A new poll has revealed a list of traditional British sayings which may become extinct despite the UK having one of the most rich and diverse languages in the world.
By Bill McLoughlin
A new poll has revealed a list of traditional British sayings which may become extinct despite the UK having one of the most rich and diverse languages in the world.
According to a study, there are 50 phrases that are in jeopardy of being lost from the English language.
Of those 2,000 people asked, 78 percent have never used the phrase “pearls before swine”.
A further 71 percent said they had never used “colder than a witch’s tit” or “nail your colours to the mast”.
In the poll, conducted by Perspectus Global, 70 percent do not wave goodbye with a “pip pip”.
A further 68 percent of Brits said they had never heard of or used the phrase “know your onions”.
Ellie Glason from Perspectus Global, said: “It’s interesting to see from our research, how language evolves and changes over the years.
“It would seem that, many of the phrases which were once commonplace in Britain, are seldom used nowadays.”
While a series of phrases may now become extinct, four out of five Brits believe the UK has the most descriptive language in the world.
The survey was based on a nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults, aged between 18 and 50.
British sayings such as “colder than a witch’s tit” and “a dog’s dinner” at risk of dying out.
BRITAIN’S ENDANGERED SAYINGS
1. Pearls before swine 78% (never use the phrase)
2. Nail your colours to the mast 71%
3. Colder than a witch’s tit 71%
4. Pip pip 70%
5. Know your onions 68%
6. A nod is as good as a wink 66%
7. A stitch in time saves nine 64%
8. Ready for the knackers yard 62%
9. I’ve dropped a clanger 60%
10. A fly in the ointment 59%
11. Keen as mustard 58%
12. A flash in the pan 57%
13. Tickety boo 57%
14. A load of codswallop 56%
15. A curtain twitcher 56%
16. Knickers in a twist 56%
17. Dead as a doornail 55%
18. A dog’s dinner 55%
19. It’s chock a block 55%
20. Storm in a teacup 55%
21. Could not organise a p*** up in a brewery 54%
22. Not enough room to swing a cat 54%
23. Flogging a dead horse 54%
24. Toe the line 54%
25. Popped her clogs 54%
26. Drop them a line 53%
27. Steal my thunder 53%
28. A few sandwiches short of a picnic 53%
29. A legend in one’s own lifetime 52%
30. Be there or be square 52%
31. Fell off the back of a lorry 52%
32. A bodge job 52%
33. Eat humble pie 52%
34. Having a chinwag 52%
35. Put a sock in it 52%
36. Mad as a Hatter 51%
37. Spend a penny 51%
38. Cool as a cucumber 51%
39. It’s gone pear shaped 51%
40. It cost a bomb 51%
41. Raining cats and dogs 51%
42. See a man about a dog 51%
43. It takes the biscuit 50%
44. He’s a good egg 50%
45. Snug as a bug in a rug 49%
46. Chuffed to bits 49%
47. Have a gander 49%
48. Selling like hot cakes 49%
49. Pardon my French 48%
50. A Turn up for the books 45%
Source: ‘Colder than a witch’s tit’ and other British phrases set to die out
