Haha I was using it kinda ironically. I used to live in the UK for six years, some of which was on a travellers site or two as well, so at the time 'minging' and 'right minger' was definitely a thing :P My hubs is English and I do have Brit blood in my but doubt my Yorkshire grandparents would have said it ahah!
Yes, Dickens came to mind due to the orphan aspect of it! It must be quite the thrill to duck into these places, and feel like you've stepped into an alternate time zone. Do you find a little sadness in there too?
I thought I detected something. I rarely hear the phrase in todays world.
It was also in Somerset/Bristol which can have it's own idiosyncratic phrases and lingo as you know. Definitely not something you'd hear everyday on Hive. Maybe I'm the first to say it on this Blockchain? 😂🤪