There was a question on another thread (from Pete I think) regarding the meaning of a typical British saying......
What is "A big girl's blouse"?
There are some classics out there, but what are their meanings and what are their origins? The meanings of the following are fairly obvious - at least to the Brits, but what are their origins?
That’s when Jesus Christ was playing full back for Israel Getting a cob on
Billy no mates
Running around like a blue arsed fly
Having a giraffe
Anymore for anymore??
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
When I was back in the UK recently, my 3 year old niece had picked this one up from somewhere....... she didn't quite get the meaning, but poor old Gordon was getting blamed for an awful lot though!!
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
Raining cats and dogs
It's the dog's bollocks!
Mutton dressed as lamb
Kangaroos in the top paddock
Don't get your knickers in a twist
Not the brightest spark in the box
You can't teach an old dog new tricks
Salt of the earth
Pigs fly
Bent as a ten bob note
When I was back in the UK recently, my 3 year old niece had picked this one up from somewhere....... she didn't quite get the meaning, but poor old Gordon was getting blamed for an awful lot though!!
My daughter, when about the same age, picked up the term "dipstick" from somewhere (me when driving - let's face it, it could have been much worse...) and used it non-stop for several weeks.
Two words said more frequently in my childhood home than the word 'the'.
Didn't really know anything about it's origin before, but don't worry... through the powers of the internet I have just wasted half an hour doing so thanks to Dtaii Maai! (but you never know when that question will come up at quiz night do you )
I quite enjoyed the example of it being used in a sentence at the end of one of those links.
The name Gordon Bennett appears in print many times in the 19th century, as we might expect of such a newsworthy figure. The earliest example that I've found of the expression being used as an expletive is in a novel by James Curtis from 1937 - You're in the Racket Too:
"He stretched and yawned. Gordon Bennett, he wasn't half tired."
Tongue like an arab's sandal
You've got Windows in your laptop
Point Percy at the porcelaine
Jimmy Riddle
Battle cruiser
Face like a bag of spanners
Extract the Michael
Tight as a frog's arse
A number of these sayings were popularised by Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses, including Gordon Bennett, Dipstick and Plonker and there are plenty more such as:
Having a two and eight
A right old ding dong
Keep your hair on
The knackers yard
) 
