Black Country Words.

[anueni]

Could anyone please help me with how "Donnies" came to mean hands. Thanks in advance.

[sunny-dave]

Rhyming slang - Donner & Blitzen = Mittens = Hands (or so my mum told me once)

very seasonal :+)

[denis567]

We used to call them 'dannies' in West Yorkshire

[mojay]

and they were known as puddies in Wiltshire

[hc4361]

It does mean hands, but it isn't rhyming slang. Black country folk don't use rhyming slang.

[sunny-dave]

I would agree with you hc - but my mum was born & bred in Coseley & always said this was an exception to the rule.

A bit of googling makes it look like a Londonism that may have escaped into the civilized world too.

[hellywelly4]

We used to call them Dannies in Leicester.

[stevoayit]

This isnt a great answer but I believe it derives from a french slang word for hands, but I cannot remember what it is now!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqIcbLkY2iY

[boxtops]

Here's one interpretation from the interweb - stevoayit could be right

Could it be a corruption of the French "donner" or "donnez" (give) - as
in holding out your hand and asking someone to give you something?

[Ann]

My Grandad in Leicestershire called them "poddlies"