Lancs saying

[lovejoy]

My Lancashire grandma used to have a saying:

"well I'll go to the foot of our stairs"

can anyone explain this?

[Count_Emmup]

Yes, I can - it's "I'll go t' f�cking hell", amended for those of delicate sensibilties!

And if you're offended, don't forget who it was that asked the question!

[Quizmonster]

To add just a little by way of explanation...
�Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs' is most probably a euphemism for a much stronger expression of surprise, just as �Cor blimey!' is an acceptable version of �God blind me!' The word �foot' was possibly chosen to chime with the 'f' of a strong swear-word, with the �of our stairs' just tagged on to make sense...ie it had to be the foot of something. The whole thing is, in other words, perhaps just a polite version of "Well, I'll go to f*&@!"

[TheWinner]

My grandad used this all the time. It was just meant as a comment to express surprise. As in, "well, I am surprised"

That's all there is to it.

In those days, people were more polite than they are today, and swearing just wasn't part of it.

[lovejoy]

Good job my grandma never knew

[Quizmonster]

So why that particular phrase then, TheWinner? Why not "Well, I'll go to the edge of the pavement!" or "Well, I'll go to the back of the house!" or any number of other possibilities?
The fact is, there was a well-established, if crude, phrase to express surprise already in existence which went, "Well, I'll go to f...!"
In exactly the same way, "You can go to heck!" became the polite way of saying, "You can go to hell!" Note that the 'h' - just like the 'f' - remains though the rest is altered.

I'm sure many grandmas and grandads used these in perfect innocence but I'm equally convinced that the phrases had a less than innocent origin!

[TheWinner]

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/38/me ssages/1423.html

[cherrycherry]

The foot of the stairs - the modern equivalent is having to go to the 'naughty step'.
My Northamptonian grandmother also used to say this, meaning 'I'll be blowed' (or similar), ie an expression of disbelief or surprise to the effect that it would make you feel childish or foolish...similar to having to wear a dunce's cap or sit in the corner.
I agree it has nothing to do with swearing.

[DotH]

it is just the opposite of being surprised, it is a droll expresion of massive under enthusiasm in these here parts, I grew uop hearing my family say this and it was always intended as being unimpressed. abit like when people would ask where you were going on youre holidays and we would say Ourgate.

[311271]

so youre family have been on your case too hawkes

makes one wonder lmao

[Gromit]

DotH is correct.

It was a sign of being unimpressed. It was a sarky reply to an obvious or underwhelming statement.

It certainly didn't have any swearing connotation to it.

Going to the foot of the stairs, is a truely unremarkable thing.

[DotH]

ziggy do you have a problem reading simple words, where in my reply have you seen anything about my relationship with my family? and as my parents are both dead i resent you commenting on them as i find it distasteful. i have reported your reply as it is totally uncalled for and nothing to do with the supject being discussed.

[311271]

get down specsavers hawkes

they got an oap offer on

[DotH]

oh here we go, you just want that id banned now don;t you?
i am not old enough to qualify or oap discount ziggy and won;t be for 15 years. you carry on being snide and abusive, i will carry on reporting you

[311271]

well I'll go to the foot of our stairs

[Quizmonster]

The website you linked to, TheWinner, uses the words 'presumably' and 'perhaps', so it is no more definitive than the source suggested by Count_Emmup and myself.
As I said earlier, I'm sure the majority of people who used the phrase did so totally innocently, but that is far from proof that its origin was innocent, too! As already explained, that was true of the majority of people who said "What the heck!"

But..."What the hey!"...which is Marge Simpson's version!

[Count_Emmup]

Of course you and I are right, Q/m. Our detractors haven't a clue - there are so many common-place expressions which have their origins in, erm shall we say earthier times. A few examples:-

Most males have been addressed as 'son-of-a-gun' at some time - and thought nothing of it! Well they should;
because in the 18th century saiors were permitted to entertain prostitutes aboard while in port - but only on the gun-deck, so the resulting offspring, if male was a son-of-gun. Boys were placed in naval orphanages with a view to later recruitment.

If a young lady overheard her date say she was a lovely little totty, she'd be slightly flattered; yet it's a contraction of 'prostitute'.

Conversely, she'd be outraged if he called her 'his tart' - yet that is a contraction of 'sweetheart'!

So before you ill-informed twerps start contradicting, just do a bit of research as all I've posted above is correct (including the 'go to foot of'f'' etc). Local dialect/accent is a bit of a hobby of mine, and all I've posted is definitely confirmed by academic linguists.

Just because you find it a little 'ruder' than you'd imagined certainly doesn't indicate that it's wrong.

[mi bonita]

it means she is going to the bottom of her stairs

[cherrycherry]

Dear Count,
I am an academic linguist with several certificates to prove it, and certainly not an ill-informed twerp. I have studied regional cadences in both this country and throughout the Indo-European language sweep. I am now starting to study Japanese regional differences in speech.
QM in his original answer only used the term 'probably' and did not give any reference to definitive use of the phrase, and neither have you.
This particular thread has become really overblown in its importance and merely goes to show that phrases are used in many different ways by different types of people and from different regions, which even the most eminent linguist would not dispute.
I do not think that it warrants insulting answers from anyone. In fact, I don't think anyone was saying that they were shocked by any bawdy origins or connotations to the phrase, simply that this particular phrase does not necessarily stem from racy roots.