Why can’t the scrap iron man talk properly?

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Breaking-Dad-@reddit

God, I’m old enough to remember newspaper sellers calling “Evening POST” in Leeds. Took me ages to work out what they even said. It’s the repetition I think which mangles the words in the end

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Hennerz15@reddit (OP)

I’ve got the any old scrap iron bit, but I really really can’t work out the second line. Sounds like ‘or waachaa or gaderhome’

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sweetsimpleandkind@reddit

Those letters could easily be spelling "what you've got at home". Could be a potential?

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Majestic_Visual8046@reddit

Definitely washers something or other.

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ChuckStone@reddit

They say different things...

Mine just plays the trumpet.

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WoodSteelStone@reddit

A real trumpet or is that a euphemism?

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ChuckStone@reddit

I think it's a recording, but a real trumpet.

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Bantabury97@reddit

Any old iron, any old iron, any old any old any old iron.

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EasyPiece@reddit

Stick it on your drainpipe alright.

They don't make adverts like Hammerite anymore.

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New_Expectations5808@reddit

Which particular scrap iron man? Yoi can't assume everyone know what you are talking about

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CarpeCyprinidae@reddit

They may be different people but they all fill the same ecological niche- removing unwanted metallic waste from residential premises....

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nicothrnoc@reddit

It's been illegal to go round the streets touting for scrap for the best part of a decade now I can't beleive they're still doing it. You're supposed to pre arrange collection.

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My scrap guy drives through the local roads at 5mph ringing a huge bell out the window of his flatbed Transit. It's really convenient because we can hear him coming five minutes before he arrives. He rarely even stops moving as we all have our scrap ready to go and just dash out to chuck it in as he passes

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Jack_202@reddit

Do you all live in Victorian Britain? I have never heard of a scrap iron man. How awful.

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True-Register-9403@reddit

"any old scrap iron?"

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Anxious_wank@reddit

I've got one thst goes around playing that jingle but just any scrap aiyon

One that blares Abba/80s music and another has a very modern sounding "Free scrap metal (long pause) collection" and that one irritates me the most due to the timing of the phrasing, it also replays without a pause.

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DarthMidnight87@reddit

You can't comprehend how weird this very thing was to my American cousin who was visiting recently and the van went down our road. She literally thought a mental patient was lose or something.

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tmstms@reddit

Ours shouts A-O (short for Any Old [iron])

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explodinghat@reddit

Wait hang on, this is a thing in places other than where I live right now? Had never heard anything like it in the 33 years before moving into this house, assumed it was unique to the area. Had to double and triple check which subreddit this was

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nicothrnoc@reddit

It was made illegal in the scrap metal dealers act of 2013 so you won't have been seeing it much since then and anyone doing it is breaking the law. Scrap metal collections have to be pre arranged and recorded by law now.

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Eoin_McLove@reddit

This has been a thing all over the country for at least a century.

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TheShakyHandsMan@reddit

Still use horse and cart around me.

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Hennerz15@reddit (OP)

That’s dedication right there

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TheShakyHandsMan@reddit

It’s not some out of the way town either. It’s in a major city.

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VaginaBurner69@reddit

We don’t all use the same scrap man - I’m sure they probably have different manners of speaking / accents.

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Hennerz15@reddit (OP)

You mean it’s not one bloke touring the country every week?

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VaginaBurner69@reddit

Nope - I think you’re getting confused with Iron Man (a fictional character played by Robert Downey Jr in multiple Marvel films and comics.

The person I suspect you’re referring to is actually just one of many thousands of ‘scrap men’ - they tour their local area looking for scrap metal to then melt down and sell.

I hope that clears up any confusion, but do respond if you have any further questions!

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plant-cell-sandwich@reddit

Ours says AYOOOOLEMEEEEETAAAAAAAL

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markhewitt1978@reddit

Anyone remember newspaper sellers on the high street (that makes me seem and feel old). They used to shout I assume 'Evening Chronicle' over and over. Yet it never sounded like that more like 'ffffifnnggal' or something.

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DeeJay1973@reddit

More likely to be 'Final' as in the final edition. Papers would often print different editions through the day depending when they had to be at distributers and ammendments could be made as new stories came in. The newspaper sellers would get them delivered direct from the presses and therefore have the last edition to be printed.

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markhewitt1978@reddit

Well that clears up a 30+ year misunderstanding

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Hennerz15@reddit (OP)

Sample audio for you all to enjoy

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RobSamson@reddit

Ah yes the Ferrouslamic call to spare

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greylord123@reddit

Alloy au Akbar

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I_am_notagoose@reddit

Alloy or Rebar!

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Nerbelwerzer@reddit

"Any old scrap Iron, or washers and hinges?"

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nosajn@reddit

I grew up in Brum and this is the exact sound I heard every single week. Don't get one where I live anymore, maybe it's too rural?

Do you think there is some sort of scrap iron club where scrappies learn how to "sing" like this?

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smay1989@reddit

I live in Brum, havent heard a scrap iron man in probably 20 years, but there are plenty of gypsies going around (not knocking they do the lords work, plenty of tat has been put out in the dead of night and gone before i leave for work in the morning)

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WoodSteelStone@reddit

I put a barbecue out front on a Friday morning with a sign saying it was free. I'd scrubbed it so it was spotless. It disappeared that afternoon, then arrived back late on Sunday, filthy, with a burger welded onto the grill.

