Talk:No-Mates

Tea room discussion
A request for Brits: Why are people with no mates called Billy? Maybe we should have a page Billy No-Mates too. --Jackofclubs 09:54, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've waited a while to see if anyone responded. Basically because I have never come across this before, and I've lived in all 4 corners of UK. -- A LGRIF  talk 08:56, 15 October 2008 (UTC)


 * OK, I will respond then! Yes, this is pretty common.  I have heard it lots--I used to think it was a kind of playground slang, rbut recently I've heard from people of all ages.  I don't know why it's Billy no-mates rather than any other name, but there you go.  It does have a certain ring to it.  Also, see here for a not-very-convincing trace of the word to 1996.  Ƿidsiþ 09:52, 15 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm sure I heard this long before 1996, as I think I remember it from primary school in the mid-late 1980s. Thryduulf 15:05, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Indeed, a quick google has found it in a usenet post from December 1994 . And a books hit implies that it was used in the 1990 book "The psychology of consumer behavior", but this doesn't seem to be indexed online anywhere. The hits do seem to confirm though that it is typically a children's phrase. Thryduulf 15:20, 15 October 2008 (UTC)