Dot and carry
Some of the expressions I use are rather archaic, I fear. My son once asked me why I used ‘half a dozen’ or ‘a dozen’ to enumerate how many I needed of a certain item. Although British children post-1971 were educated in decimal currency and metric measures, we still hear Imperial System terms used to describe people’s height and weight.
Another thing we say is, ’Steady the Buffs.’ It means, ‘Calm down,’ and originated in the Royal East Kent Buffs, which was one of the oldest regiments in the British Army. It was used to encourage soldiers under pressure to maintain their discipline and self-control. My Kentish mother-in-law often quoted it, and it is one of our family expressions.
Speaking to someone the other day, I said my current method of going upstairs was ‘dot and carry.’ She looked puzzled, so I explained what I meant. It described how I put my left foot on the stair and brought my right up to meet it, and then proceeded in that way to the top of the stairs. Slow but sure!
However, (favourite word of mine!) it was used in times past to describe a limping person. Sometimes, the person might have one leg longer than the other, or he or she might have a wooden leg. The ‘dot’ was the sound of the artificial limb hitting the ground and the ‘carry’ was the movement of the other leg.
Are there
things you say that cause bewilderment?
Too many of them to mention - especially as I live in the states now lol. I think one I get the most quizzical looks from is when I say I was on the drag, meaning running a bit late. Garage is one - I say Garridge rather than Ga-raaage. I did stop saying things like they driv the car instead of they drove the car. Do people not use half a dozen or dozen anymore? Yikes. I feel quite old lol.
ReplyDelete‘Dozen’ is common here still. Things are still sold by the dozen of half, maybe mainly baked goods if I think about it. I don’t know about the dot and carry, but it is somewhat descriptive of how I get around.
ReplyDelete