What happened to saying “chinny reckon” when you don’t believe someone? Is that still a thing?

by _morningglory

26 comments
  1. It used to be “itchy chin” when I were a lass (in the west country).

  2. No, only amongst us oldies.  No one under about 50 will know Jimmy Hill.

    Side note: also see Joeeyyyyy

    Edit apparently we can lower that to 40s.

  3. Are you saying it doesn’t happen anymore? Chinny reckon mate.

  4. When I was at school it was “chinny chin chin”.

  5. Jimmy chinny reckon!

    AKA Billy Chin, Tutenkhamen (the rare double fist chinny reckon)

  6. Chinny reck-on!

    Itchy beard! (hand motion over chin)

    That’s what we said at school 🙂

  7. We just used to say “beard” while stroking our chins.

  8. ‘Small boys, isn’t it? Jumpers for goal posts. Marvellous!’

  9. Tutan-Khamuuuuuuuun! (while stroking an imaginary beard) round my way in the 70s

  10. I’m 33 and have absolutely no idea what any of this thread is

  11. 39 yo Southerner here. We said Itchy chin when we thought it was a lie.

  12. Not heard it since I was a kid in the 80s. We also used “many beards”, and “merlin” (North West England).

  13. Yes, still going and passed on to the younger generation in this house

  14. Jimmy Hill was the last, ever large chinned person allowed on TV. There are no new big chins around to continue the phrase for the current generation.

  15. Imagine if ‘Chinny Reckon’ and ‘Joeyyyyy’ were being shouted as kids played kiss chase and British bulldog on the concrete playground these days!

  16. We would either say “aye Jimmy hill” to mean “you’re talking shite”, or just stroke our chin to show the person we thought they were talking shite. 

    Glasgow, late 90s

  17. Near to Liverpool: both “Chinny-chin-chin” and “Itchy chin”, with a real preference for the latter.

    As an aside, I’ve never seen a picture of Jimmy Hill before but the moment I saw that chin I knew who it was. Years ago I met someone who was described to me as having “a chin like Jimmy Hill’s” and I have to say the comparison was spot-on.

  18. “Chinny reckon” and then its response “chinny waz”

  19. I’m 40 and I’ve never heard this expression before.

  20. I’m 37 and only heard this last year, online.

    The Scots – “Did ye? Aye” – Still going strong though.

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