Soft Mick.
 

Who was 'Soft Mick'?
As in "look at her, she's got more shoes than Soft Mick!"
lt is very localised, certainly in Ossy it's still said, and l think in Accrington. ln Blackburn though they've never heard of him. Perhaps he stayed close to hearth and home.
I have this picture of a weaver mincing to the mill everyday in a different pair of clogs, please if anyone knows an origin let me know.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Dunno about that one, heard other expressions using 'soft as ....' but they arent really suitable to say here

Re: Soft Mick.
 

that saying was very popular in burnley ,when i was young ,,there was a stall on the market and the chap was called barmey mick ,but i dont know if they were the same ...

Re: Soft Mick.
 

So he got as far as Burnley but not to Blackburn, The plot thickens. Thanks Granny.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

I have a brother called Michael, and when he was younger.....and not so young too, he would fight everybody in sight so that he couldn't be called 'soft Mick'.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

It might have something to do with Paddys but dont quote me heres another though I think its Ossy only but would love to be told yes or no " agate this" or she's agate........ anyone?

Re: Soft Mick.
 

"What you on agate", Stanerlee. God I love it, I've not heard that in donkeys’ years. Soft Mick was part of our childhood, but I've heard people up here in Blackpool use the expression a lot too.

The use of the quote "more shoe's than" and the expression "Soft Mick" where always used in common conjunction, Leading to the idea that he was an Irish shoe peddler (with house and Cart) working the east lancs area in the early 1900s.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

agate was also said in burnley ,and does anybody know who skenning emma was ,?? they said that like dellboy would say gordon bennett,i have visions of some poor girl with jam jar bottomed glasses

Re: Soft Mick.
 

"What you skenning at" Don't you just love hearing these old sayings again. More Please......

Re: Soft Mick.
 

GAnyone know about how Gormless came about? I've no idea!,I got told that"Dullaly tapped" was to do with soldiers comming back from India at a place called Dullay,it was always hot and they had nothing to do but drink alot of booze,they got into drunken fights and thats where the "tapped" came from,if something is dirty we always say it's wick or like a midden.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Soft Mick has always been alive and well in our family. I was first introduced to him by my mother and she came from Hapton but my Dad was also familiar with him and he was born and bred in Accrington although he'd spent most of his life in Coventry before moving back here.

My late husband's family on the other hand tend to have more shoes than you can "shake a stick at" although I often wondered why anyone would want to shake a stick at their shoes.

People always seemd to be "aget summat" when I was a child.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

My vision of a mincing shoe fetishist mill worker. is looking unlikely. Mick as an lrish name is looking good, so is the idea he was a peddlar of shoes or a cobbler.
l could never say agate, even in Blackburn they wouldn't understand. ' She was a what?'
'Skenning Emma' was obviously too myopically disabled to find Ossy as we've never heard of her, [though it made me howl.]
'Soft Mick' isn't just used about shoes though, it's any extravagance, 'She's had more men than soft Mick.' What's that all about?
Theres also 'F***ing Ada'. but l think she was more widely travelled, and isn't local, but the mind boggles.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

After searching slang dictionaries on the web, l've finally accepted that Mick is a derogatory term for an Irish man, and soft just means simple. But why is it so localised, and why does it means extravagance? l'm still hoping he was an Accy dandy.

Other good localish words found in the slang dictionary were-
crammed [grumpy,]
mard [feeling miserable.]

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Re: Soft Mick.
 

I always thought that 'mard' meant soft, as in a wimp. eg. "Don't be so damn mard, what ya cryin' for?

Another one my mother used to come out with was: "You're as soft as my pocket." meaning mard as I described above.

Some more:
If you were doing something and making a bad job of it my father would say; "You shape like John Smith" or "You're not fit to wrap toffee up at Tommy Hodsons"

Re: Soft Mick.
 

My grandfather used to come out with a couple of strange ones which I've never heard anyone else use. Maybe some of you will know these.

If you asked him a question to which he didn't know the answer, or didn't want to give you the answer he would say "Because there's a nail in't plank" eg. "Why are you late home tonight Grandad?" Answer: "Because there's a nail in't plank."

