Up a shade...

[auro]

My Grandma who has recently died at the grand old age of 93, had may a catchphrases - one of them being "up a shade Ada" as she was standing up from a seat and "boarding house reach" to reach for a dish at the dinner table. She also used to always say - "five and twenty past - " as twenty five past the hour. Any explanations of these phrases ?? I - of course have my own.

[becks]

Not sure about any of the others, but five and twenty past is the old way of saying 25 past, you don't say whether you're English or American but as a Brit I can tell you that the five and twenty isn't unusual - it's a little archaic and no tin general use now, but was probably what your grandma's mum or grandma used to say.

[New Forester]

I think "five-and-twenty past" is the usual way round it was said in England up to about 1900. I've known a few people who still do say it -- mostly older country people in southern England. It does go quite well with the slower rhythmic pattern of that kind of country dialect speech, compared with the townie machine-gun rattle of "twentyfivepast". I don't know about the other phrases. Presumably Ada was her own name? If so, it looks like a little witty phrase, likening the action of getting up to making a small adjustment in elevation. Presumably the other one is referring to the difference between polite society and a traditional boarding house, where many strangers would eat around a single table -- no doubt politely asking to be passed things was then a secondary consideration to sheer refuelling after a day's work. She'd perhaps have meant it as a slightly self-deprecating apology for reaching. Did she have any more phrases? She sounds an interesting person to have known.

[FP]

Hey, New Forester, I still say five and twenty past. I am a southener but I originate from London and I'm not yet in my nineties, although I feel that way sometimes! Nice to know I'm keeping old traditions alive though. I bid you farewell.

[OBonio]

I know the germans say 5 and 20 for 25 in everyday life. Maybe it's a hangover from the hotch-potch of different languages that influenced english.

[Hippy]

Now shoot me down in flames, but I seem to recall "up a shade, Ada." was a sort of catch phrase used by Wilfred Pickles on his highly popular but old fashioned radio programme (1940s & 1950s). I think this was directed at his pianist, and I just know you are going to tell us all that that was Violet Carson (Ena Sharples from early Coronation Street), but I have this lingering thought that this is the origin.

[Bat2105]

In Yorkshire we still say 'up a shade', but we normally say it when you are lifting something or positioning something, I suppose its the same as saying 'up a bit'. A "Boarding House reach" is where someone at the dinner table acts in a rude manner ie.rather than ask politely for something to be passed down the table, they reach awkwardly over other diners to get to the desired object. Its called 'boardinghouse' beacause at one time this was considered typical of the lack of manners found in boarding houses and similarly disreputable environments. Also in Yorkshire, loads of older folk still say 5 and 20 past/to.

[nirvanafarma]

My gran always says; Don't worry about feeding the cat, he catches his own food. Refering to Tigger, her Ossie cat.

[Kingaroo]

four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.... Certainly the construction is not uncommon - but only at x:25? She never said "five and thirty" or "five and forty"? And only for time, not for counting things?

[magihall]

My father, who would be 103 if he were still alive, also used the phrase "Up a shade Ada", usually when helping my mum up a steep step or something similar. I too would love to know the origin. Both my parents used the "five and twenty" form, as most people of their generation did.