PA Images
Today (Sunday, March 8) sees mothers and other female loved ones from across the world being celebrated.
In the North East, mothers have their sayings and we want to celebrate them.
Here are the top ten sayings from mothers in the North East.
10. “What do you want for tea?” We don’t mean a drink of tea, although that the drink is quite common in the North East. We mean the meal you have after dinner. It’s widely contested that it goes breakfast, lunch, dinner, but here in the North East your mother always talked about breakfast, dinner, tea.
9. “It’s like Blackpool illuminations in here.” We all forgot to put the light off and let’s be honest, we had most of the lights on in the house. Looking back, it was a pretty sight!
8. Calling every family member “our.” Remember “our David”, “our Andrea” or “our Kevin.” Every family member was ours. Sometimes we even applied this to our mam’s best friend who we thought was our Aunty – when really they weren’t.
7. Another saying related to lights is “put the big light on.” Did anyone know what the big light was. For me it was the landing light or to translate that even further, the light at the top of the stairs. The switch for said light was either at the bottom or the top. Either way, you had to put that big light on.
6. “Were you born in a field?” Whenever you left a door open, your mam would shout this saying. More often than not, you closed the door swiftly, but you replied with “no.” with a smile on your face.
5. “You’re either in or out.” Going out after school was the ultimate playtime. But once you were out, you were out. When you were inside, you stayed inside. There was no in-between.
4. You were always asked to take off your coat so you could “feel the benefit outside.” You had to take your coat off inside because if you didn’t you wouldn’t feel warmer when you went outside. It didn’t work for everyone.
3. “Get inside it’s spitting on.” When it started to rain, then you could come inside. Everyone used to congregate in your house or you used to go to someone else’s house. In the event that it was “stotting it down”, you went to your own house and stayed inside, looking at the window until it stopped.
2. “Stick the kettle on.” There were times where you wanted to hear this to get out of the room, but other times you didn’t. If your mam said this phrase, it was time to make a cup of tea or coffee – but most likely tea. Either your mam was expecting company or they were already there. Why don’t you “stick the kettle on” this Mother’s Day.
- “Shy bairns get nowt.” This saying has stuck with us since we were children. It’s like the early bird catches the worm, but only in North East slang. Your mam always said this to you. If you didn’t ask, you didn’t get.
What other sayings are there that North East mothers say or said to you in the past? Let us know @SRNewsNow or in the comments!
