Mum's evasive answers to my questions.

Some of these are familiar. What's for dinner for us was 'bread and pullet ' (Pull it)

We often had bread and pull-it, can't remember what it tasted like though.

'A kick at the pantry door'.

We often had bees knees on toast for tea, and sometimes donkey's dicks and cucumber - didn't realise what the second meal was until I was about 12 and I was quite shocked - "mother really!!!"

My GM used to say something which sounded like Laroos for meddle-oos. Never did figure out what she meant.

What's for dinner? .... Kippers and custard. Or 'take it or leave it'.

Where is....? Under my oxters.

Can I .......? No, may I.

How old is....? As old as her tongue and a bit older than her
teeth.

How far is it to...? As far as it is.

Handsome is as handsome does.

I'm sure there were plenty more !

We had the answer to "Mum, where are you going" as "to the back of beyond, where they clog ducks". We often had wait and see pie too.

ginney - my mum used to say "under my oxters," she was Irish and told me that "oxters" is Irish for underarms.

When she wanted to link arms with me she used to say,
"put your leg in my arm."

What's for dinner.....

Air pie n windy pudding
DD tells GC chips and ifits (if it's in the freezer)

Where you going....

Over there to see the sky

Where's .....
Where you left it

My Mum used to say she was running away with a black man (!) if we asked her where she was going to! Very non-PC, my Mum.

Another one was "Ask no questions and you'll be told no lies"

and

"Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs" to express surprise.

Many more will come to mind now the thought process has started!

ahaha, no!

Oh we had "Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs"-anyone know where that came from?
Also
What's for dinner?
Windmill pie, if it goes round.

Where are you going?
Back of Bill's mothers to see Mary
There and back to see how far it is.
To see a man about a dog

And the all encompassing
Ask no questions get told no lies.

I wonder we ever asked anything!

We still sometimes have ferret for supper - look in the fridge and ferret for what ever we can fine.

Grandpa used to 'go to the bottom of our stairs' if incredulous about something.

The answer to the question 'how much do you love me' was always ' a pound of sugar and a jar of jam'

What's for dinner (to my grandma)? - "It's just oughts today."

"Oughts" is a Devon expression for "things that oughter 'ave bin etten, but weren't." In other words leftovers.

She's all fur coat and no knickers. I didn't understand that insult for a long time

Lace curtains and kippers

@trisher -- I have a feeling that 'Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs' might well come from the Liverpool area. A variant is "Well, I'll go to sea".
I might alerady have mentioned that my (Liverpool-born) father would say "Well, I'll go hopping away..." - but then, "he'd laugh to see a puddin' crawl..."

If we asked where he was going my(Geordie) grandad always said he was going to Wor-gate. It sounded quite exciting. Like a seaside town.

One saying I have inherited from my grandma is;

Nosy couldn't come, so he sent (insert name)

If we were playing outside my other grandad (again a Geordie) said;

Watch you don't cockle-yer' kreels

Apparently it means be careful you don't fall down.

Keepin your hand on your h'appeny ?

Nothing to do with money !

My mum and dad always did a question and answer thing for babies and toddlers. Asking and answering themselves
What's your name?
Mary Jane
Where do you live?
Cabbage lane
What number?
Cucumber
The last answer always shouted and accompanied by tickling the child. Kids seem to find this hilarious- maybe it's the waiting to be tickled. My 3 would go into hysterical giggles when it started.

Ooh, that brought back memories, trisher!

We used to say 'down the grid' as the answer to 'where do you live' though.

We used to say 'down the lane'

Q. What's for dinner? A. 3 jumps at the cupboard door.

Are you still in your disherbelly? = haven't you got dressed yet?

Disherbelly thought to be a corruption of 'deshabille' and brought back from France after WW1!