origin of donnies = hands in W Midlands slang

[mon...@mediawatchwatch.org.uk]

Does anyone know how "donnies" came to mean "hands" in the W Midlands
of the UK?

Is it rhyming slang? If so, who was Donny?

Thanks in advance!

Dave

[MC]

In article
<760693f8-4b48-4514...@e12g2000vbe.googlegroups.com>,
mon...@mediawatchwatch.org.uk wrote:

I grew up in the West Midlands and that's a new one to me.

Could it be a corruption of the French "donner" or "donnez" (give) - as
in holding out your hand and asking someone to give you something?

--

I really don't care what movie stars have to say about life.
ã Morley Safer

[MC]

In article <copespaz-0189F9...@mara100-84.onlink.net>,
MC <cope...@mapca.inter.net> wrote:

> In article
> <760693f8-4b48-4514...@e12g2000vbe.googlegroups.com>,
> mon...@mediawatchwatch.org.uk wrote:
>
> > Does anyone know how "donnies" came to mean "hands" in the W Midlands
> > of the UK?
> >
> > Is it rhyming slang? If so, who was Donny?
> >
> > Thanks in advance!
>
> I grew up in the West Midlands and that's a new one to me.
>
> Could it be a corruption of the French "donner" or "donnez" (give) - as
> in holding out your hand and asking someone to give you something?

Unlikely to be rhyming slang, by the way. I don't think it's used much,
if at all, outside London.

[Peter Duncanson (BrE)]

On Fri, 10 Apr 2009 05:46:37 -0700 (PDT), mon...@mediawatchwatch.org.uk
wrote:

This website says:
http://talklikeabrummieday.co.uk/talk-like-a-brummie-day-dictionary/

‘Donnies’ - slang for small hands… also known as ‘Maulers’

A poem uses "donnies" without any suggestion of smallness, that I can
see:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/features/2005/02/poem/mrs_hydes_rant.shtml

These do not get us any closer to an origin!

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

[djuw...@googlemail.com]

Hello Chaps, just came accross this a few years late...

I have been told the origin of this slang goes back to WW1 when british regiments went in France and were confronted with a population on the brink of starvation that would beg the soldiers for food. They would normally hold their hands out and ask in French to be given food/rations.

Obviously the french would have been "Donnez"

[Anton Shepelev]

Hello,

Similarly, the Russian noun "Sharomyzhnik" was in-
vented in 1812 by Russian peasants, when starving
retreating French soldiers begged them for bread:

Cher amis, du pain...

(pardon my French)

--
() ascii ribbon campaign - against html e-mail
/\ www.asciiribbon.org - against proprietary attachments

[lauriec...@gmail.com]

Thanks for that. I'm from Bromsgrove, and all my life I've wondered where this expression came from. My Ma would often say "hold your donnies out" or similar. I wonder why the saying was restricted to the west midlands? A bit like "duck" I suppose!

[andyco...@gmail.com]

Hi Dave,
I always wondered too but I'm from Staffordshire which although close to the West Midlands is another county where the word was used. I remember hearing somewhere long ago that it came from the French donnez. Who cares as long as your donnies are clean when you eat your snap? Andy

[mickey...@gmail.com]

Many people see the french connection donnez but it doesnt explain why west midlands or why childrens hands I would presume english soldiers would have spread it across the country, also its used in worcestershire too, a local rural word perhaps, someone said its from donneybrook.

[Swifty]

On 28/07/2014 00:09, mickey...@gmail.com wrote:
> I would presume english soldiers would have spread it across the country, also its used in worcestershire too

It's quite possible for a usage to spread from one place to another via
a single person.

Some time ago, I acquired the habit of saying "good-o" where previously
I might have said "jolly good". A colleague of mine picked up this
habit from me, and he then emigrated to Johannesburg where it is now
found "in the wild".

Via Google Chat, I passed the habit onto one person in Dalian, China. It
has since been heard in Beijing.

--
Steve Swift
http://www.swiftys.org.uk/

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Sun, 27 Jul 2014 16:09:22 -0700 (PDT), mickey...@gmail.com wrote:

>Many people see the french connection donnez but it doesnt explain why west midlands or why childrens hands I would presume english soldiers would have spread it across the country, also its used in worcestershire too, a local rural word perhaps, someone said its from donneybrook.

I've not met "donnies" for hands.

If it does come from "donnybrook" it might mean "fists".

A "donnybrook" is "A scene of uproar and disorder; a heated argument",
which would include fist fights.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/donnybrook?q=donnybrook

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=donny&searchmode=none

[kieron...@gmail.com]

Donnies is how 'Dannies' is pronounced in the Black Country, but I'm wondering where Dannies comes from?

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Sat, 17 Jan 2015 05:37:18 -0800 (PST), kieron...@gmail.com wrote:

>Donnies is how 'Dannies' is pronounced in the Black Country, but I'm wondering where Dannies comes from?

Collins English Dictionary:
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/danny

danny or donny
noun
(plural) -nies

(dialect) the hand (used esp when addressing children)

Word Origin
probably from dandy, childish pronunciation of hand
and:
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/donny

donny
noun
a variant of danny

This Dictionary of Slang says:
http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/d.htm

dannies Noun. Hands. [South Yorkshire use]
and
donnies Noun. Hands. [W. Midlands use]


We discussed this here some years ago:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.english.usage/KCgxMDozLxI

[john.t....@gmail.com]

Born in Birmingham 1940 where the word was commonly used. The most amusing use of it was for the situation where someone was morose, short tempered, (or mardy). You were told , "you've got your bum in your donny".

