I don't doubt you Thorin, when you say that "Dich Teure Halle!" is not heard in Germany nowadays, but when I lived in Vienna back in the late '50s, I heard the expression a lot.

Another German saying I remember is, "Er schlaff wie ein Murmeltier", which translates to "He slept like a marmot". It means to sleep very deeply. I'm guessing that the marmot, a member of possum family, hibernates through the winter. I'm not sure, but I think it's said in America that someone "Slept like a bear", meaning more or less the same thing. Is "Slept like a bear" an expression in the United States? I'm not sure.

The American marmot sleeps all winter. At least until Feb. 2 then some top hat wearing jerk snatches him out of his cozy burrow to find out there'll be six more weeks of winter.

marmot = groundhog = a rodent

The opossum has no other family in North America.

opossum = a marsupial
Pouch like many Australian critters.

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Is "Slept like a bear" an expression in the United States?

'Slept like a baby'... ;)

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It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

I don't doubt you Thorin, when you say that "Dich Teure Halle!" is not heard in Germany nowadays, but when I lived in Vienna back in the late '50s, I heard the expression a lot.

Another German saying I remember is, "Er schlaff wie ein Murmeltier", which translates to "He slept like a marmot". It means to sleep very deeply. I'm guessing that the marmot, a member of possum family, hibernates through the winter. I'm not sure, but I think it's said in America that someone "Slept like a bear", meaning more or less the same thing. Is "Slept like a bear" an expression in the United States? I'm not sure.

The American marmot sleeps all winter. At least until Feb. 2 then some top hat wearing jerk snatches him out of his cozy burrow to find out there'll be six more weeks of winter.

marmot = groundhog = a rodent

The opossum has no other family in North America.

opossum = a marsupial
Pouch like many Australian critters.

Hey, that's interesting. I never really knew what a marmot was (as you know). I should've looked it up before posting. I've always heard them called groundhogs up here. Thanks for the info. :)

@Jeffrey: "Slept like a baby", that's it! :)

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"Guzzunda."

As in "Pass me the guzzunda."

Something I heard as a child from my grandmother.

It's a local accented coloquialisms from the Midlands in the UK.

Guzz'unda = Goes Under

It's a 'chamber pot' or the pot that 'goes under' the bed at night time.. I.E: Before indoor toilets. (stinky too..)



One regional saying from the Midlands UK I used to quite like was:

"Hand me the Brummie screwdriver."

Brummie = Birmingham UK (An affectionate name for my city & people.)

Screwdriver = Hammer :o))

Basically "pass me the hammer".. (Strange people these Brummies :)



How many people from outside of the UK know these ones:

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."?

And

"Time to go up the wooden hill."?

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We're familiar with "A bird in the hand..." here in Canada, but what's "Time to go up the wooden hill" mean?

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We're familiar with "A bird in the hand..." here in Canada, but what's "Time to go up the wooden hill" mean?

"Time to go up the wooden hill.. to bedfordshire"..

My granny used to say it to me when it was time to go to bed.. up the wooden stairs.

I think Vera Lynn (WW2 UK Singer) also had the saying as the title of one of her songs.



Edit: Some aunte Vera Lynn Songs.

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We're familiar with "A bird in the hand..." here in Canada, but what's "Time to go up the wooden hill" mean?

"Time to go up the wooden hill.. to bedfordshire"..

My granny used to say it to me when it was time to go to bed.. up the wooden stairs.

I think Vera Lynn (WW2 UK Singer) also had the saying as the title of one of her songs.

That's a cute saying. Thanx!

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OK this is a crazy one but absolutely true:


My Aunte had a dog called "Ringo".

It slept outside in the 'outhouse' (the old unused wooden toilet shack) and when it was give a 'Polo Mint' (mint sweet with a hole in it) it went totally crazy.

They called it "Ringo" because the dog was rather mad and kept going in circles and chasing it's own bum (erm.. tail... I think.. oh..).

Strange thing is:.. Every night after dark we heard the most amazing drumming coming from the outhouse.

My Aunte kept telling us that every morning when she went out to the 'outhouse' she saw Ringo playing with a beetle..

We all thought she was mad...

... until the drumming started the next night...

