'Catchphrases' used by Veteran Relatives

hallo all

I wonder if you have any 'catchphrases' like these?

Is catchphrase the right word?

Both my grandad and my mum's best mates dad were
in North Africa and when, after the War, they would meet
in the street or wherever, the greeting was always the same,
and shouted:

"Dont eat the couscous!" followed by laughter

I'd love to know the background to the story,
but alas that chance has long gone.

I imagine some grubby cafe somewhere
spreading diarrhea....

 

hallo all

I imagine some grubby cafe somewhere
spreading diarrhea....

At Home Dad

Anyone whoever served abroad would have memories of these "grubby cafes"

In June 1943 my unit, the 49th LAA Rgt, was stationed near Guelma in North Africa.

A few of us went into 'town' for a drink and a meal and after finishing up in a particular grotty cafe we asked for the menu.

The waiter replied 'No menu, but would you like our speciality?'

After the meal one of the lads said to me 'Find out what that dish was called so that we can ask for it again another time'.

I summoned up my best schoolboy French and was told that we had just eaten 'serpent', which I would remind you translates as snake.

It was quite nice, actually !

Original story, complete with picture postcard, here:
BBC - WW2 People's War - Dining out in Guelma, North Africa, 1943

 

At Home Dad

Anyone whoever served abroad would have memories of these "grubby cafes"

In June 1943 my unit, the 49th LAA Rgt, was stationed near Guelma in North Africa.

A few of us went into 'town' for a drink and a meal and after finishing up in a particular grotty cafe we asked for the menu.

The waiter replied 'No menu, but would you like our speciality?'

After the meal one of the lads said to me 'Find out what that dish was called so that we can ask for it again another time'.

I summoned up my best schoolboy French and was told that we had just eaten 'serpent', which I would remind you translates as snake.

It was quite nice, actually !

Original story, complete with picture postcard, here:
BBC - WW2 People's War - Dining out in Guelma, North Africa, 1943



I've heard it tastes like chicken. Is that true, Ron?

 

I believe it tastes like chicken ...so I've been told

 

Dam you Gage :p

 

My late dad used quite a lot of 14th Army slang, such as 'that's the sub cheese' for 'that's the lot'.

 

Hallo Mark

Know any more 14th slang?


Fascinating!

'sub cheese' - is this phonetic Indian or Burmese, I wonder

or something simpler?

Would love to hear more


Kind regards




My late dad used quite a lot of 14th Army slang, such as 'that's the sub cheese' for 'that's the lot'.

 

hallo Ron

That's great stuff! Thank you very much

I'm now turning my attention to your archive!

Kind regards



At Home Dad

Anyone whoever served abroad would have memories of these "grubby cafes"

 

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. My dad used quite a lot of 14th Army/British Indian vocab: dekko, shufti, char and wads, dhobi, doolally, jaldi, jaldi and jaldi kerow (for hurry up-I still use this with my cadets, much to the amusement of the boys of Pakistani and Indian descent). George MacDonald Fraser's memoir 'Quartered Safe Out Here' has an extensive glossary of 14th Army-Speak.

 

The bloke who wrote the Flashman books?

Brilliant, thanks for this, Mark - Quartered Safe
is now firmly on my literature wish list!


all the best

 

Mark

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. My dad used quite a lot of 14th Army/British Indian vocab: dekko, shufti, char and wads, dhobi, doolally, jaldi, jaldi and jaldi kerow (for hurry up-I still use this with my cadets, much to the amusement of the boys of Pakistani and Indian descent). George MacDonald Fraser's memoir 'Quartered Safe Out Here' has an extensive glossary of 14th Army-Speak.


To that lot you can add the following (no guarantee on the spelling)

Kidna budgee (what's the time), Kwoise Katir (how much) maleesh (never mind) and yala (hurry up)

Ron

 

Is that Arabic, Ron?

I recognise the 'Yalla'

 

AtHomeDad

Aiwa (that's Yes in Arabic) but not , I believe, Kidna Budgee which comes from Indian Army patois.

Ron

 

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. My dad used quite a lot of 14th Army/British Indian vocab: , shufti, dhobi, .

I use those two today- Give us a Shufti (Give me a look)

and Dhobi is a net bag I used in the Army for my washing. Only the other day I told her in doors to use my old dhobi bag to stop her bra wires getting caught up on the drum

Cheers
Andy

 

I don't know about catch phrases, certainly plenty of slang. A cuppa char is, well, still a cuppa char in our house. Probably comes from generations of servicemen. I've now brought it to Belgium with me. Most likely puzzles the locals no end.

My Grandad always referred to a gentleman's testicular appendage as 'goolies' and one went to the Khazi for a pony but of course that's rhyming slang creeping in. The army was usually referred to as 'the Kate'.

Is 'buckshee' still current amongst normal folk ?

 

Then there was always - IMSHI - meaning get a .......move on - NOW !

Cheers

 

One of my Grandads (both served in N.Africa) used to insist how camels were born with syphilis and carried this all their lives, just to keep alive the excuse once common amongst returning squaddies. He also used to swear in Arabic, but never in English.

 

Properly prepared puff adder truly tastes of chicken. But be sure to note: putting it into your mouth and chewing it takes a lot of guts.

And what about "gyppo tummy"?

 

Hi Guys,
One kiwi veteran I know still uses shufti. I know Maleesh was very popular with NZers much to the annoyance of superiors lol...There was even a Kiwi tank named Maleesh.

 

More thoughts on the subject, not in any particular order:

In WW1 the troops that came home brought with them numerous phrases that were common use in the trenches. One of the most commonly used phrase was "sans fait rien" which was immediately bastardised into "San Fairy Ann" , in Italy the equivalant was "non fa niente" or simply "niente".

We also used "Burgo" to mean "porridge" ...... does anyone know why?

Cockney rhyming slang was also very much used in the Army.

Phrases that come to mind are "Have a butchers" meaning "butcher's hook" meaning "look" and Rosie Lee (Tea).

Then there was "Doolali" meaning "crazy", obviously Indian in origin, but why ?

I'm sure there's lots more out there

Ron