Phrases like, “Throw a spanner in the works”, still bear some relevance when said and many would understand what is meant by that phrase today. But have you ever wondered where some of these phrases come from and what they mean? Although some may be familiar amongst young and old, there are many truly British sayings that are getting lost or have been totally forgotten.
In its latest blog post, Gala Bingo has looked at 20 phrases that were presented by Perspectus Global and found updated and more modern ways that the phrases have evolved. Some interesting stats that came from the survey showed that the top three least used phrases had the following results: “Pearls before swine” topped the list with 78% of under 50s having never used the phrase or even know the meaning.
To declare your beliefs firmly and openly one could simply say “Nail your colours to the mast”. This once popular saying came in second with 71% of the participants noting that they have never used this saying that was once a part of everyday speech.
Of Course, it’s no surprise that today’s generation may not be familiar with certain phrases, simply put language goes through many changes, cultural resets and additional factors such as trends and everyday slang have become important in the way that we use language.
Add to that, the popularity of social media being one of the largest mediums of communication has also changed the way we speak, popularizing viral pop culture phrases through the ages. Ask a Boomer what “On Fleek” or “That’s Lit” means and they most likely will have no idea!
Without putting a “fly in the ointment”, language is meant to change and evolve through the ages. The UK population has more than doubled since 1871 when just under 31.5 million lived here, with the cultural diversity and varying languages it’s understandable that what was common and mostly used terms and phrases will evolve to adapt to the modern times that we are familiar with today.
Gala Bingo shares a list of popular sayings that will have you “chuffed to bits”. We take a trip down memory lane and take a look at the updated more modern versions of these dying phrases here.