General Chat

I was given one of those 'Facts of Life' books from a woman's weekly mag. It was most certainly more 'birds and bees' than human. There was nothing about the emotional side, nor did it tell you exactly what to expect on the big night!

And at Senior School, why was Human Reproduction taught by aged spinsters ( no dis. to any on the boards) who were obviously as pure as the driven snow and whose faces were far redder than ours at the end of the lesson. and there was always one who would deliberately think up an embarrassing question to ask.

LW

No one explained chin cough at the time but some-one did say on here a while ago that they thought it coiuld be whooping cough.

I know some one that when she "started", her mum told her to keep away from boys..........so she did...........by crossing the road!

Bob

eating fish would give you brains
eating your crusts of the bread would give you curly hair

to name but a few

I was told I would get chin cough in my bottom sitting on cold steps, and my death from going out with wet hair, wear my teeth out by cleaning them and a local woman had got a paralized arm by using de-odourant. Mind you, this was some 65/70 years ago and they were either a mucky lot or just plain ignorant. Anything to do with babies was top secret. When I was getting married and asked my Mum about the facts of life I was told to write to Evelyn Holmes in a magazine our next door neighbour read, and I did and the older generation read it as well, I have had a good laugh many times since.

That's reminded me, Pauline

There was once much talk of my Granddad's piles, how bad they were and references to bunches of grapes. Yes, I went looking for piles of rotting grapes, but never found any.

Were any of you told you would get Meningitis if you washed your hair during a period?? I tried to get away unscathed by just washing my fringe!

LW

So many funnies now on here - but not at the time, eh? Sharron - lol re back passage.

I've remembered another - Mum had taken me to the Drs. Don't remember what for. Anyway we were told to visit him again in another few days and to take one of my 'stools' for him to examine. I didn't understand that one nor did I understand why, the next day, I was expected to 'perform' on the potty!!

And how many times was I disappointed when Dad would come home empty handed after going to see a man about a dog!

LW

That's interesting, Sharon - I wonder how many of those children sent out the room ended up needle-phobic? I'm sure my needle-phobia came from watching a hospital nurse and doctor making such a fuss of putting a drip in my sister when she was small. (Even my mum was telling them, "Just get it in her"!)

I remember when I was small and it was the run-up to my dad's 40th, he stopped drinking to lose weight for his party, but I didn't understand that it just meant alcohol. I knew enough to know you could die if you didn't drink fluids so I thought he meant that.

My Nan was a bit of a one for having a gossip with passing neighbours over her garden wall. I suppose the wall must have been just under 5' tall
and Nan could just about get her eyes and nose over it to gossip with the selected few. It always made me wonder who she was chatting to ( as I was far to small to see the person ).

She was once chatting to Mrs Castleton ( an odd little woman from down the ally ).Mrs Castleton got right up Nans nose by commenting that she noticed Nan always folded her knickers to hang them on the line !!
To this day I can't really work out how Nan thought this was a veiled insult..........maybe she just objected to neighbours noticing her draws flapping in the wind..................lol

Amanda

If you pulled a face and the wind blew you would stay like it.
Don't eat paper or you will get worms.
Too much chocolate gives you spots
Too much Television gives you square eyes.

I'm sure there are loads more.Do we still say the same things to our children lol

Lol Kay???? apparently I would get worms if I ate too much sugar and yes raw potatos.

Get this one, if I went out with my hair still wet I would catch my death, not if I kept my hands in my pockets I thought.

Not so much terrified,

But waited for the time , would go deaf,blind and my eyes turned square by sitting to close to the telly !

And my hair would fall out by using hair spray,

I would be covered in spots by NOT eating greens.

And I would have bad eyes if I didnt eat carrots.

and on and on it went. apple trees growing out your head,gum entwined in your intestines.,worms from eating unwashed fruit. and raw potatos:}

I remember hearing a woman whose mother must have had bowel cancer or something similar relting the symptoms in hushed tones (you wouldn't bother to listen to adult conversation unless the tones were hushed!).Apparently her mother had something resembling treacle in her back passage.

Well,a back passage must be part of her house.I was a bit frightened of going into our back kitchen after that because I wasn't sure how much treacle there might be and a large wave of it could be very dangerous.

The uncle of a friend of mine was diabetic and had to inject.Of course,when Uncle was going to inject there was a big show of sending any children outside so that they should not see the procedure.

She once accidentally walked in on him with his needle ready and his trousers down.For a long time after that she thought he was injecting into his willy.

My grandma had a piece of her stomach taken away years before I was born, she would sometimes mention it to her friend in les dawson whisper.
I was about 16 before I was told she had actually had a hysterectomy, lol
What scared me the most was being told if I ate the pips out of an apple or grapeseeds I would grow an apple tree or bunches of grapes inside me.
Another one was if I swallowed my bubblegum it would clog up my insides, I spent many a night in bed worrying about that.

not really an adult euphemism...at school they put "whale blubber" on the menu......I thought it was real and wouldn't touch it....I think it was something with custard on.

Also I didn't dare try toad in the hole.

by Adult Euphemisms. You know, the sort of expressions they used when chatting and they were hoping you weren't listening ... but just in case you were, they said stuff like:

Mrs X is in hospital having everything taken away ..... adult speak for Hysterectomy.

Mr Y is losing himself ..... adult speak for suffering with Dementia.

All usually said in a whisper or Les Dawson type speak

I often heard such expressions and worried as to whether someone would come and take my 'everything' away ...... and couldn't understand how someone could be losing themselves especially as I saw Mr Y every day.

What expressions worried you as a child??

LW