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gazchap@reddit

I used to live in Broseley, which is pretty rural, and they had a regular scrappie that would drive around in his van with a recording exactly like this playing.

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Hennerz15@reddit (OP)

I’m the exact opposite, I moved to Birmingham from the country and wondered what was happening!!

I heard it’s a 3 year intensive degree just to get your voice at the perfect tone

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QGRr2t@reddit

Ours still shouts 'Rag boooooonnnne' (as in rag-and-bone man).

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Exotic-Astronaut6662@reddit

Ah the call of the wild “Raggybow” man

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Substantial-Chonk886@reddit

Ours plays steptoe and son music

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Specific_Till_6870@reddit

Ours used to too.

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DarthScabies@reddit

I really hope you're not joking. That is fucking brilliant.

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Substantial-Chonk886@reddit

Truly! It is funny except when I’m in work calls

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DarthScabies@reddit

This is going to give me giggles for ages. 😂😂

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Prediterx@reddit

Your scrap iron man is a lot more musical than mine.

Mine just shouts iron and uses an air horn.

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Hennerz15@reddit (OP)

Ok I never thought I’d be glad of the crap trumpet flute thing he plays. I’d rather not be woken at 8am on a Saturday to an air horn

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Prediterx@reddit

Thankfully he doesn't directly come down our road, but he does go on the road behind us. I'll be honest, we're up at 7 cos kids, but it is annoying.

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selkwerm@reddit

There’s two main versions of this.

For the life of me I cannot figure out what one of the guys are saying after “scrap iron! Any old scrap iron… Oh what (something something)”

Any clues? Or is it just intentional gibberish?

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Hennerz15@reddit (OP)

Someone’s said it could be ‘or washers’ which is a good possibility I think

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psychopathic_shark@reddit

Ours shout RAG BONE!

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alancake@reddit

Our scrap man was still using a horse and lovely painted flatbed cart till a few years ago. I believe he still has the horse, he's just retired. He tried to bite me once (horse not man)

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RanaBufo@reddit

Ours says "raaaaaaaagBOOOOOOOONNNEE" and is usually actually on a horse and cart 🤷

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nadthegoat@reddit

Ours goes ‘scraaaaap iiirrroooon, aaaaany oooold iiiirrooooon’

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faceplantedyamam@reddit

It’s pronounced ‘Pikey’

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newfor2023@reddit

Ours just rings a bell. Fucking useless tho ive had a washing machine and tumble drier they missed but asked if our at the time immaculate yaris wanted scrapping.

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Bowtie327@reddit

Off I thought this was a unique thing to the nuisance that comes round my streets, why do they play this awful sound?!

Surely it’s worthy of a noise complaint

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thefogdog@reddit

When i was a kid, they'd shout "RAAAAG AND BOOOONE"

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Gone_For_Lunch@reddit

Scrap Iron Man? Man the MCU really is running out of ideas.

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CynicalSorcerer@reddit

Literally the first iron man movie

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greylord123@reddit

Tony stark made this in a cave WITH A BOX OF SCRAP

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Gone_For_Lunch@reddit

Oh yea, the Mk 1 is a literal Scrap Iron Man.

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jonathanquirk@reddit

This is literally the premise for the latest Iron Man comic book series. I thought I was in the wrong sub for a second!

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jonathing@reddit

Ours (Stourbridge) seems to say "any old scrap iron, old washers and samoflange" I don't know what a samoflange is.

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CaptMelonfish@reddit

Ours was a sort of analgam of "any old iron" that sounds a bit like "Arnoldron!" Etc

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Plantagenesta@reddit

Personally I think they should be forced to sing it.

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stuaxo@reddit

This is the first time I've heard this in four decades living in the UK

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barrybreslau@reddit

"any old iron" is what ours says. Sounds like "enny ol iyun"

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Not-That_Girl@reddit

Perfectly spelt!

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WarmTransportation35@reddit

This is what happens when someone realises why Tony Stark is a billionair.

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Not-That_Girl@reddit

You get yelling AND a trumpet! We get a bell. A big brass beel being rung by the guy in the passenger seat.

It's usually anyoldiron not hear 9f the scrap bit before. But they take fridges and stuff too. And sell them on it possible!

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Whaleever@reddit

Mine says "anybody got any scrap metaaaaal" in very odd inflections

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gigglesmcsdinosaur@reddit

RRAA'BO

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AllOne_Word@reddit

Hoynairylup!

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gilestowler@reddit

In Mexico City one scrap metal guy got bored of shouting out of his truck every day so he recorded his daughter doing it and then he sold the recordings to other scrap metal dealers. So whenever you're in Mexico City this is pretty much a constant sound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3zNGTVGv4s

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Hennerz15@reddit (OP)

Driving like a twat is mandatory for them I think

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XSjacketfiller@reddit

It's a recording akin to an old siren or ice cream van - it's meant to sound weird to invoke the image of an old fashioned rag'n bone man as opposed to old fashioned Transit.

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