Pots for bluebells

[Tony H]

Is a saying my father used to describe a fool or someone behaving silly. Can anyone tell me this saying comes from?

[Quizmonster]

The 'pots' part is, I imagine, just a variant of 'potty', which has meant 'daft' or 'eccentric' for the past century or so. The 'bluebells' part is a new one on me, I'm afraid. The suggestion may, of course, be that the only sensible place for bluebells to be is carpeting a woodland and not, ever, in a pot. In other words, you're a bit nutty if you do pot them.

[dr john]

Never heard of pots for bluebells, but it might be related to the Lancashire expression 'pots for rags', meaning daft.

(The derivation probably comes from the old days of rag & bone men who sometimes gave out pieces of pottery in exchange for old clothes and other junk, a deal which struck some people as a sign of madness.)