MovieChat Forums > Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973) Discussion > By The Cringe!

By The Cringe!

posted 15 years ago by ih007b2077
3 replies | jump to latest

Can anyone tell me why Terry uses the catchphrase 'by the cringe!'in the 60s shows but never (I don't think) says it in the 70s reincarnation.
Is it a Northern phrase because I've never heard it before or since?
Everything else in the shows moves seamlessly forwards but this annoying omission from the 70s has always puzzled me. Any help would be appreciated. At the end of the day, I miss his 'btc' catchphrase, but wondered if he had just replaced it with the 'I never talk about it' one!

[–] laurence01 15 years ago

I have heard it used since, in a comedy series called "Dogfood Dan and the Carmarthen Cowboy". The character was "Dogfood Dan", and yes he was also from the north.

[–] PurpleProseOfCairo 14 years ago

Most mild swearwords like that (Gosh etc) are based on religious oaths, so maybe the BBC were a bit more sensitive about it when the Seventies rolled around.

[–] Swifty49 8 years ago

I think it was a made-up expression, for the series, in much the same way as Naff Off or Naffin' Hell was coined in Porridge. Although in Porridge it clearly represents a common profanity.