His other one, and this is even more strange was if you asked him what something was and he didn't know or didn't want to tell you he would say, and I don't know if this is how it would be spelled but this is how it sounded "Layores to catch meddlers." eg. "What are all those things you have piled up in the garage grandad?" Answer: "Layores to catch meddlers!"

What the hell is all that about - anybody?

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Soft Mick was also alive and well in my Nan's house up Springhill, I remember him well:D

Re: Soft Mick.
 

The term layo'ers for meddlers was used if you asked something you weren't supposed to know about.......Like I would say to my mother 'what's that' and she would say 'it's layo'ers for meddlers and crutches for lame ducks'
'Gedding agate' was to get going and was used extensively by weavers......in 'I am just going to ged agate' to get the looms started up.
The 'there's a nail in't plank' well my grandad used something similar......if you asked him why he was late he used to say 'I've a bone in me leg'.......and I can't shed more light on it than that.
And if you were useless they did say you weren't fit to wrap toffees at 'Toffee' Hodsons.
See what you've started Garinda!

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Lol, l knew a lady who used to say when l visited 'put th'wood in th' oil an' cum n sit thee down.'

Only later did l shut the door. l never did find the oil!

Re: Soft Mick.
 

when we were kids if you went home crying you would be told not to be a mard _arse or a skrike_arse ,,stop skrikeing ,,,and if you were being silly you were told to stop lakeing about ..and then there was you pie can ,meaning you daft ha,peth ,,,,,oh now i am rambleing on

Re: Soft Mick.
 

The "oil" she referred to was the hole in the the wall where the door went. Hole, pronounced in Lancashire dialect as "oil"

Re: Soft Mick.
 

But where do the sayings come from? That's the interesting question. I know that a "meddler" could be a term for someone who interferes. eg. "You're always "meddlin' in other folks business" but what on earth is a "layo'er"?

Re: Soft Mick.
 

If I was slow in doing something, I always used to be told to "Shape yourself". Never could work that out!

Anyone ever told they were as much use as a chocolate teapot?

Re: Soft Mick.
 

'Shut yer cake oil John, l wer' only jokin!'

From the fully bilingual Garinda :)

Re: Soft Mick.
 

and if you wouldent share things when we were kids we were told not to be so peevish ,????

Re: Soft Mick.
 

dont be so skinny was another one

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Sorry Garinda, I'm getting old and a little slow on the uptake sometimes.:(

I've getten no oil i' mi lamp.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

or lead in my pencil ...oops

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Nothing wrong with the pencil or the lead grannyclaret.:cool:

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Oi, you two, either git a room or put th'wood in th'oil, l'm only a young 'un, n l'm startin t' go colour of a turkey cock!

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Said at the beginning of the evening to a novice drinker -

"Get that down yer, lad, tha'll feel better for it"

At the end of the evening -

"Bring it up, lad, tha'll feel better for it!"

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Now that I remember well.......................:o

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Oh booze, l think l need to see a shrink!

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Never heard of skenning emma, but I have heard of '' she skenned like a basket of whelps''.

And also when you had mucky ears as a kid they used to say ''she is growing spuds in there''.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Also who was Dolly dimple?? ''yeah she was a bit DOLLY DIMPLE''.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Cockney slang - Dolly Dimple - simple.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Has anyone heard of Dickie's meadow? If so, where is it?

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Re: Soft Mick.
 

also if you had holes in your socks ,you were said to have spuds in them .or they were more holey than godly ,

skenning emma was said rather than bloody hell ,,she must have been one poor little kid ,(did you ever see those horrible clinic glasses with jam jar bottoms)
we said skenned like a basket of whelks,dont know if thats the same ,,

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Also to make you grow taller, put some coddy muck in yer clogs, dont know if thats how you spell it. By the way did anybody find out what kind of dog it was there dad went to see the man about ?. I never did.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Re: Soft Mick.
 

you dozy duck ..what do you think you were lakeing at .your going to meet yourself comming back

Re: Soft Mick.
 

