Dick and Liddy

The origins and history of placenames, nicknames, local slang, etc.
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Loiner in Cyprus
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Post by Loiner in Cyprus »

My grandad used to say 'back in Dick's day' refering to something happening a long time ago. I dont know if this is connected.
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buffaloskinner
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Post by buffaloskinner »

I believe that Dick and Liddy is the Yorkshire equivalent of the south's Darby and Joan, and the Scottish Dock and Doris.
Is this the end of the story ...or the beginning of a legend?
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String o' beads
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Post by String o' beads »

Know what you're saying buffaloskinner, but a deoch and doris is actually a drink at the door, from Gaelic, rather than an old couple.I too remember Dick and Liddy from childhood, so well before Nixon. I'll ask me Dad whether he remembers.
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The Parksider
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Post by The Parksider »

"Dick & Liddy'sComedy ClubIn the Green Room BarDick & Liddy's, our hugely popular Comedy Club in the Green Room Bar, brings together new faces on the comedy scene alongside established stand up comedians, to give you a Friday night to remember".From Halifax's theatre advert - so even today the term is in use!!!
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Leodian
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Post by Leodian »

I've lived all my 66 years in Leeds but until this thread appeared I had never heard the expression "Dick and Liddy" (or if I have I had forgotten).
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.
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jim
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Post by jim »

I recall the phrase in use at work when an apprentice had made a "ball of cotton" of a job. He was told how to rectify it, and not to let workman X know of the situation as X and the foreman "were like Dick and Liddy". In other words X would be sure to let the cat out of the bag due to his familiarity with said foreman.
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Uno Hoo
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Post by Uno Hoo »

[quotenick="Geordie-exile"]Know what you're saying buffaloskinner, but a deoch and doris is actually a drink at the door, from Gaelic, rather than an old couple.Isn't it pronounced Jock and Doris? According to Compton MacKenzie's hilarious book 'The Monarch of the Glen'.I've been familiar with Dick & Liddy since Dick's Days. It's common in the Halifax/Huddersfield area as well as Leeds/Bradford. But I can't account for its etymology any more than the other postings.
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, moves on; nor all thy Piety nor all thy Wit can call it back to cancel half a Line, nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
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Uno Hoo
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Post by Uno Hoo »

What a coincidence! I looked at World Wide Words to see if it threw anything up. On its list of advisers are Dick Hudson, of University College, London, and Elizabeth Liddy of Syracuse University USA. They invite e-mails, so I suppose all we need to do is ask Dick and Liddy
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, moves on; nor all thy Piety nor all thy Wit can call it back to cancel half a Line, nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
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Dalehelms
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Post by Dalehelms »

The lyrics of Harry Lauder's song "I belong to Glasgow" include reference to over-imbibing to the extent of "6 deoch-an-dorus then sang a chorus......I belong to Glasgow" .
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LS1
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Post by LS1 »

I always thought it was "Dickens Days" the phrase and not "Dicks Days"... as in Charles Dickens and this being a relitivelty long time ago and not a very good time (especially some of the horrors that the poor faced in the mid Victorian period). Am I wrong therefore and does this refer to something else?
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