something that immediately gets your attention, and it could be either a good or a bad thing:

“Here comes Bill in that new Cadillac he bought…now that’ll get you right up on your hind legs!” -or-

“Watch it, now, here comes that mangy mutt from down the road, and he’s a biter…that’ll put you up on your hind legs for sure!”