Slang

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iansmithofotley
Posts: 558
Joined: Fri 28 Dec, 2007 4:10 pm

Re: Slang

Post by iansmithofotley »

Hi Jack,

You are a genuine 'Loiner', born and bred in Leeds.

Ian

volvojack
Posts: 1471
Joined: Tue 26 Jan, 2016 11:57 am

Re: Slang

Post by volvojack »

That is so True Ian And Proud of it.
Though i live now live in Gloucester and married again to a Bristol Lass there is never a day goes by without me thinking about "Stringer" Because of Gwyn's Daughter being in Spain we all came back and Jackie and her Husband have resumed their jobs as Paramedics.
So i can honestly say that i have crammed a lot into my 82 years i hope to still do more including returning to Leeds.
When i was doing my National Service in the RAF. i was Stationed in Bristol and apart from an occasional Railway ticket given three times a year i had to Hitch hike up the A.38 which even when you got a lift it was usually a Lorry and in those days not only were they slow but the A.38 went through every small and large Town. I spent halfe of my week end pass travelling home and back.
Though the Town has changed dramatically The Kirkgate, Vicar Lane, Briggate,Headrow and Boar Lane etc. are still there so as i have returned over the years Things in my mind are still basically the same.
Last edited by volvojack on Fri 19 Jan, 2018 11:05 am, edited 2 times in total.

volvojack
Posts: 1471
Joined: Tue 26 Jan, 2016 11:57 am

Re: Slang

Post by volvojack »

Apologies for Double Post , My Box has Gone (Spring Close Pub Jargon)
Last edited by volvojack on Thu 18 Jan, 2018 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

volvojack
Posts: 1471
Joined: Tue 26 Jan, 2016 11:57 am

Re: Slang

Post by volvojack »

Ian.
Lots of the Slang Words i have quoted some time ago were used quite often in the Tap Room of the Beech Pub in Tong Road. I never knew about it until an old Pal of mine Stan Dodds took it over. He was a popular lad, being ex. Leeds Rugby although the Clientele were mainly all regulars It already had a passing trade being so near Gloucester Terrace.
I enjoyed going in on a Sunday morning as it opened an hour or so before it should have. My Pal and I used to stand with our drinks in the middle room and look through the serving hatch at the horde of lads , all shapes and sizes. This particular Sunday Morning not long after opening the Pub was heaving when suddenly you could have cut the silence with a knife. Two Plain Clothes Tec's had walked in, "What's all This then Landlord" . One of them enquired as they quickly looked around, "Fishing Section Meeting Officer" replied Stan, "Mmm" said the Same Officer and then they walked out. It was obvious that these Two knew exactly who they were looking for as although the Taproom was full they had only stepped inside the door and never moved from the spot.
That would be in the days when the Licencee of a Pub could choose to open 11am. to 1.pm or !2pm. to 2.pm. on a Sunday.

String o' beads
Posts: 1360
Joined: Wed 06 Feb, 2008 6:09 pm

Re: Slang

Post by String o' beads »

Re: "My box has gone." It was indeed an East Leeds pub saying. Popularised [in my era] by Phil the Box.

volvojack
Posts: 1471
Joined: Tue 26 Jan, 2016 11:57 am

Re: Slang

Post by volvojack »

[quote="Geordie-exile"]Re: "My box has gone." It was indeed an East Leeds pub saying. Popularised [in my era] by Phil the Box.

Hiya,
Don't think there was ever a Pub in East Leeds that i had not been in at least once, Was there really a Phil The Box ? As the expression i quoted was quite common when some either was admitting they had lost control of themselves (Usually referring to the result , a fight). Or more often used when admitting they, themselves had made a mistake or simple error which they normally would not do .
I.E. Not Using Their Brain.

String o' beads
Posts: 1360
Joined: Wed 06 Feb, 2008 6:09 pm

Re: Slang

Post by String o' beads »

That's how he got the nickname - he was forever telling people either his box had gone or their box had gone. Phil the Box. :D

User avatar
tilly
Posts: 2209
Joined: Mon 11 Jan, 2010 2:32 pm

Re: Slang

Post by tilly »

In Hunslet the police were called rozzers were did that come from.I know coppers was used has well i think this could derive from eg did they cop him ,did they catch him, or he was copt stealing lead or am i way off track?
No matter were i end my days im an Hunslet lad with Hunslet ways.

volvojack
Posts: 1471
Joined: Tue 26 Jan, 2016 11:57 am

Re: Slang

Post by volvojack »

[quote="tilly"]In Hunslet the police were called rozzers were did that come from.I know coppers was used has well i think this could derive from eg did they cop him did they catch him, or he was copt stealing lead or am i way off track?

"Feeling his Collar" was another one not sure of Tilly.

One thing for certain was that they were not referred to in the derogatory way the are today, both by the Media , Fact or Fiction
Every Police Film or T.V. Series shows a Senior Officer being involved in some serious Bribery, Murder,Miscarriage of Justice.

iansmithofotley
Posts: 558
Joined: Fri 28 Dec, 2007 4:10 pm

Re: Slang

Post by iansmithofotley »

Hi everyone,

‘Feeling his collar’ was obviously arresting someone, but ‘collars’ were just arrests as in “How many collars have you had this month”.

As an aside, when I first went into C.I.D. in 1967, we had to complete a 'Monthly Return' of how many arrests we had had in the previous month. If we didn't get at least ten, then we were in trouble and had to see the Head of the C.I.D. for 'advice'. Occasionally, regular attenders were known to be returned back to the Uniform Branch for persistently not meeting the target. In those days, most of the terrace houses in the inner city areas had prepayment gas and electric meters. Many of these were broken into by burglars who would gain entry by means of an insecure cellar grate (often known as a 'Cellar grate man' as part of his Modus Operandi, burglars who attacked safes in premises were known as 'Petremen', Pickpockets were known as 'Dippers', and these details were contained as part of their known M.O.'s in their intelligence files, etc.).

With regard to the gas and electric meters being broken into, and the contents stolen, these offences were mainly committed by the house holders, who also often by-passed the electric meter with wires (fraudulent abstraction of electricity). The Gas Board and the Electric Board employed meter readers who, apart from reading meters, reported to the Police any that had been broken into or by-passed. They would complete a report, and and an accompanied proforma type statement, of what they had found and each month deliver them to the C.I.D. of the local Police Division. Depending on the area, there could be well over a dozen a month and they were an easy way to get a prisoner so any detective who was down on his quota of ten for the month would eagerly seek out some of these reports, investigate them and arrest the offenders. I can remember the name of one of the meter readers, Ronnie Large, with his fistful of meter reports, who was a welcome visitor in any of the Leeds C.I.D. offices for many years. To some extent, for aspiring young detectives, 'quantity' was more important than 'quality' regarding their arrest records in terms of survival in the C.I.D. Obviously, minor theft offences, and the like, were much quicker and easier to deal with than much more serious offences or protracted fraud investigations.

There are/were lots of slang terms within the Police, many of them local. The Leeds City Police officers referred to the West Riding, North Riding and other rural county police force officers as ‘Donkey Wallopers’. I knew why, but never knew the origin until I learned that ‘Wallopers’ was Australian slang for the Police.

There were many other local terms which are unprintable on this (or any other) website, often incorporating ‘Cockney Rhyming Slang’.

I don’t know the origin of ‘Rozzers’ or ‘Rossers’, but the term is common.

There are some explanations of Police Slang here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_p ... lang_terms

Ian

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