Old Sayings and Their Meanings.
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When I was growing up I spent so many happy hours with my lovely nan and she was always coming out with little quips and sayings which I use today. I’ve just replied to a question about gardening and quoted my nan.... don’t cast a clout til may is out.... in other words we could still get a frost so don’t plant bedding plants until June. That’s what it means to me anyway. There are so many and they make me smile and think of my lovely nan.
I have always taken this saying to mean not to leave off wearing a vest or suchlike until May is out as the weather can still turn chilly, I think up North a clout is an item of clothing but I am happy to be corrected on this.
I remember as a child wearing a vest under my normal clothing, it was part of your underwear, but no one seems to wear them any more (except overweight, beer swilling blokes who think it is a good look !)
Probably different regions have different meanings. I love all the old sayings and probably get half off them wrong. It confuses my kids no end 
Lynibis where I'm from (west midlands) a clout is a smack lol. I can always remember my nan used to threaten us with 'a clout across the backside' if we played up as kids.
LittleLisaMarie yes I think that is the accepted word a clout around the head etc. But I think clout is northern vernacular for a piece of clothing. Also clout is an old fashioned word used for babies nappies. 'change the baby's clout'.
https://www.latestdeals.co.uk/chat/origins-sayings This is a chat thread from ages ago which has a few more but not many folk contributed. Maybe we can get a few more now as I find this an intriguing subject.
Lynibis Just had a look at the previous thread - we are worryingly alike. lol. Square meals - food served on a rectangular wooden board (Naval) Swing a cat - cat o'nine tails had to have a fair amount of space to swing and arc the whips (Naval) Let the cat out of the bag - again the cat o'nine tails was coiled and kept often in a red felt bag and nobody wanted to see the torture tool come out to play. (Naval) Upper crust - The top of a load of bread was deemed to be the best part and only those on the top table at feasts were given this treat.(Medieval) Stop me now!!!
nipperjwb my grandfather was a fisherman and he would often remind us - 'red sky in the morning - a fisherman's warning' and it still proves to be accurate. Usually rough seas and strong winds follow. I don't hear this one very much as most people only refer to the red sky at night for Shepherds.
I live on the Salisbury plain and surrounded by farmers who say a similar thing but
“it’s red sky at night shepherds delight red sky in the morning shepherds warning”
I think it’s something to do with shepherding sheep and the weather.
This 'red sky' weather warning came from a good source - in the Bible, Jesus said, “When in evening, ye say, it will be fair weather: For the sky is red. And in the morning, it will be foul weather today; for the sky is red and lowering.” (Matthew XVI: 2-3,).
I wonder whether Jesus first heard it from the shepherds or the fishermen?
This one has a couple of disputed origins but this is the one I understand. 'Between the devil and the deep blue sea' This was a term used by mariners building and repairing vessels - the devil being the central beam or seam of the hull. Repairs and caulking meant that this was precarious work that resulted in loss of life as there was nothing to save the worker if they fell between the devil and hull into the water.
If I pulled an ugly face my mother used to tell me " If the wind changes, you'll get stuck like that".
She was right. 
I think all parents said that lol. Along with 'eat your crusts, it'll make your hair curly' or 'eat your carrots....so you can see in the dark'. I was also told 'stop picking your nose, your brains will leak out! '
Paint the town red came from the antics of a Lord and his cronies in the early 1800s - the drunken friends were so squiffed that they thought it would be hilarious to run through flowerbeds and damage property in a village. (Melton Mowbray) They finally got hold of some red paint and proceeded to paint doors and daub a toll gate. The phrase is used to describe a wild night.
Ah I remember those days. My dad used to say interesting phrases such as "P*ss off and go to your room" and wonderful things like "No, go get a job". Great times!
We were warned not to sit too close to the tv or you'll get square eyes..... never met anyone it happened to so may not have been true!
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