"Skin a bunny"

Mum only said ‘ you look like a skinned rabbit’ if I wore anything tight ( and I was a skinny kid and teenager)🐰

valdali the last time I actually did skin a rabbit was when I was a student.

The boyfriend of one of my flatmates brought some in and we did it together. I was vegetarian by then but I couldn't bear to think k what a waste it was otherwise. We made an enormous stew for (maybe) 10 of us.
I had a beany stew instead.

I said "Skin a rabbit" when I peeled my grandson's vest over his head last week 😄 I've always said it to my children and grandchildren - just as my Mum said it to me - but I think that it'll soon be gone, as he's the youngest, and has started to insist that he can dress and undress himself...😥

Indigo8

Yes, but my mum used to say "Skin a rabbit". Maybe she said this version because she didn't like us using childish names for animals like gee-gee. I never understood why.

Probably because why do uou need to learn multiple words for the same thing?

What is wrong with cat, rabbit, pig? ......(and penis, vulva etc?)

Re the original question - peeling a tightish vest off a child is just like skinning a rabbit (as others have said) where the skin comes off in the same way.

“Like a skinned rabbit” in our house too. I also love rabbit but I can’t to this day replicate my mother’s rabbit stew with Yorkshire pudding seasoned with sage and onion. It was beyond delicious. They serve something very close in one of our local pubs, and it is always my go to dish.

We used to say 'Hands up stick em up don't forget to pick em up!'

Maybe we were odd?

I also had to wear a liberty bodice but we rarely ate rabbit and certainly never skinned one!

Yes, I remember my mum saying “skin a bunny”, I said it to my children & I say it to the grandchildren too 🐇

Grannyjacq1

'Say goodbye to your ears' was the jumper-over-the-head phrase used when I was young!

Ouch!
That phrase brings the pain back of having a jumper with a too tight neck hole in!

My grandma made a liberty bodice for my doll so we matched!

'Say goodbye to your ears' was the jumper-over-the-head phrase used when I was young!

Mum used to say a drowned rat

MissAdventure

We had no central heating, but my mum did make me wear a full petticoat, a vest, a cardigan...
Just the same then, really.

Damart hadn't reached the UK then!

My mum used to sat skin a rabbit too! My DH and I didn't like the idea of it so used to say skin a banana to our boys!

We had no central heating, but my mum did make me wear a full petticoat, a vest, a cardigan...
Just the same then, really.

A hanky.

No, not sweaty, don't forget there was no central heating and winters were colder.

I only wore the liberty bodice in primary school, no self-respecting High school girl would have worn one, they'd rather shiver! Although we had ghastly gymslips.

What did you keep in the pocket?
It must have got sweaty, with that lot on!

Skin a rabbit when peeling off underwear in our house too.

Yes, a fine woollen vest too!
And navy blue bloomers with a pocket.

You wore vests, too, or did you?

Like this one.

MissAdventure

What was the purpose of a liberty bodice?
I could never understand that, as it sounded a complicated affair.

They weren't complicated, they were just like a sleeveless bodice with buttons down the front and with a cotton fleece lining. Designed to keep you warm before the days of central heating. I don't remember them being particularly tight.

What was the purpose of a liberty bodice?
I could never understand that, as it sounded a complicated affair.

Babs03

My old mum called liberty bodices ‘harvest festivals’ - everything safely gathered in. 😂

"Harvest festivals" were big knickers when I was young. Same meaning though!

Allira

My mother refused to cook it after myxamstosis was introduced but I suppose I must have eaten it before then. My DB kept rabbits during WW2, so I was told. For years I happily imagined they were family pets but no, they were for much-welcomed food.

Your post reminded me of my Nan who, in the war bought chickens to help feed the family. They all died of old age as she just couldn’t bring herself to eat them!
My mother remarked, wryly, ‘if she hadn’t given them all names, that would have helped’!

Yes, ‘skin a bunny’ was used in our childhood home, and the phrase carried on with our own children and GC.