After many nights my Auntie eventually came in and brought 3 of those beetles with her...

Next morning my Uncle divorced her...

In court he said he thought they were the crickets and had always hated musical beetles. <scratches head..>



Moral of the story: Don't give your dog 'Polo Mints' (or have a mad Aunty..)



Spooky mint eating mad circling drumming doggy stuff...

(This was an ".. and other sayings" production... I think.. <Scratches head again..>) HeHe.. Hope no one noticed me :o)~

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OK this is a crazy one but absolutely true:


My Aunte had a dog called "Ringo".

It slept outside in the 'outhouse' (the old unused wooden toilet shack) and when it was give a 'Polo Mint' (mint sweet with a hole in it) it went totally crazy.

They called it "Ringo" because the dog was rather mad and kept going in circles and chasing it's own bum (erm.. tail... I think.. oh..)...


Moral of the story: Don't give your dog 'Polo Mints' (or have a mad Aunty..)

Um, no. The dog wasn't mad, he was sick. It's an infection of bacteria that causes it. A good shot of penicillin would've cured the dog in an hour. ;)

Mad dogs and Englishmen!

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Mad dogs and Englishmen!

Well I've sat out in the mid day sun often enough. But I only met a mad dog once, in the middle of nowhere as I was on a lonesome walk. It growled at me rather viscously and I bravely strode up to it shouting "Out of the way you mutt!"

It just advanced towards me growling even more ferociously. We were almost eyeball to eyeball at this stage I could see clearly that it was great big black doberman by now (my mad dog recognition is not the quickest). I decided to back away and lowered the tone of my "Out of the way you mutt!" Surprisingly, instead of going for my throat, it also backed away and lowered the tone of it's ferocious growling.

We both parted in the direction as we had come, probably both muttering "I'll get you next time".

I don't think mad dogs and Englishmen get on too well together.

Or mad dogs and anyone really.

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flaming balloons

Mad dogs and Englishmen!

Erm.. I kind of get the feeling you people don't believe my story?


I really did have an Aunt and she really did have a dog called Ringo and it really did live in the old outhouse and it really did love to eat polo mints..

It was really mad and it really did keep swirling round and round trying to eat it's own big bum or something else near it's big bum...


My big sister will tell you that she also heard loud drumming every night..

.. and she will pull your hair if you don't believe me.. So there.. eh..


However I must be honest I did lie about my Aunty getting divorced out of family shame..

In reality no one wanted to marry my Aunty after they heard she had spent time with 3 beetles and the odd cricket or two.

I still blame the dog.. He turned my Aunty into a spinster just so she would endlessly feed him polo mints..


Last I heard from Aunty she was in an insane institution still feeding the TV Polos...

The bloomin dog 'pegged it' (died) years ago..


At least the TV is happy..

Hey..

Mad Aunties and English Transvests..



(Oh god my family is going all Demis Roussos sized vests.. Can I be reborn again please.. I Beg You god.. Never be a bad forum user again god.. honest ever never.. oh.. me.)

Give me a mint.. Woof Woof.. Where's my Magical Tail.. Hehehe..

Now you all know why I have cooties. Happy Now!

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No, I really do believe you, cRunchy. The same thing happened to my dog Pooh-Bear once. I found it very disturbing. He'd run 'round and 'round in circles and looked like he'd keep it up until he was totally exhausted.

Even though it was late at night, I rushed him to the Vet on call, who gave Pooh-Bear a shot of penicillin. He was fine an hour later. A week of penicillin pills completely destroyed any remnants of the virus.

In the middle ages, there was a similar disease caused by viral infection in humans known as "Saint Vitus' Dance", or Sydenham's disease, where people would "dance" until complete physical exhaustion.

There's a good article on this in The Merk:

Sydenham's disease (also called St. Vitus' dance or Sydenham's chorea), a complication of rheumatic fever (a childhood infection caused by certain streptococci). Sydenham's disease is characterized by jerky, uncontrollable movements and can last for several months.

Anyway, penicillin fixed the problem for Pooh-Bear. The "Mad dogs and Englishmen" was just a play on words. ;)

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No, I really do believe you, cRunchy. The same thing happened to my dog Pooh-Bear once. I found it very disturbing. He'd run 'round and 'round in circles and looked like he'd keep it up until he was totally exhausted.

