https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Fri, 24 Apr 2026 21:21:07 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589746 Thu, 03 Dec 2015 18:57:58 +0000 jenanded 1589746@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It's common in Australian usage... as is Bob's your uncle. </p> <p>Heard in Australia but less used is cockney rhyming slang and that really will be hard to translate cross-culturally! An example would be ' hit the frog and toad' which would rhyme with 'road' which means you are going to leave now and have to travel such as drive home.... yes way too complicated. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589596 Thu, 03 Dec 2015 12:59:50 +0000 Anonymous 1589596@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Just chiming in to say I loved your use of this expression on your blog yesterday--along with today's "Bob's your uncle!" My Mum and Dad used these all the time when I was growing up and it's nice to see them again! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589561 Thu, 03 Dec 2015 09:12:09 +0000 rachylou 1589561@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh! Never heard of roundabout for carousel! Cool. Yes, I thought traffic circle too...</p> <p>ETA: I just had a thought... Are these swings and roundabouts like playground equipment? I.e., not mechanized and electrified? Because... I think of a fairground as a carnival with electric rides... But park playgrounds, now I have to think about what we called the spin wheel thingy... And maybe I just answered my own question... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589560 Thu, 03 Dec 2015 09:11:24 +0000 lyn67 1589560@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>So fun! English is not my language, but I did understand Angie's exact reference at the very first sight. (When it's a foreign language you have to think outside the brackets a lot). Then, I have learnt about &nbsp;the right name for &nbsp;the traffic circles only from Sarah's comment! So great! This another reason I like to come here, practicing English for a great maintenance:-). </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589554 Thu, 03 Dec 2015 08:52:58 +0000 Gigi 1589554@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ah...got it! I was wondering about the idiom too. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589522 Thu, 03 Dec 2015 04:28:39 +0000 Suz 1589522@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ha! Fun!!&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589488 Thu, 03 Dec 2015 02:42:56 +0000 Jaime 1589488@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Well you learn something new every day around here! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589453 Thu, 03 Dec 2015 01:26:17 +0000 Karie 1589453@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I didn't know what it meant either, but I got the gist of it. I know roundabouts as traffic circles!</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589447 Thu, 03 Dec 2015 01:16:41 +0000 Angie 1589447@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Glad it's cleared up, Laura. I didn't think that "roundabouts" would be confusing! They only mean one thing to me - yet clearly not to others.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589444 Thu, 03 Dec 2015 01:11:43 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 1589444@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thanks, Angie! Like I replied in that thread after Lyn's comment, I didn't realize that in this context, roundabouts = merry-go-rounds. I was thinking of roundabouts in the sense of traffic circles / intersections, like Sara and joy. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589336 Wed, 02 Dec 2015 18:08:30 +0000 Anonymous 1589336@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I got the general meaning but had not heard of round-abouts except as street intersections. Then the saying might be that one makes up for lost time at stop lights on the round-abouts:) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589333 Wed, 02 Dec 2015 18:02:28 +0000 Sveta 1589333@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>There is always something new you learn on YLF - I have never heard of this one.<br />BTW as a child I&nbsp;would choose swings&nbsp;over roundabouts every time! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589316 Wed, 02 Dec 2015 17:24:34 +0000 Maneera 1589316@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh you're so cute Angie!!!!! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589315 Wed, 02 Dec 2015 17:22:03 +0000 Angie 1589315@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>You lot make me laugh.&nbsp;</p> <p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589303 Wed, 02 Dec 2015 16:47:43 +0000 Bonnie 1589303@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I had also never heard it before but I like it. I'm going to try slipping it into a conservation with DH to show how well read I am. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589296 Wed, 02 Dec 2015 16:27:33 +0000 Summer 1589296@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Fun to hear this is new to some! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589293 Wed, 02 Dec 2015 16:18:08 +0000 Anonymous 1589293@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I wasn't sure what it meant, but I liked the way it sounded, and got the general idea.&nbsp; Now I have a new expression to use! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589292 Wed, 02 Dec 2015 16:15:46 +0000 Sara L. 1589292@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I understood the general idea of the idiom but not the exact references.&nbsp; I work for a traffic engineering company and roundabouts are traffic circles in my mind.&nbsp; Now that I know you were referring to a merry-go-round, it makes more sense. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/laura-swings-roundabouts#post-1589290 Wed, 02 Dec 2015 16:00:37 +0000 Angie 1589290@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Laura and others, here's the explanation of the idiom I used in yesterday's blog post:&nbsp;</p> <p><i>"What you lose on the swings, you make up for on the roundabouts. Its origin is from the fairground. For whatever reason, the fairground owner may be losing money on the swings, but gaining it on the roundabouts. So the situation is balanced".<br /></i><br />I've used this term for a while, and my MIL uses it all the time. I didn't know roundabouts weren't American English!&nbsp;</p> <p>Thanks Lyn D. and Denise for stepping in with explanations while I was away.&nbsp; </p>