Sussex phrases from the past

[porkdog]

Much obliged, i've only ever heard it being said around sussex mainly by older men

 

[Tubby Mondays]

'Thats the County Championship won again'.

 

[Hove Lagoonery]

'Were you born in Yapton'?....a question posed to people who never closed the door behind them!

Don't understand that. Anything to do with John Templeman?

 

[Knightsworld]

a sussex half? when i worked at a bar the old boys used to ask for that - it basically means if you have drunk 3/4 of the pint have it re-filled to the top but only pay for a half. i think.

Is there anywhere out there that still lets you get away with this?

The Kings Head in Fishersgate was great for that a few years ago.

Most of the pubs i use measure it in a half pint glass then tip it in

 

[porkdog]

Is there anywhere out there that still lets you get away with this?

The Kings Head in Fishersgate was great for that a few years ago.

Most of the pubs i use measure it in a half pint glass then tip it in

My local does it but thats only as its my local and im there pretty much 4 times a week

 

[Box of Frogs]

If there were rain clouds in the distance my Nan would say that it looked black over Will's mothers.

She used the five and twenty past thing too.

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

I suspect that your Grand Grandfather may have been a seafairing man.

From memory if you are general service in the Royal Navy the watch between 0800 and 1200 is called the 'Forenoon'. The watch between 0400 and 0800 is the morning watch.
Strangely the watch between 1600 and 1800 is called the first Dog, the last Dog is between 1800 and 2000. Collectively known as the 'Dog watch'.

I really must get a life

He actually wrote the letter whilst aboard HMS Erin during the battle of Jutland, but he wasn't a Navy man as such. He was an electrician working for Vickers and was on the ship helping commission it when it was called out to the North Sea. It was built by Vickers for the Turkish Navy and when war broke out we confiscated it!
He actually managed to get the letter past the sensors too.

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

a sussex half? when i worked at a bar the old boys used to ask for that - it basically means if you have drunk 3/4 of the pint have it re-filled to the top but only pay for a half. i think.

Yes I have asked for many a Sussex half in my time and on a few occasions have got one!

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

My father had the residue of a Sussex rural accent. eg, pronouncing "down" more like "deouwn." And he used a few words which weren't in any dictionary. eg a verb "rafe" [ sp?] as in "Look at that fire, rafing away!", to express disapproval at burning too much coke in the boiler.

And a few odd expressions too: If a paint run on a door panel was barely noticeable, then "A blind man would be glad to see it!" And he would mock my mother's occasional lack of dexterity as "Awkward as a cow with a musket!"

And try telling me that one isn't old. But, is it actually Sussex? Anyone?

A work mate from Ticehurst says "a blind man would like to see it" when talking about a job that has been well done, and his family have been in Sussex for a long time from what I can gather.
My mates Nan used to say when asked for money "Who do you think I am? Shit a Guinea!" not sure if it's from Sussex, but made me laugh.

 

[Gully]

I grew up in Littlehampton nd was using the word munter in the mid 1990's - I never stopped to think that it wasn't used elsewhere at the time.

Another word that was in use around the same time, but far more bizarre, was calling a womans breasts "washers"...pronouncing the ash bit as you would the name of the tree and not like osh...for some reason that word never managed to rival tits, boobs or knockers.

 

[Bigblonde1]

" that'll learn you" is a good old sussex phrase along with calling bumblebee's
"dumbledors"

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Another word that was in use around the same time, but far more bizarre, was calling a womans breasts "washers"...pronouncing the ash bit as you would the name of the tree and not like osh...for some reason that word never managed to rival tits, boobs or knockers.

We used to pronounce it as "wazzers" in the east end of Brighton.

 

[Screaming J]

Yes I have asked for many a Sussex half in my time and on a few occasions have got one!

Independent verification on this one! Often used by me and my buddies in rural E Sussex; late 70s-early 80s.

However it was - from memory - more a case of offering your 2/3 or 3/4 drunk pint to the bar person, asking for a half and then seeing what they did.

If you got your original glass filled up to the brim you could cheerfully announce that you'd got "A Sussex half". If they measured it out in a half pint glass separately they were described in somewhat unflattering terms.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

I worked as a barman at the Northern and also the William Tell and if it was busy you would just fill the glass to the top instead of poncing about with a half pint glass. When the pub wasn't busy it was normally only the regulars who were given a "generous" half.

 

[Storer68]

A local proverb which asserts that Sussex people have minds of their own, and cannot be forced against their will. Druv is a dialect variant of drove (standard English driven).

Have got as fat as a Sussex [pig]—and ‘wunt be druv’ from Brighton.
[1910 in T. Wales Sussex Garland (1979) i. (postcard)]
‘Well, we'd better be going, I suppose,’ Gauvinier announced‥well aware that ‘Sussex won't be druv’.
[1924 H. De selincourt Cricket Match vi.]
The sudden weariness in her frail face testified to years of patient leading. Mr. Pinkerton thought of the boast of the men of Sussex. They too couldn't be druv, they said.
[1939 ‘D. Frome’ Pinkerton at Old Angel vi.]
There ant no place like Sussex, Until ye goos above, For Sussex will be Sussex, And Sussex won't be druv!
[1979 T. Wales Sussex Garland i.]
Related to: obstinacy

and of course.....

"You've called the Seagull Line on Brighton 8049, the number for Albion information every day, 24 hours a day. Later, news of the Albions's efforts in the FA Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley, but first the results of Seagull Lottery 125894 drawn on 19 may 1983..........."

 

[goldstone]

"Five and twenty" for "25" is obviously based on reading Arabic numerals from right to left. It's a relic of the days when your ancestors read everything from right to left and is proof of the fact that they were originally Muslim immigrants.

There's nothing particularly Sussex about it.

I knew there was a reason I didn't like pork ...

 

[clapham_gull]

If you want to hear real Sussex listen to this

YouTube - The Old Sow by Albert Richardson

He lived in Burwash and used to support Brighton. My dad used to take him down to the Goldstone in the 70s.

He used to sing his songs to me and my brother when we very very young.

You simply don't get any more Sussex than Albert Richardson.

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

I worked as a barman at the Northern and also the William Tell and if it was busy you would just fill the glass to the top instead of poncing about with a half pint glass. When the pub wasn't busy it was normally only the regulars who were given a "generous" half.

Which Northern? The big one or little one?

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

Independent verification on this one! Often used by me and my buddies in rural E Sussex; late 70s-early 80s.

However it was - from memory - more a case of offering your 2/3 or 3/4 drunk pint to the bar person, asking for a half and then seeing what they did.

If you got your original glass filled up to the brim you could cheerfully announce that you'd got "A Sussex half". If they measured it out in a half pint glass separately they were described in somewhat unflattering terms.

I heard it from regulars in the pub my parents used to run, I have asked for it in the pub which I am a regular in and have at times got a bigger measure. This also has to do with buying drinks for the barmaids from time to time too.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

For f*** sake Mayo