I'v heard of Dickies Meda Yerself, but I'v never found it.
End up being up the creek with ait a paddle.
Skenning was stairing at some one or something.
Wats tha ( thi )skenning at.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

My Mum was always so busy she met herself coming back. :D

My Dad on the other hand was often "blowed" or in danger of being blowed. As in "Well I'll be blowed!" when discovering something unexpected, and "I'm blowed if I'm going to tell you again young lady!" when I wasn't taking any notice of him............... strong winds around Accy or what?

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Who is Tom Pepper? We were often told, "Don't take any notice o' yon mon he's a bigger liar than Tom Pepper. You'll end up in Dickies meadow if you take any notice o' what he tells you."

Re: Soft Mick.
 

MY old boss used to say to me,(Its Shankleys Pony)when I had to walk round to carry out my work.Where does Shankleys Pony originate any body know ?.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

It's Shanks's Pony. Hope the following link helps: http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_b...essages/9.html

Re: Soft Mick.
 

l was taken up Dickies Meadow as a youngster.
He now walks free.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Thanks found that very interesting...

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Re: Soft Mick.
 

If we were talking at the dinner table my Grandad would tell us "Let thi Meat stop thi mouth."

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Oh Willow, l've never heard that before it had me in stitches; l think l'd need stitches if l'd have been made to stand up on that bus!
I did have to stand up, but only because they were 'grown ups.' Perhaps when l 've grown up someone will do the same for me. :)

Re: Soft Mick.
 

No chance Garinda....you now have to get a badge that says 'Baby on Board'......how sick is that?

Re: Soft Mick.
 

My gran used to say 'If she'd any more meawth, she'd hev no face to wesh' it was said of someone who talked a lot .....another one of hers was 'she's getten too much of what cat licks it bottom wi' again said of someone who had a lot to say for theirself.
She didn't much like facial hair on a man......she would say'why cultivate on thi face what grows wild round your bum'........or 'it favvers a sod reauwnd a rat-oil'....or 'I've sin better hair on bacon'

Re: Soft Mick.
 

:D lol that one is a classic, not heard it before but quite true in a weird sort of way.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Let meyt stop thi mouth or hal skelp thi lug oil fer thi.
Shut up or I will box your ears for you.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Someone else I knew, when asked if they would like to do something or go somewhere, if unimpressed would say, "I'd rather 'ave me arse rubbed wi' a brick":)

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Anyone remember "Corporation Pop"? - If you asked for a drink of pop, you might well be told "Go ter't tap and get thisen some Corporation pop".

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Corporation pop was always said to us as kids...never did likt the stuff and still don't drink it now unless its carbonated and from Buxton

Re: Soft Mick.
 

we had corporation pop too ,,
i once asked on burnley web if anyone remembered making spanish juice as kids ,we got a thick peice of spanish from the chemist ,added water and left it in the coal cellar for days ,giving it a shake now and then ,,,god it was lovely ,we took it on picnics with jam butties ,,,(oh memories)

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Sounds like my hero Fred Dibnah, i'll go to foot of our stairs.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

hey fred dibnah ,,,he will be sadly missed ...

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Last time i seen soft Mick he was as happy as Larry, but i would'nt touch him with a barge pole, and if you break your leg don't come running to me.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Soft as muck, Bloody Nora, Sh--t a brick, ( nori of course ). Talk about laugh. put thi ratter on ( flat cap ).

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Re: Soft Mick.
 

I remember being told I was "shapin' wooden" when being clumsy or butterfingered;also heard "eh I've got 'ands like cow's t*ts today!"

Re: Soft Mick.
 

We used to make Spaish water!
I also used to make 'perfume' which looked very similar [brown & dirty looking] by putting rose petals in old pop bottles filled with water. l used to sell them door to door, [our poor neighbours!]
lt didn't have a name, but l hope Soft Mick would have been proud of me. Today l'd call it something catchy like 'Micky' [bit too much like 'Charlie',] or' ' Miss Micky', a lighter fragrance for a younger market.
:)

Re: Soft Mick.
 

