My father would say, "Do you think I came up the Clyde in a duck egg boat?" when someone tried to pull something on him. I've heard that from others as a 'banana boat', but his version was always the duck egg.
My father would say, "Do you think I came up the Clyde in a duck egg boat?" when someone tried to pull something on him. I've heard that from others as a 'banana boat', but his version was always the duck egg.
A couple of people I knew who were from Coleraine in Northern Ireland would say "Do you think I came down the Bann in a bubble?"
When I lived in Yorkshire I loved the phrase to “ give back-word”. ( to go back on one’s word).
You know, I'd never realised that was a Yorkshire peculiar. I heard it in the context of my first job when someone had taken a job at interview then backed out before starting and thought it was a term of art.
Yorkshire has some wonderful usage too. My favourite is the use of “while” for “to” or “until”. For some time railway level crossings had signs that read “Wait while train passes”, with can cause confusion, especially if it is Sunday and no trains run on Sunday.
Yorkshire has some wonderful usage too. My favourite is the use of “while” for “to” or “until”. For some time railway level crossings had signs that read “Wait while train passes”, with can cause confusion, especially if it is Sunday and no trains run on Sunday.
We had not been in Yorkshire more than a few weeks before there was a knock at the door. A bunch of children said “ We’re chumping, for plot.”
We had no idea what they were wanting.
Yorkshire has some wonderful usage too. My favourite is the use of “while” for “to” or “until”. For some time railway level crossings had signs that read “Wait while train passes”, with can cause confusion, especially if it is Sunday and no trains run on Sunday.
Lancashire too. I recently saw a great amateur production of a certain Dolly Parton musical in Preston, and reflected that they could have retitled it “Nine While Five”.
I once saw a fuller explanation of "throng as Thropp's wife" in one of those regional magazines. The full phrase, apparently, is "Throng as Thropp's wife when she hung herself wi' t'dishclout." Meaning that she was very busy washing up one day, and her dishcloth got caught around her neck and choked her!
I've always been fond of the word "throstle" for thrush, ever since I saw a sign for a restaurant called The Throstle's Nest when I was a kid.
I've always been fond of the word "throstle" for thrush, ever since I saw a sign for a restaurant called The Throstle's Nest when I was a kid.
When I was a child West Bromwich Albion were known as The Throstles, from the thrush, pictured sitting on a Hawthorn sprig featured on the club crest.
Their grounds are still called The Hawthorns, from the area on which the club was built, which was originally covered in hawthorn trees.
There was also a pub called The Hawthorns on the opposite corner of Halford Lane.
I was born in a house on Halford Lane, and it was my boast, back in the day, that I was born within the sound of cheering from the WBA grounds.
Those usages must have leaked over the border into England too. My dad was from the Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire and always said 'by here' if he meant close at hand. He pronounced it 'By yur'. I've only just remembered this so thankyou for the prompt!
An old one I haven't heard for a long time, probably in Hertfordshire, after seeing dark clouds in the distance: "Looks like rain over Will's mother's".
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And completely unrelated, there's a lovely Scots (Gaelic?) word I knew but hadn't heard in conversation until recently on Islay: a bourach, or bùrach. Not easy to translate concisely, but the Yiddish 'schlemozzle' might come close. 'A dog's dinner' might also work.
I picked up a few Norn Iron expressions (although not the accent) when I lived there; the one that's coming to mind just now is "up the left", meaning wrong or dysfunctional.
Thoil.
I presume that’s how it’s spelt, but I have never seen it written down.
I couldn’t thoil to do that = bring myself to, I think. Possibly because unaffordable or a waste of money.
An old one I haven't heard for a long time, probably in Hertfordshire, after seeing dark clouds in the distance: "Looks like rain over Will's mother's".
The version I know from my childhood in Birmingham is "It's black at the back of Bill's mother's"
My favourite uncle was my Uncle Bill so, when very young, I assumed that the 'Bill's mother' being referred to was my Grandma.
I'm sure I've posted about this on here in the past!
Those usages must have leaked over the border into England too. My dad was from the Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire and always said 'by here' if he meant close at hand. He pronounced it 'By yur'. I've only just remembered this so thankyou for the prompt!
It may well have leaked over the border in the opposite direction - from the West Country into South Wales.
South Walian dialect has a lot in common with West Country English. There is an intriguing hybrid accent along the border with some Welsh-sounding expressions in the Forest of Dean.
'Wenglish' is essentially the dialect of the South Wales Valleys. As you head eastwards across rural Monmouthshire it begins to merge with Gloucestershire/Herefordshire speech as you approach the border.
I remember listening to a recording of Wiltshire dialect in a museum in Devizes and being struck by some parallels with rural Monmouthshire speech.
Thoil.
I presume that’s how it’s spelt, but I have never seen it written down.
I couldn’t thoil to do that = bring myself to, I think. Possibly because unaffordable or a waste of money.
Thoil.
I presume that’s how it’s spelt, but I have never seen it written down.
I couldn’t thoil to do that = bring myself to, I think. Possibly because unaffordable or a waste of money.
