A quick query for all native Brits

[liriel1810.livejournal.com]

Regarding the phrase 'throw your toys out of the pram'. Was it in use in the 70's/80's? Or am I going to have to come up with something else to use in that place? I've tried searching the Online Etymology Dictionary with no luck at all, and googling just gives me instances of how to use it. *rolls eyes* I know that.

Thanks for any and all help with this!

Comments

[inlovewithboth.livejournal.com]

I'm not aware of using it back then, we would say 'keep you hair on', 'don't get your knickers in a twist', or can I suggest you watch a couple of Sweeney episodes, because they are full of phrases of this nature that were used at the time. Hope this helps?

[liriel1810.livejournal.com]

That's what I was afraid of. :( Unfortunately, neither of those phrases really fit the situation.

Thanks very much for your help.

I don't know if I'll be able to find anything on The Sweeney, but I do have a friend who is a big fan of that show, so perhaps she might be able to tell me what they would say instead.

[hutchynstarsk.livejournal.com]

Thanks for introducing me to the phrase! I love it!!!

[liriel1810.livejournal.com]

*g* No problem at all.

[togsos.livejournal.com]

im pretty sure Gene Hunt threatens to come round to someones house and stamp on all their toys, so it doesnt sound so far out of place as a phrase that would be used.

[liriel1810.livejournal.com]

Really? *perks up* That's very good to hear. I do love it as a way of indicating someone is having a temper tantrum so if I could use it, that would totally make my day.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Gene is threatening the kids he's paid to watch his motor that if anything happens to the car he'll come 'round to their houses and stomp on their toys. Gene has a way with people. :)

[liriel1810.livejournal.com]

LOL Sounds like he's a charming fellow.

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I can't absolutely remember but I'm pretty sure it would be OK. My daughter used to do it (throw her toys out) in the 70s, and the reason I think it works is that we had a proper 'pram', the big old-fashioned kind. It can't be a very modern expression because most UK babies nowadays ride in buggies/strollers/pushchairs/trolleys/whatever right from the start, and only my generation refer to any of them as prams. The big prams (short for perambulator), which wouldn't fit in a car, were going out of fashion by the end of the 80s. If the expression was more recent it would probably be 'throwing your toys out of the buggy' which doesn't have quite the same ring.*g*

[liriel1810.livejournal.com]

Oh good. *g* Yeah, throwing your toys out of the buggy or stroller just doesn't have the same feel as pram, even though technically they're all pretty much the same thing.

I basically have Bodie saying Doyle needs to stop throwing his toys out of the pram when things don't go his way, and that really wouldn't work at all if I use buggy or stroller. *g*

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

Also, modern mums tend to tie toys onto the stroller etc. With the old prams we used to dump teddy bears, rattles, etc. in with the baby, because there was room, and of course they weren't attached and could easily be thrown out. The baby could have great fun throwing things out all along the street... Then when Mum got exasperated Baby could retaliate by throwing the lot out!! *g* I have no idea when the saying became popular - it could even be from a show - but it definitely 'belongs' to that generation.

[liriel1810.livejournal.com]

*g* Yeah, mums of today take all the fun out of it for their bubs when they tie everything to the pram.

Mind you, mums back then weren't so paranoid their baby was going to die if they put something that wasn't sterile into their mouth too. ;)

I'm sold. That phrase is so going into my story.

[heliophile-oxon.livejournal.com]

There's also a football-themed thing that might be relevant, I'm not sure - e.g. "oh yeah, gonna go home an' take your ball with you, then?" (playing football in the street - only one person (is well-off enough to own) owns a football, and if they get pissed off with the others for whatever reason they threaten to go home and take their ball with them ... the suggestion is that this person is spoiled and tantrumy, maybe not "one of the lads"). Don't know if that's any good?

[heliophile-oxon.livejournal.com]

... but I think "toys out of the pram" probably works for that period anyway - I forgot to say!

[liriel1810.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much! I'm feeling much better about using the saying now.

[liriel1810.livejournal.com]

*g* I definitely remember something similar to that phrase from when I was younger. Usually, though, it was said in a joking manner when you were a bit put out about what was going on. You might say something like "Well, fine, I'm going to take my toys and go home, then."

It doesn't work for the 'chucking his toys out of the pram' scene, but I'll keep it in mind. Doyle's a stroppy bugger in my story and there may be opportunity to use that saying too.

[diana challis (from livejournal.com)]

I grew up in SE England in the 70's-80's and I've never heard that one used in my life. Don't forget that slang and colloquialisms depend on region as well as era. Something that may be used by one Brit, will not be used by another. It would help if we knew the exact context. You might look for something Liverpudlian or Derby (although nothing I know of Derby slang would really help there)

I would point out that a bloke in the 1970s using the phrase " Don't get your knickers in a twist" to another bloke, is effectively implying that the other bloke is behaving like a hysterical female, which is a worse insult then than it would be today. Much of the level of insult depends on context, intonation and level of mockery anyway.

Diana

[liriel1810.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much for your thoughts.

Unfortunately, I can't reveal any more than I have in other comments on this post without giving away too much to still maintain the secrecy for the artist claiming.

It's very difficult to try and find region-specific slang and while I can find a dictionary on British slang, it doesn't usually give the time when it was most popular or first came into use.

Given the comments by others to this post, I'm fairly confident now that it won't be too jarring if I use the phrase to indicate someone throwing a tantrum in my story.

I totally agree that an insult can be either friendly and jovial, or very cutting depending on how it's delivered.