My father was fond of using a phrase that seems to stem from the Midwest US: "Fair to middlin'." Meaning: "okay." I haven't used it in ages, and really should make a point to revive it.
I am also very fond of the phrase "as one does" used whenever somebody has describe a particularly unusual situation: "He then dressed the sheep in a vampire cape...as one does." I don't know if it qualifies as understatement or sarcasm, but I love to use it. As one does.
I am also very fond of the phrase "as one does" used whenever somebody has describe a particularly unusual situation: "He then dressed the sheep in a vampire cape...as one does." I don't know if it qualifies as understatement or sarcasm, but I love to use it. As one does.
I’m fond of that phrase too, though I usually hear it as a response.
Person A: “He then dressed the sheep in a vampire cape.”
Person B: “As one does.”
Having moved to the Midlands some years ago, I still quite enjoy being addressed as "me duck". It's more widespread than I first thought: I've encountered it in Derby, Nottingham, Leek, and Sheffield.
A Yorkshire-ism my family use is "cracking the flags" which means weather hot enough to split the paving stones (flagstones).
'Duck' or 'Me Duck' is very common in The Potteries and extends over into the East Midlands as you say. As do oatcakes. But they make them differently over that side.
Around here you know you are being served by a Newfoundlander when you are addressed as 'darling' in a shop or at the market. I like that - I think it implies that you are probably a friend, even if a stranger.
Around here you know you are being served by a Newfoundlander when you are addressed as 'darling' in a shop or at the market. I like that - I think it implies that you are probably a friend, even if a stranger.
In my part of the world, it’d be “Shug” (or “Sug”).
I’ll admit being called “Shug” makes me feel right at home.
'Duck' or 'Me Duck' is very common in The Potteries and extends over into the East Midlands as you say. As do oatcakes. But they make them differently over that side.
The Derbyshire oatcakes seem to be harder to get. The places that used to sell them in Derby have closed down.
'Duck' or 'Me Duck' is very common in The Potteries and extends over into the East Midlands as you say. As do oatcakes. But they make them differently over that side.
'Duck' or 'Me Duck' is very common in The Potteries and extends over into the East Midlands as you say. As do oatcakes. But they make them differently over that side.
The Derbyshire oatcakes seem to be harder to get. The places that used to sell them in Derby have closed down.
When my parents lived in Cornwall my dad found being called 'My Lover' quite disconcerting! We reminded him he came an area where men of any age could likely be called 'Bor' ( dialect use for boy).
When my parents lived in Cornwall my dad found being called 'My Lover' quite disconcerting! We reminded him he came an area where men of any age could likely be called 'Bor' ( dialect use for boy).
@KarlLB , on the 'properly / differently' spelling 😉 - as someone who is not native to either Staffordshire or Derbyshire, I take a both/and approach to the oatcakes from each county.
When we moved to Suffolk, I thought ‘bor’ was boy. But we were told in no uncertain terms that it is a person who works the land (cognate with the Dutch boer).
This has largely turned into a British dialect thread.
I'm always suspicious of some English dialect terms being ascribed to contemporary-ish Dutch or German when it's more likely that they are residual elements of Old English - which is related to Dutch and German if course.
'How bist?' - How be-est thou?' is common in the Forest of Dean and I've heard it several times in the Midlands.
I've heard 'Foresters' claim it derives from German miners who came to work in the Forest of Dean in the 16th century.
It's far more likely I think to be a through back to medieval English.
If 'bor' in Suffolk doesn't mean 'boy' it may be a throwback to earlier forms of English that have a similar root to the Dutch word 'boer' - but my Old and Middle English is very rusty. Other Shipmates would be better placed to comment on that than I am.
My late uncle used to refer to all women as “girls” and all men as “boys “.
Round y’ur you used to hear men greeted as “but”, short for butty. When Porthcawl was a popular holiday destination, it was known as “hiya butt bay” as so many miners went there on holiday.
My uncle in Greenock would threaten to "put the hems on ye" if you misbehaved. I don't think he ever delivered on it, so the exact meaning remains unclear. I've never heard it from anyone else.
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I am also very fond of the phrase "as one does" used whenever somebody has describe a particularly unusual situation: "He then dressed the sheep in a vampire cape...as one does." I don't know if it qualifies as understatement or sarcasm, but I love to use it. As one does.
Person A: “He then dressed the sheep in a vampire cape.”
Person B: “As one does.”
It's a favourite of a friend of mine from Barrow.
Can be optionally followed by "but mustn't grumble!"
A Yorkshire-ism my family use is "cracking the flags" which means weather hot enough to split the paving stones (flagstones).
I’ll admit being called “Shug” makes me feel right at home.
"Hun' for 'honey' is common too in that area. Generally 'honey' as a term of endearment is rare in the UK.
I imagine that the Geordie dialect 'hinny' is a variant.
In West Yorkshire it wasn't unusual to hear both men and women addressed as 'love'.
The Derbyshire oatcakes seem to be harder to get. The places that used to sell them in Derby have closed down.
You spelt "properly" wrong.
We 'ave 'em in Chesterfield.
I grew up in the west country and never heard it. Is it perhaps more a south west (i.e. Devon & Cornwall) thing?
Suffolk, perchance?
Coming from South Wales we were more familiar with 'Brizzle' and Gloucestershire accents but we had relatives in Cornwall.
Their neighbours used to say 'my lover' and so forth.
I like both.
Perhaps we were misinformed!
MMM
MMM
I'm always suspicious of some English dialect terms being ascribed to contemporary-ish Dutch or German when it's more likely that they are residual elements of Old English - which is related to Dutch and German if course.
'How bist?' - How be-est thou?' is common in the Forest of Dean and I've heard it several times in the Midlands.
I've heard 'Foresters' claim it derives from German miners who came to work in the Forest of Dean in the 16th century.
It's far more likely I think to be a through back to medieval English.
If 'bor' in Suffolk doesn't mean 'boy' it may be a throwback to earlier forms of English that have a similar root to the Dutch word 'boer' - but my Old and Middle English is very rusty. Other Shipmates would be better placed to comment on that than I am.
Round y’ur you used to hear men greeted as “but”, short for butty. When Porthcawl was a popular holiday destination, it was known as “hiya butt bay” as so many miners went there on holiday.