[david...@gmail.com]

I was told it came from Donnez moi le main, the French for Give me your hand

[sandie...@gmail.com]

My grandmother always used the word donnies for hands - Coventry area 1950s and I always assumed it was a corruption of the French donner = to give. She also used fizzog for face.

[Mr. Man-wai Chang]

On 10/09/16 21:47, sandie...@gmail.com wrote:
> My grandmother always used the word donnies for hands - Coventry area 1950s and I always assumed it was a corruption of the French donner = to give. She also used fizzog for face.
>

IS "donnie" the same as "donna"?

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[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Sat, 10 Sep 2016 06:47:40 -0700 (PDT), sandie...@gmail.com wrote:

>My grandmother always used the word donnies for hands - Coventry area 1950s and I always assumed it was a corruption of the French donner = to give. She also used fizzog for face.

The origin of "donnies", "dannies" in some areas, seems to be unknown.
One suggestion for "dannies" is that it is a variation of "dandies"
which in turn is a young child's pronunciation af "hands".

"fizzog" is an abbreviation of "physiognomy".

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/phiz?q=fizzog

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/physiognomy

[Mr. Man-wai Chang]

On 10/09/16 22:38, Peter Duncanson [BrE] wrote:
>
> The origin of "donnies", "dannies" in some areas, seems to be unknown.
> One suggestion for "dannies" is that it is a variation of "dandies"
> which in turn is a young child's pronunciation af "hands".

Most likely a way to hide something....

[djbl...@gmail.com]

c z c

[janwoo...@gmail.com]

My hands were always Donnie's when I was little. I grew up west Midlands

[newliv...@live.co.uk]

On Friday, 10 April 2009 13:46:37 UTC+1, mon...@mediawatchwatch.org.uk wrote:

am quite shocked.....I'm from Birmingham with a Mum who was a Brummie and a Glaswegian father. I have just turned 60 and all these years I have taken for granted that when I told to go wash my donnies before eating, it was a SCOTTISH word! Crikey...I am soooo surprised as I'm reading that it has its origins in the West Midlands!

[marktu...@gmail.com]

Grandmother from Cannock Staffs, always used the word when she wanted me to hold her hand. I still use the phrase

[John Varela]

Would that be today, or in 2009 when the question was asked?

--
John Varela

[junio...@gmail.com]

How do you have a quote dated July 2019?!?!?

[CDB]

On 12/28/2018 2:00 PM, junio...@gmail.com wrote:

> How do you have a quote dated July 2019?!?!?

Dreams, a time machine, an alternate universe, madness, the
possibilities are endless.

[origin of donnies = hands in W Midlands slang]

Donnybrooks, hooks? (guessing)

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

Interesting gues.


The Collin Englig dictionary says that "donny" is a variant of "danny",
and:
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/danny

danny in British
('dæn? ) or donny
noun
Word forms: plural -nies
dialect

the hand (used esp when addressing children)

Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

Word origin of 'danny'

probably from dandy, childish pronunciation of hand

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Sat, 29 Dec 2018 23:04:04 +0000, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"
<ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:

>The Collin Englig dictionary

That was a typo, not an ancient English spelling.

[CDB]

On 12/29/2018 6:04 PM, Peter Duncanson [BrE] wrote:

> CDB <belle...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> junio...@gmail.com wrote:

>>> How do you have a quote dated July 2019?!?!?

>> Dreams, a time machine, an alternate universe, madness, the
>> possibilities are endless.

>> [origin of donnies = hands in W Midlands slang]

>> Donnybrooks, hooks? (guessing)

> Interesting gues.

> The Collin Englig dictionary says that "donny" is a variant of
> "danny", and:
> https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/danny

> danny in British ('dæn? ) or donny noun Word forms: plural -nies
> dialect

> the hand (used esp when addressing children) Collins English
> Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

> Word origin of 'danny' probably from dandy, childish pronunciation
> of hand

Much more sensible.

Here I stand, poor little manny,
heaving up my either danny --
Not to whinge, as you must know
but ready for another go --
Just in case you might deliver
One more day for us to shiver.

[bryn...@gmail.com]

My grandmother from Stone in Staffordshire always used ‘Donnie’ for hand. She would have been born around 1900.

[CDB]

On 12/28/2019 3:39 AM, bryn...@gmail.com wrote:

> My grandmother from Stone in Staffordshire always used ‘Donnie’ for
> hand. She would have been born around 1900.

It looks as if it ought to be rhyming slang. I couldn't find it in
online lists, but they tend to concentrate on Cockney RS.

Did your grandmother ever use a phrase with an accompanying word that
might rhyme with "hand", or a slang word for it? Sometimes the
connection is tortuous. ("Duke", as in "put up your dukes" is short for
"Duke of York", rhyming with "fork", meaning "hand". So I am told.)

I have crossposted this response to another group like this one; it has
somewhat more traffic, including many conributors from the UK.

[occam]

Here is the Collins dictionary take.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/donny

Although it confirms 'hand' (especially referring to childrens' hands)
their explanation regarding its origin - as a mispronunciation of hand
('dandy') - is speculative.

[CDB]

On 12/29/2019 10:57 AM, occam wrote:

Thank you for that helpful answer. I had been waiting to see if
"brynderi" would respond, but it looks as though we may not find out if
ey has even seen your posting.

[walsgra...@gmail.com]

I grew up in Coventry and we always used don-dons for hands when talking to small children, like going ta-tas I suppose.

[Peter Percival]

Dona (Highland Flingers) is (was?) rhyming slang for music hall singers.
Why not also for fingers and thus hands? Just guesswork.

[Jan Manning]

> Why not also for fingers and thus hands? Just guesswork.I


Just to add to the geographical coverage of the term donnies , it was common in 1940s Shropshire, so not just Black Country usage