yes it's a very common phrase here when telling people to get lost .. except most people drop the H... Sling yer 'ook....
Oh yes, as late as the 60's people didn't have washing machines, some people didn't have washing machines, so they would pile all their washing wrapped in a sheet into the baby's pram and wheel it to the ''steamie'' to stand and scrub all day. My granny was one of them, and for some although hard work..it was a time for them all to meet up and have a chat with neighbours and friends ... Fortunately my mother always had a washing machine so never had to go through that.. there was a film made about it.. called ''The steamie''... The steamie often had public baths , and public swimming baths in the same building . Many people who had no bathrooms in their homes, and only outside toilets, so they would use the public baths once a week..and because we as kids would go swimming at the public baths on a Saturday morning, we'd see all these people coming and going!!
I’m not sure of the origin, but those working in carnivals and circus’s always call it a “doniker”. Somehow, it sounds very British but it’s probably a derivative taken from the Hungarians or some other European circus base.
It is possible that it was a psychological mistake. I once knew a fellow by the name of Randy. He was the true red haired step child. He always looked like his mother rushed him out the door looking like he was nearly homeless. Uncombed long red hair, wrinkled clothes, always walked with a slouch and seemed as though he rarely bathed. So, Randy wasn’t really very “randy” then but rather rumpled.