In Scotland and Ulster there's 'thole' - to endure. 'I couldnae thole thon one, he'd put years on ye' (age you prematurely).
Those usages must have leaked over the border into England too. My dad was from the Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire and always said 'by here' if he meant close at hand. He pronounced it 'By yur'. I've only just remembered this so thankyou for the prompt!
It may well have leaked over the border in the opposite direction - from the West Country into South Wales.
South Walian dialect has a lot in common with West Country English. There is an intriguing hybrid accent along the border with some Welsh-sounding expressions in the Forest of Dean.
'Wenglish' is essentially the dialect of the South Wales Valleys. As you head eastwards across rural Monmouthshire it begins to merge with Gloucestershire/Herefordshire speech as you approach the border.
I remember listening to a recording of Wiltshire dialect in a museum in Devizes and being struck by some parallels with rural Monmouthshire speech.
Yes, as I've said, there are parallels and overlaps between West Country and South Walian speech.
Hardly surprising given their proximity and how West Country speech would be what Welsh people encountered when trading butter across the Bristol Channel or driving cattle through the borders and over to Smithfield.
My South Walian ancestors were bilingual until around 1910 when they became monoglot English speakers - a process that obviously didn't happen overnight.
@Eigon, it's thought the dialect word 'cwtsch' - it's not an actual Welsh word - comes from the Norman French 'coucher'.
I'm not a Welsh speaker but can generally pronounce it reasonably, but not entirely, accurately. When I've read some to Romanians and Russians they have assumed it's a Romance language as they recognise some Latinate echoes and borrowings - which Welsh does have.
@KarlLB knows more Welsh than I do ('than I dur do'), and I salute him for it.
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And completely unrelated, there's a lovely Scots (Gaelic?) word I knew but hadn't heard in conversation until recently on Islay: a bourach, or bùrach. Not easy to translate concisely, but the Yiddish 'schlemozzle' might come close. 'A dog's dinner' might also work.
Aye, it's Gaelic. The origin is something like a pile or mound, evolving to mean a mess. "Cluster bùrach" is a favourite derivative of mine.
'Mad as a box of frogs,' occurs elsewhere, various parts of the country.
Never heard 'Turks' in relation to Gosport, Llanelli or anywhere else in the UK but it wouldn't surprise me. 'Turk' was a term used historically to refer to Muslims, whether from Turkey itself or from North Africa.
A Royalist officer wrote to Prince Rupert towards the end of the first Civil War saying that he'd rather be posted among the Turks or Jews than the Welsh, who at that stage were weary of the war and either changing sides or 'hindering' efforts to raise money, men and resources for the Royal cause.
I imagine it was used to refer to people considered more 'barbarous', less religious (in the Christian sense) or out on a limb compared to larger towns nearby - such as Portsmouth in relation to Gosport or Swansea in relation to Llanelli.
It's pretty racist by today's standards. Essentially it's saying that 'Turk' is synonymous with barbarism.
Incidentally, people from Swansea are often called 'Swansea Jacks' after a dog called 'Swansea Jack' that lived down the docks and gained fame for rescuing people who were drowning.
I’ve read about the use of “Turk” for those from Llanelli and one explanation is that those employed in the tinplate industry would wrap cloths around their heads to protect them from the vile substances used in the process. Cadmium was used and it turned the streams yellow. Not good. Next time someone rails against “Elf’n’Safety” remember this.
Indaba, from South African as in "their indaba" meaning something close to "their business", "their affairs" or "their drama" i.e. none of ours, let it be.
Comments
When I lived in Yorkshire I loved the phrase to “ give back-word”. ( to go back on one’s word).
For Glasgow dialect you need to read Michael Munro's "The Patter" (which I have).
For Suffolk you need Charlie Haylock's ""Sloightly on th' Huh!" (which I don't have).
I know "as mad (angry) as a boiled owl".
A couple of people I knew who were from Coleraine in Northern Ireland would say "Do you think I came down the Bann in a bubble?"
You know, I'd never realised that was a Yorkshire peculiar. I heard it in the context of my first job when someone had taken a job at interview then backed out before starting and thought it was a term of art.
Oh yes, that one got me too!
We had no idea what they were wanting.
Clue: it was the beginning of November.
Lancashire too. I recently saw a great amateur production of a certain Dolly Parton musical in Preston, and reflected that they could have retitled it “Nine While Five”.
It was particularly found around Huddersfield.
'How's work?'
'Throng.'
There was a saying, 'Throng as Thropp's wife.'
Nobody knew who Thropp was nor why his wife was so stretched.
Another Yorkshire-ism which seems to have died out to a large extent is the use of 'has to' in relation to expected or forecast weather conditions.
'It hass to get brighter later on but then it hass to rain again later ...'
It was common south of Leeds, around Morley.
They would also say 'have to' in relation to directions.
'You aff to go t't'top of t'street then you aff to turn left and arter about a qua'tter of a mile you've to turn reet ..."
To 'give back-word' occurs all over the country I think. I've heard in here the north-west and also in my native South Wales.
A lot of Midlands expressions seem to have disappeared.