Even though it was late at night, I rushed him to the Vet on call, who gave Pooh-Bear a shot of penicillin. He was fine an hour later.

I might stop twirling also if I had a big pointy shot thing stuck in me..

In the middle ages, there was a similar disease caused by viral infection in humans known as "Saint Vitus' Dance", or Sydenham's disease, where people would "dance" until complete physical exhaustion.

The dance or the tarantata. The spider bit her.

Fear of the plague made many go mad..


Like me with my cooties but in reverse I suspect.


In my case my cooties went twirling mad when they knew they had caught me..

What can I do if my Cooties have a case of the cRunchies..




// Me Serious now: //

I wonder how many people are aware that many of those who survived beyond HIV+ may of been decendants of those small communities (extended family groups) that did not die during the great bubonic infections that affected Europe from 1350 onwards.

There's a good article on this in The Merk:

I've never looked at MERCK befor.. I will now. Thankyou..

// Me me again.. //

Anyway, penicillin fixed the problem for Pooh-Bear.

Maybe your dog was not a dog but a bear?.. and all he wanted was a pooo?..

The "Mad dogs and Englishmen" was just a play on words. ;)

Really?... So you are now saying it's not the dogs that are mad but the Englishmen..

Mmm.. You are probably right.. :o))

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cRunchy: The Merck medical manual is one of the best ones out there. And, how amazing is this?!...the company has put the whole thing out on the internet FOR FREE! You don't see many companies doing that!

Here's the site for it:

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/index.html

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cRunchy: The Merck medical manual is one of the best ones out there. And, how amazing is this?!...the company has put the whole thing out on the internet FOR FREE! You don't see many companies doing that!

Here's the site for it:

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/index.html

Cheers for that :o)

We're familiar with "A bird in the hand..." here in Canada

In Germany we say "Ein Spatz in der Hand ist besser als die Taube auf dem Dach" (A sparrow in the hand is better than a pidgeon on the roof) - comes from times when pidgeons were a meal instead of a plague, and poor people even ate sparrows when they couldn't afford pidgeons.

..., but what's "Time to go up the wooden hill" mean?

"Time to go up the wooden hill.. to bedfordshire"..

My granny used to say it to me when it was time to go to bed.. up the wooden stairs.

I think Vera Lynn (WW2 UK Singer) also had the saying as the title of one of her songs.

Edit: Some aunte Vera Lynn Songs.

And my Dad (and his mom) used to say "Jetzt gehts nach Betthausen, zum Feder-Ball" ("Time to go to Betthausen, to the feathers' ball"). "Betthausen" is comparable with cRunchy's "Bedfordshire", and with "Feder-Ball": this described the dancing feathers when the bed was made.

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The Hungarians have a saying, "Ert ish a porrost a chocolade hoz" (that's phonetic). The translation would be, "[Yeah], and the peasant understands [all about] chocolate." (Which of course, in the old days, they'd never even tasted.)

So it means, "You don't know what you're talking about!". LOL

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The Hungarians have a saying, "Ert ish a porrost a chocolade hoz" (that's phonetic). The translation would be, "[Yeah], and the peasant understands [all about] chocolate." (Which of course, in the old days, they'd never even tasted.)

So it means, "You don't know what you're talking about!". LOL

An American equivalent: And I've got a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.

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BOINC WIKI

"..Up the wooden hill.. to bedfordshire"..

My granny used to say it to me when it was time to go to bed.. up the wooden stairs.

And my Dad (and his mom) used to say "Jetzt gehts nach Betthausen, zum Feder-Ball" ("Time to go to Betthausen, to the feathers' ball"). "Betthausen" is comparable with cRunchy's "Bedfordshire", and with "Feder-Ball": this described the dancing feathers when the bed was made.

"Dancing feathers" - I so remember that feeling. Soft and ever so sleepy like clouds. Wow.

Bed was very much the place to be when we were tiny and omie said goodnight.

Then she came up giving us all kisses... She smelt of cherries and powder... It was a moment to die for.


oh. augen naß. oops.. me now..

How about:

Oh man!
Oh brother!

Why not:

Oh woman!
Oh sister!

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