We had Corporation Pop and made Perfume wi Rose Petals.
I still tell the kids not to come running to me if they break a leg.
Vimpto lolly's dipped in cold water or making Oringe or lemon drinks by cumbling little tablets into cold water.
They tasted pretty awfull.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

At the meet yesterday at The Stag, Lindsay Ormerod brought up the word 'camping' meaning talking. A phrase that raises a bemused smile when used outside of the Northwest.

"Bloody Nori, he's got more front than Blackpool, l saw him camping with Skennin' Emma, sayin' how he has more shoes than Soft Mick."

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Re: Soft Mick.
 

my husband called me as daft as a boat horse this morning ,,,,whatever did he mean ,,,,,,,,,,lol

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Did you have your new teeth in? There's your answer Granny!

[only jokin' xxxxxx]

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Never come across that one before, daft as a boat horse.
It's daft as a brush were i cum from.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

seems it had something to do with the horses that pulled barges on the canals ..in burnley there used to be a street called boat horse lane ,,dont know why they were daft though ..

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Another saying that I think is fairly localised is Shanksey's pony.

It means walk, so obviously the Shankseys, whoever they were, didn't have a pony.

Has anybody heard of this phrase, and how far a field did it travel, the phrase not the pony.:p

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Back to original question. Anyone found the origins of soft mick? He got around a bit as he was definitely in Preston where I grew up.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

:eek: Mick came from Preston originally, but I don't think it was him, as the new pair of shoes he has are rubbing, so I doubt he's got more shoes than 'the' soft Mick.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

At the risk of getting whooshed....... shoes?

soft mick usually used in the form of "more *** than soft mick"

Re: Soft Mick.
 

It was mainly used in our house about someone having more shoes than soft Mick, and no it wasn't me.

I had two pairs of clogs, one for school and one for Sunday best.:(

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Yes Kipax it is used in Preston a lot and no its not me and the shoes are still rubbing hehe my mum and dad used the saying a lot mum comes from Glasgow and dad from southamton so its getting about a bit

Re: Soft Mick.
 

i have just read all these posts again,,and it made me laugh... i wonder what southern's make of it ...arnt we a lot of daft ape eths

Re: Soft Mick.
 

yes granny claret just for that you can have some mithise and splongies work that one out
my dad used to say it to me hehe ?

Re: Soft Mick.
 

stumped on that..i hope its not rude lol

Re: Soft Mick.
 

'agate' is very Accy. In fact my sister in Sydney(much to my amusment) still uses the word. Soft mick has been around the traps as far as I can remember since I was a kid. Don't know its origin though:D

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Seems like a lot of these sayings have been based on true life people, or happenings in the past, and will be a story behind them. Take nursery rhymes for instance "Ring a Ring a Roses" everyone knows was based on the symptoms for the plague or was it smallpox ?

Maybe our descendants in about a century will be asking the same question here and wondering how sayings came about. Can't just think of any off the top of my head, except seeing as we have a thread about this particular person at the moment maybe they will be quoting. Been for a Hugh Grant. Sorry, maybe that should really be in the 18's :eek: Anyway, is fun speculating future sayings from characters of today.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

....that was very definately a burnley saying as well...

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Agate was used in Preston. These mithies and splonges must have been something posh.
I had never heard of them till I met mick and still don't know what they are or what it means.
I had forgotton all about that. Not heard Mick use that term for absalutly yonks.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

:idunno:well come on mick.... what does it mean.... :idunno:

Re: Soft Mick.
 

I must say that this thread has had me giggling away with fond memories. will have to have a rite good think bout wot to put next

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Shanks's pony, Going on ... - To walk. The original Shanks's pony was a horse-drawn lawnmower with nowhere for the driver to sit, so he had to walk along behind.

Taken from:http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A128152

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Cheers yerself.:)

Liked this as well on the same site.


Window licker - A name for the sort of nutter who sits next to you on the bus and does something weird.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Hi

I haven't even gone to the introduce yourself page yet, I was so eager to join in this thread as I find it so fascinating! Reading all your posts made lots of memories come flooding back!

My Nan would shout and say "Come here at once Lady Jane (hence username lol!) - if I was naughty or being cheeky. I'm not even called Jane!

