Dialect part 2

[ladyofastolat]

When someone was restless and dithering, going constantly in and out of a room, my Mum (born and brought up in Derby) and her Mum (born and brought up Alsager, Cheshire, but with parents both from Rugby, Warwickshire) would say, "They were in and out like a cat at a fair." I've never heard this anywhere else, and Google doesn't help. Anyone else heard this?

Comments

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I don't know that one, but I had a gf whose Black Country mother rebuked fidgeters with "Stop otching!" I've not come across "otch" elsewhere, before or since.

Actually, your expression reminds me of a line from The Dukes of Hazzard, though possibly not original to it: "Busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs."

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

My mother said 'dog at a fair'.

A friend of mine insists on saying 'in and out like a yo-yo', which drives me nuts.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Ooh. "Dog at a fair" at least gets a couple of Google hits, one of which claims a 16th century citation of the phrase: here (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7PMZJqSR4sAC&pg=PA153&lpg=PA153&dq=%22dog+at+a+fair%22&source=web&ots=ARcuKBSuW8&sig=v7q9nuiHTTfwdG-8E9tMR9QiHt8&hl=en)

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

Dog makes more sense. Cats would regard fairgrounds with disdain.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

No! Dogs would say "ooh! Fairground! Master! Food!" and would just hot-foot it to the fair and stay there. Cats would say, "Ooh! Possibility of food. No. Need to look independent and aloof. But possibility of food! No, independence. And sleep! Can sleep outside fair, where it's quiet. But possibility of food! Goldfish at fairground stalls! Fish! But possibility of sleep outside fair. Or possibility of sleeping on cuddly toy prizes. No. Better sleep outside. No. Chance of fish inside." Hence the "in and out" stuff. ;-)

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

You present a convincing argument, but first the cats have to travel to the fair, and how is this to be achieved?

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Good point. One of mine would definitely think, "So this fair is more than 20 yards away, is it? And I'd have to leave my nice warm bed? Not a chance!" and roll over and sleep for a few more hours.

[chainmailmaiden]

With mine, a piece of string attached to one of the fairground caravans would be enough to get them to follow it. Or a person travelling to the fair with an undone shoelace :-)

[segh.livejournal.com]

Actually Cleo would say "Oh no! Possibility of enemies! Be somewhere else!" but I admit she's atypical.

[sigisgrim.livejournal.com]

"up and down like a yo-yo" I can understand, but in and out doesn't seem to make much sense.

In the "up and down" context I'd probably use "... like a whore's draws", but that is not the sort of expression that I would expect an responsible parent to encourage their children to use.

[alitalf.livejournal.com]

My mum always used "dog at a fair&quoy; FWIW.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

No, but I have heard reference to 'up and down like a sailor's trousers'. I am not sure if the sailor in question is randy, or simply has been eating too much foreign food.

In a not very related vein, my father used to refer to seagulls as Shytehawks...