Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Many a mickle macks a muckle

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Is that from Harry Potter, err no thats a muggle:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

"'Many a mickle makes (or 'maks') a muckle' is a curious Scottish saying of antiquity, although it is also common in the North of England and not entirely unknown elsewhere. It is derived from 'A wheen o' mickles mak's a muckle', and means 'many of one thing make another, larger, thing'. A simple lesson, but one which needs restating; one must always look after the pennies. What are 'mickles' and 'muckles'? Webster 1913 states that each word is essentially a variant of the other, both meaning 'amount'. Arguments arge as to whether 'mickle' is in this case a corruption of 'pickle' (a Scots word for 'little'), and as to whether 'mickle' was once inherently inferior to 'muckle' or merely a variant. Whatever the case, the proliferation of this proverb has ensured that 'muckle' is now widely regarded as being the superior of 'mickle', something which is likely to persist.

So now you know

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Now we know where you came from, secrets out at last, always thought you were found under a gooseberry bush.:D:D:D:D
Retlaw

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Gooseberry bush don't be daft, a spiky bramble more like it :D:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

My Nanny always used to say "Count the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves"

See a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have good luck!:)

Don't put new shoes on the table -brings a death in the family.

An owl hooting on your roof brings the same....

In England we say "Touchwood", in Italy they say "Toccando il ferro" or "Touch iron"

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

I have a book of these sayings which i use when teaching English, some have equals in Italian and others are completely different, the one i have to avoid is:
A bird in the hand.....

In Italian "Uccello" (bird) is also used to describe a certain part of the male anatomy!!!!

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

The dandelion - Dente-de-leon (French) -Dente di leone (Italian) -known colloquially as "Pis-en-lit" both in France and Italy where the leaves are picked young and eaten as a salad. Very bitter with well-known diuretic effect -Pis-en-lit literally means "wet the bed"! There is always some wisdom/ truth in these sayings...

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

15 pints can have the same effect...or so i was told.:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

With me a large mug of tea has the same effect...

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Thats a gudun fro thee:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
Be carefull of that stuff, it has female hormones in it.
After 15 pints tha starts to talk daft & that can't drive.
Retlaw.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Thats true cashy like the old song goes, 15 pints and wad do you get,you wake up in di mornin and the bed is wet.:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

... and you're sleeping next to your mother-in-law:eek:;):D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Some, not all.

The wind did change, and my face didn't stay like that.

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...x7V77LJxywaDNx

:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Even 15 pints would have worked on either of my mother in laws, there was nowhere in the bedroom to park their brushes:D