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Yer cats are deed...

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erin-x | 15:36 Sun 17th Apr 2011 | Phrases & Sayings
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Meaning your trousers are too short.... Where does this saying come from? :)
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I thought it was 'Yer budgies deed'..?
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I've always heard 'cats'... maybe regional?? =s
It used to be said of someone whose trousers were too short that they were 'hanging at half-mast', thus the reference to 'dad'.
...dead, even.
I've googled it and the British consensus seems to be it's a Northern/Scottish thing but guess what: We say it too, here in Sweden. First time I heard it a boutique owner said it to me (jokingly) as I was trying some trousers on. This was just a few days before I had to put my cat to sleep so the expression has sort of stayed etched on my brain... I think Mike's half mast explanation is probably correct, but that's just my language intuition; I haven't found anything conclusive.
'when did your budgie die'
Yes, too short trousers looked like a flag hanging at half-mast, a symbol of mourning. Young lads outgrew their trousers very quickly. When I was a youth "going into long trousers" was a kind of rite of passage; boys traditionally wore short pants until reaching puberty.
When I was a child in Surrey, we used to say "Charlie's dead" for your petticoat hanging down - nothing to do with budgies or cats!
If it was oop North I'd understand "your kecks are deed"
yeah I was going to say it's 'kecks'
When U was a child we said "Put some jam on your shoes and invite your trousers down to tea"
You were posh mic..............fancy having shoes!!
On a similar theme there was a multitude of expressions to hint to a bloke that his flies were undone. The only one I can remember is, "You're flying low tonight".
We said flying without a licence Mike.

Craft. Posh me Na.
An undone button fly was 'showing your medals', while a lady told that her slip was showing might retort, 'so's your mother's!'
I am from 'up north' and i have never heard of the expression 'yer cats are deard' we would say 'yer britches/kegs are at half mast.
For your flies being undone, we used to say 'your stable door is open' and sometimes also ' the horse is hanging out'
Had I been told that, "my horse was hanging out", I think I might have blushed from sheer pride.
looks like you have something hanging at half mast out of your breeks, mike, in your avatar!
I've never heard "cats" before but I've heard of "kecks" loads of times.

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