She would also say "Don't just stand there like one of Lewis's" if I was standing around not knowing what to do, or not "shaping myself"!!

She also used to call the bread bin a "bread mug". She called a slice of bread a "round" of bread.

She also taught us to say "Does your Mother take in washing?" whilst touching our chin with our fingers. This was apparently used if you had a new ring on your finger and you wanted to show it off!!

Also..."You shape like my Aunt Fanny" - if I was struggling to do something like fold the washing.

Also...She used to talk about "Fred Fernackerpan" (sp?) dunno who he was!

If someone was on the large side she would say they looked like "Ten Tonne Tesse"!

"Do you live in a barn? Well put t'wood in t'hole!"

I vaguely remember Shanksey's Pony.

I was born in Manchester. My Nan and all my family come from Manchester. I lived in Blackpool for over 20 years and heard some of the above whilst living there. Definitely heard of Soft Mick in both towns! When I moved to Burnley I went into Oddies and asked for a cheese and onion barm cake. The girl looked at me as if I was simple. She said "do you mean a tea cake?" and I thought ugh no way, not with cheese and onion. Tea cakes here are bread rolls but to me they have currants in! Also people in Burnley say "trimming up" for Christmas which I had never heard of. The best is "agate". It still baffles me when I hear people say it! Oh and window bottom. I know it as a window sill!

I was always going to the foot of our stairs too! If I asked the whereabouts of someone I would get "she ran off with a black man". Also I can remember being very young and falling asleep on Nan's knee. She would watch me rub my eyes and say "I think the sandman's coming, time for bo-boes!"

Oh I could go on forever! Thanks for the memories lol!!

Re: Soft Mick.
 

How about "there and back again to see how far it is"? Or "layohs (?) for meddlers" and finally when as a child i once asked my dad where my mum was " she's run off wi a black chap came the bizarre reply. And aint it funny it weren't bizarre then, n how kids just accept (at a certain age) that if your mum or dad tell you owt its right!

Re: Soft Mick.
 

'Same to you with knobs on' ?? 'Knobs?' ..:p May you suffer a similar fate, only worse. Not the last poster, just another saying :D

Re: Soft Mick.
 

here,s a few more for you........

"Thaz a face like a line a wet weshin"........... Stop sulking

"Sawreetferthee"............. It is all right for you
"Standin theer leyke cheese at fourpence"................ Hanging around - Having nothing better to do.

or Dad in his allotment yelling out ......"fetch degging can"

"Stondin theer like one a' Burtons dummies" ....description of an idle person

"Tha's bin aytin vinnigger offa knife" .....- a response to a sharp phrase or scolding remark

"Tha's no oyl in thi' lamp" ..........said to a 'fool'

"Thick enough t'chowk a donkey" .....A reference to a wad of notes in a rich mans wallet.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Being a cat lover .. always had pictures in my head of someone in the middle of a room holding this cat with its tail and swinging around in a circle to test the space .. in other words: 'not enough room to swing a cat' :eek:

Early form of measurement ?

Re: Soft Mick.
 

tha,s gotta stand on threepence to make fourpence.........:)

Re: Soft Mick.
 

My dad used to use the "Making layo'ers for medlars" one, when asked what he was doing. I only found out recently that the medlars in question were the fruit - like a pear - and a layo'er is a fruit net.

I'm still trying to find out who Tommy Berry was. This was one of dad's favourite expressions if someone was having a tantrum or acting manic. "Having a Tommy Berry do" was what he called it. I never heard anyone else say it.

Re: Soft Mick.
 

Strange you should just mention that Lady Jane, I worked in Man. for over 16 years and always had trouble ordering a tea cake with chicken and salad.

Had a friend from this area here on Friday night. For supper, made bacon butties, said only got tea cakes, of which friend went Ugh !! they have currants in.. no! they don't .. plain .. no currants, wat ya' talkin' about !?!
Then lapsed into long discussion difference between balm cakes/muffins/tea cakes. Manchester just down the road too. :D

Anyway, sticking to thread 'What's that when it's at 'ome ?'