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?
