victor wrote:you wear a helmet and then take it off at work

Unless you're The Stig

As my dear old mother in law says "Don't cast a clout 'till May blossoms out."
Ginge.

Pardon my ignorance but what's a clout?
Over here in the Black Country, a clout is a smack round the ear, and my Old Man was always casting them whatever time of year
G.

Noggin the Nog wrote:Pardon my ignorance but what's a clout?

You aren't supposed to UNDERSTAND old sayings, just repeat them like a robot at the right moments!!

MrGrumpy wrote:

Noggin the Nog wrote:Pardon my ignorance but what's a clout?

You aren't supposed to UNDERSTAND old sayings, just repeat them like a robot at the right moments!!

Found it on google:
The word 'clout', although archaic, is straightforward. Since at least the early 15th century 'clout' has been used variously to mean 'a blow to the head', 'a clod of earth or (clotted) cream' or 'a fragment of cloth, or clothing'. It is the last of these that is meant in 'cast a clout'. This was spelled variously spelled as clowt, clowte, cloot, clute. Here's an early example, from the Early English Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, circa 1485:
Now knowingly I can repeat it at the right moment
G.

It was also a nail

And "may"doesn't refer to the month of May but the may tree which I think is the hawthorne?
Hard work this history stuff

A Scottish clout might be wrapped around a clootie dumpling, which is a pudding steamed in a cloth. Steaming seems rather healthy, but it contains flour, breadcrumbs, sultanas, currants, suet, sugar and spice. Nice!

Oh, and there's clout shooting in archery, which is basically shooting at a tiny flag from a long way away.

A clout. According to yellow belly tradition is a vest. So don't take off the thermals to soon.
Ginge.

I wear an Alipnestars leather jacket, jeans and the trainers of invincibility!