michele Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Can you all think of any and give an explanation ? Where did Send them to Coventry come from ? Answers please and what does it mean how did that come about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twooks Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 groan (lol) B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katfozzy Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 it was sent to coventry from a monestry my hubby says *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katfozzy Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 he says people were sent there if they were ill summat like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twooks Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 gospel according to Wiki "The origin of the phrase is unclear, but one hypothesis as to its origin is based upon The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon. In this work, Hyde recounts on how Royalist troops that were captured in Birmingham were taken as prisoners to Coventry, which was a Parliamentarian stronghold. These troops were often not received warmly by the locals. Another theory is that the locals in the city of Coventry were often strongly opposed to billeting troops from London, and that soldiers sent there were ostracised by the local population." B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROON Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 I think it is something to do with being sent to prison because you have done something wrong .... does it have a large prison in Coventry? Any prisoners there on site please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 ok fair enough what about Pawn My Nipples that always has me is stitches :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROON Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Yuk Michele..... gone all tingly - how horrible... never heard of it. When would you use it? I have a few friends from my health site that would be interested though if anyone wants to pawn theirs. B-) :-) Joy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 My mate always says things like ................were going i dont care even if I have to pawn my nipples :D I think that its an old east end saying pawn brokers and nipples as in thats all they had left to pawn . Good old fashioned skint east end days .Maybe I am wrong ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twooks Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 michele - 2008-05-12 6:21 PM My mate always says things like ................were going i dont care even if I have to pawn my nipples :D I think that its an old east end saying pawn brokers and nipples as in thats all they had left to pawn . Good old fashioned skint east end days .Maybe I am wrong ? you bin inhaling them there foreign substances again pally :D B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Here's one for you Michele, the term "going balls out" is not a reference to any part of the male genitalia as many think but instead relates to steam engines. Many steam engines have a regulator to maintain a set speed and lot use a pair of weighted balls that fly further out from the central spindle as the engine runs faster. Hence the term "going balls out" refers to steam engines runnnig at maximum speed. :D :D D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twooks Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 a nice lady from Rotterdam once told me the origin of 'raining cats and dogs' .. .. .. but I've forgotten *-) *-) she also explained the bit about Dutch courage as well B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 thats a completly different kettle of fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 Thanks Dave knew I would get a sensible repky from you :D Not sure about the rest thats a different kettle of fish :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twooks Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 michele - 2008-05-12 8:45 PM Thanks Dave knew I would get a sensible repky from you :D Not sure about the rest thats a different kettle of fish :D creep - you're just after help with your 'van :D B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 You know what they say about them ER Docs they can fix anything :D :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 Stool Pigeon An informant (sometimes informer or intelligencer) is someone existing inside a closed system who provides information of that system to a figure or organization who exist outside of that system. Most notably these organizations include law enforcement agencies, but also informants are utilized by others such as social scientists. Phrased less formally, an informer or informant could be a member of an underground organization, a criminal gang or any other group outlawed, persecuted or harassed by the civil or military authorities, who gives the authorities information about the group as a whole and/about other members. Public attitudes to informers and informants change enormously with different circumstances. When the group concerned is involved in principled opposition to a tyrannical regime or a foreign occupation, an informer within its ranks will likely to be considered (at least by those sympathizing with its aims) as a despicable traitor. On the other hand, in cases of criminal gangs considered a danger to society, use of informers might be considered socially useful. In cases where the role of an organization is debated - for example, the many groups regarding themselves as "freedom fighters" but defined by the authorities as "terrorists" - appreciation of informers within their ranks may vary accordingly. famous informer :D I 'll leave that to your imagination . Why is the name stool pigeon what did that come from . My god i didnt know he was around back then must be as old as the ant, must be old :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Scarper Now this could make your eyes water!!!!! Meaning Depart hastily. Origin From the Italian 'scappare' - to escape. This has been in use since the 17th century. Swell's Night Guide, 1846 includes the quotation: "He must hook it before 'day-light does appear', and then scarper by the back door." The word was adopted into the 'language' Polari and appeared as such in the now archaic phrase 'scarper the letty'. Letty is Polari for bed or lodgings. Polari a.k.a. Palari, Palare, Parlaree etc. isn't a language as such, more a collection of words that have been derived from many sources - rhyming slang, backslang, Italian, French, Parlyaree (slang used by tinkers, beggars and travellers) etc. It could be seen as a secret code more than a language and has been adopted by various groups who have seen themselves as outside mainstream society. In the mid 20th century, when homosexuality was still illegal, the gay community in Britain used it extensively, although that was more for a feeling of solidarity than any real attempt to conceal what was being said. Sometime after the military engagements at the British naval base of Scapa Flow in WWI and WWII a Cockney rhyming slang version 'scapa' was adopted, and this is how most people know the word today. It's easy to see how this would have migrated into rhyming slang from Italian/Polari, having the necessary pre-requisites of meaning go and rhyming with flow. 8-) Now I n ever knew that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 And another one! Never shy of recycling a good old joke, Talbot Rothwell, the screenwriter of most of the Carry On series of films, used this one again in Carry On Camping. A sign on a field gate says 'All asses must be shown'. Sid James approaches the gate: Are you the owner of this site? No. Where is he? Gone for a P. Classic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 Here's another good one for you 'chele. "Don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar". This is often thought to have orignated in the shipyards of old when ships were built of timber and "caulked" with tar soaked rope between the timbers but in actual fact it comes from Yorkshire shepherds. The "ship" is actually a sheep and the ha'porth of tar would have been put on a wound on the sheep's legs to protect it from infection. To not treat a wound like this was likely to cause the demise of the sheep hence "don't spoil the ship (sheep) for a haporth of tar! D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 14, 2008 Author Share Posted May 14, 2008 I have heard of it but its not really a common one .Is it ? How about make a silk purse from a sows ear . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 i think thats self explanitory michele a cows ear is kind of silky but not the real thing same as saying mutton dressed as lamb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey". A brass monkey is a cast-brass tray designed and moulded to hold a number of cannon balls ready for loading in the cannon gun. Had to have them on the old sailing ships or immagine the problems caused by dozens of cannon balls rolling around the gun-deck! The co-efficient of expansion of the brass monkey is not the same as that of the cast-iron cannon balls so in a sudden drop in temperature, the monkey shrinks faster than the cannon balls and some of them fall off. Therefore when it gets cold it will reach a temperature low enough to " freeze the balls off a brass monkey " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROON Posted May 18, 2008 Share Posted May 18, 2008 NEAR MISS. If it was a near miss it was a HIT. If it was a near HIT, then it was a miss. Going watching Ross Kemp. :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted May 18, 2008 Share Posted May 18, 2008 ROON - 2008-05-18 9:14 PM NEAR MISS. If it was a near miss it was a HIT. If it was a near HIT, then it was a miss. Going watching Ross Kemp. :$ Or a near miss could be the girl next door ? ;-) ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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