'Kalied' for being drunk for instance.
Away from dialect terms, some of my favourite words and expressions come from the 1662 prayer book, Shakespeare and the King James Bible.
James Joyce coined some good ones too.
I've always been fond of the word "throstle" for thrush, ever since I saw a sign for a restaurant called The Throstle's Nest when I was a kid.
Their grounds are still called The Hawthorns, from the area on which the club was built, which was originally covered in hawthorn trees.
There was also a pub called The Hawthorns on the opposite corner of Halford Lane.
I was born in a house on Halford Lane, and it was my boast, back in the day, that I was born within the sound of cheering from the WBA grounds.
Over by/up by, down by here or another place
Or 'where to?' as in whereabouts?
A Wenglish sequence might run, 'Where to do you live? Over by there or over by here?'
Or even, 'Where by is that to?'
A phrase my brother overheard down there - down by there - is, 'What did you have nice for your dinner?'
That's become a standard in our family.
'Whose boots are that pair of shoes?'
'Whose coat is that jacket hanging on the door by there?'
I could go on.
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And completely unrelated, there's a lovely Scots (Gaelic?) word I knew but hadn't heard in conversation until recently on Islay: a bourach, or bùrach. Not easy to translate concisely, but the Yiddish 'schlemozzle' might come close. 'A dog's dinner' might also work.
I presume that’s how it’s spelt, but I have never seen it written down.
I couldn’t thoil to do that = bring myself to, I think. Possibly because unaffordable or a waste of money.
My favourite uncle was my Uncle Bill so, when very young, I assumed that the 'Bill's mother' being referred to was my Grandma.
I'm sure I've posted about this on here in the past!
It may well have leaked over the border in the opposite direction - from the West Country into South Wales.
South Walian dialect has a lot in common with West Country English. There is an intriguing hybrid accent along the border with some Welsh-sounding expressions in the Forest of Dean.
'Wenglish' is essentially the dialect of the South Wales Valleys. As you head eastwards across rural Monmouthshire it begins to merge with Gloucestershire/Herefordshire speech as you approach the border.
I remember listening to a recording of Wiltshire dialect in a museum in Devizes and being struck by some parallels with rural Monmouthshire speech.
Ah thought thoil were what tha put in thengine.
In Scotland and Ulster there's 'thole' - to endure. 'I couldnae thole thon one, he'd put years on ye' (age you prematurely).
The Wenglish term 'cwtsch' or 'cwtch' is a term I particularly like, although it's now being done to death on mugs and other merchandise.
It's not a Welsh word but a dialect term that doesn't have a direct English (or Welsh) equivalent.
It can refer to the cupboard under the stairs or any close or confined space but generally refers to an affectionate hug or cuddle.
'Aw, cwtsch up to yewer Mam!'
'C'mon, give us a cwtsch ...'
Another South Walian phrase I like is, 'Aw, God love him/her too ...'
And 'dab' as in, 'poor dab,' a term of endearment.
Sounds westcountry to me.
"Where be gwine to?"
Hardly surprising given their proximity and how West Country speech would be what Welsh people encountered when trading butter across the Bristol Channel or driving cattle through the borders and over to Smithfield.
My South Walian ancestors were bilingual until around 1910 when they became monoglot English speakers - a process that obviously didn't happen overnight.
@Eigon, it's thought the dialect word 'cwtsch' - it's not an actual Welsh word - comes from the Norman French 'coucher'.
I'm not a Welsh speaker but can generally pronounce it reasonably, but not entirely, accurately. When I've read some to Romanians and Russians they have assumed it's a Romance language as they recognise some Latinate echoes and borrowings - which Welsh does have.
@KarlLB knows more Welsh than I do ('than I dur do'), and I salute him for it.
Or at least, did when my boys were young and learning to speak French
Aye, it's Gaelic. The origin is something like a pile or mound, evolving to mean a mess. "Cluster bùrach" is a favourite derivative of mine.
And while we're down in that bottom right hand corner of Hampshire; a 'Turk' is someone born and bred in Gosport...
Never heard 'Turks' in relation to Gosport, Llanelli or anywhere else in the UK but it wouldn't surprise me. 'Turk' was a term used historically to refer to Muslims, whether from Turkey itself or from North Africa.
A Royalist officer wrote to Prince Rupert towards the end of the first Civil War saying that he'd rather be posted among the Turks or Jews than the Welsh, who at that stage were weary of the war and either changing sides or 'hindering' efforts to raise money, men and resources for the Royal cause.
I imagine it was used to refer to people considered more 'barbarous', less religious (in the Christian sense) or out on a limb compared to larger towns nearby - such as Portsmouth in relation to Gosport or Swansea in relation to Llanelli.
It's pretty racist by today's standards. Essentially it's saying that 'Turk' is synonymous with barbarism.
Incidentally, people from Swansea are often called 'Swansea Jacks' after a dog called 'Swansea Jack' that lived down the docks and gained fame for rescuing people who were drowning.
I've heard it the other way around ("not my monkeys; not my circus") but never heard a national origin attached to it.