I was looking back over some old posts and came across this which I wrote while working on my novel, Loving Judah.
I was thinking of phrases which have disappeared… at one point in ‘Loving Judah’ Aislin says she needs to ‘powder her nose’, a phrase her grandma used for visiting the bathroom. Bavol who is younger than her, doesn’t understand what she means, because of course I’m not sure how many women do powder their noses any more, especially with all the new cosmetics which are available now, but also we would usually be more frank about a need for a comfort break than our grandmas would!
Are children still called ankle-biters? Is a smack a tuppeny one now we call two pennies two p? Our coins are just called whatever their face value is, we don’t have thruppeny bits, or tanners, or bobs, and I think quids might be dying too. Do people pour gyppo on their Sunday roast or is it only gravy… or maybe jus? Do people still have elevenses or are we so continually grazing on ever available snacks that we don’t need to break mid-morning.
And going back to powdering one’s nose (and what did gentlemen do?) even if we did say spend a penny, there aren’t toilets with the coin slot on the door for a penny; you might have to pay 20p or 50p at a turn-style at a station to go into the Ladies toilet.
I guess in London there still is a vestige of traditional rhyming slang, but I think it has probably died out int the rest of the country; my dad Donald always went for a pint of pigs’ – pigs ear+ beer, would often have loop-de-loop – soup and would wear his whistle at weddings – whistle and flute = suit; he would have a butcher’s at something – butchers hook, look, use his loaf – loaf of bread, head, and always enjoy going out when the currant bun was shining!
By the way, if you haven’t read Loving Judah, here is a link:
Lois Elsden 
Those examples are interesting. I’m interested in all the nautical terms that have entered the language and which we take for granted, e.g. the bitter end, all at sea, cut and run etc.
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