Local words and sayings...

[Cartus]

I’m wondering what words or sayings do you use (or are aware of) that exists in your local area and seemingly nowhere else?

When I started coming to Cheltenham to socialise in the early eighties, ordering a pint of beer in a pub, you would often be asked if you wanted it in a 'handle' or 'sleever' (straight glass). Although I grew up only 20 miles or so away near Worcester, I had never heard of a 'sleever' until then and have only ever heard it in Cheltenham.

Likewise, it wasn’t until about 15 years later my wife (from Gloucester) mentioned getting our son some 'daps'. "Some what?" I said. I had never heard of daps, they were 'pumps' (or even plimsolls) to me.

My grandmother used to say "It’s looking a bit black over Bill's mother's" when black clouds were in the distance. She was from Birmingham and I think the saying is a Birmingham one.

 

[Nod]

A sleever down 'ere (Exeter) is any (beer) glass without a handle, with handled glasses being mugs.

 

[john.margetts]

Oggy, which is a large Cornish pasty. Things we had to learn when we moved to the moors include gallons of potatoes (other root veg by the pound), 'dreckly' means it might happen one day, 'belong to' means 'aught to', 'pard' is a respectful form of address (better than the more usual 'boy'), 'maid' is any unmarried female.

 

[Nod]

Dreckly means almost the same as the Spanish "man~ana" but without the sense of urgency that "man~ana" implies!

 

[MartynK]

'Monkey's wedding', a South African expression for a sunshower or sun and rain at the same time.

 

[MartynK]

Oggy, which is a large Cornish pasty. Things we had to learn when we moved to the moors include gallons of potatoes (other root veg by the pound), 'dreckly' means it might happen one day, 'belong to' means 'aught to', 'pard' is a respectful form of address (better than the more usual 'boy'), 'maid' is any unmarried female.

'Maid' or 'maiden' was historically used to describe any unmarried woman (maiden aunt etc). It is/was somewhat synonymous with virgin.

 

[john.margetts]

Dreckly means almost the same as the Spanish "man~ana" but without the sense of urgency that "man~ana" implies!

That was the local MP David Penhalligon's definition back in the 70s.

 

[Tom Pinchenzo]

Here in Devon we have ‘dimpsey’ meaning, going dark, as in ‘its gettin’ dimpsey an’ it’s only 4!’. Also, ‘backalong’ meaning ‘some time ago’

 

[munch]

squit, talking rubbish, not to be confused with "the squits" which is Norfolk/Suffolk for diarrhea.

 

[TCR4x4]

I always said daps, I grew up and went to school in Gloucester.
My parents were from Bristol, so we had lots of weird words and phrases.

Yer tiz, Gert lush, Babber,

 

[sphexx]

'Maid' or 'maiden' was historically used to describe any unmarried woman (maiden aunt etc). It is/was somewhat synonymous with virgin.

And there you have neatly included the definition of wishful thinking/delusion .

 

[Nod]

Here in Devon we have ‘dimpsey’ meaning, going dark, as in ‘its gettin’ dimpsey an’ it’s only 4!’. Also, ‘backalong’ meaning ‘some time ago’

Not forgetting Mizzle - a cross between mist and drizzle.

 

[sphexx]

The one I like best is not really local though (I’ve only heard it in North Yorkshire) but archaic. It’s wick, meaning alive or lively and is obviously a version of quick in its original sense, as in the quick and the dead’ etc.

 

[tijuana taxi]

Stuck like s*** to a blanket, ins and outs of a cats a******e, all dressed up like a pox doctors clerk, as Black as Newgates knocker
Chucking the cash around like a yid with no hands, flapping around like a s*** house door in a storm, as bent as a nine bob note

Lots of these sayings were all part of everyday language when I was a kid in the East End
Probably deemed incorrect today, but part of our cutlure and heritage so valid in their own way

Black man's pinch was another one, but it's what everyone called what I know now is a blood blister.
Never thought twice about it, my mum called it that and like most of these old sayings there was no malice in it

 

[Cartus]

My father would describe someone who was stingy as being so tight they would “skin a turd for a tanner”. I don’t know where he heard that but I don’t think it was a local expression exactly.

“Tight as a duck’s arse is similar but again fairly universal I think.

A variation on the same theme I’ve also heard is “tight as a gnat’s chuff’.

 

[boogie man]

My grandmother used to say "It’s looking a bit black over Bill's mother's" when black clouds were in the distance. She was from Birmingham and I think the saying is a Birmingham one.

My wife says “It’s black over Will’s mother’s”. Her dad was a Brummie, it’s definitely a phrase from that part of the world. Apparently it refers to Stratford on Avon: “Will’s Mother” being Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden.

 

[Mr Badger]

"It's looking a bit black over Bill's Mother's" was a well known saying in North Cheshire years ago too, I remember my Grandad using it when it looked like a thunder storm was looming in the distance.

Cheshire had it's own distinct dialect years ago too, which persisted well into the 1970s in the more rural locations. One of the old Cheshire dialect names was 'bit-bat' for a bat (the animal); I was talking to an old Cheshire farmer (who's in his 80s) a couple of years ago about wildlife, and he said "We've got a bit-bat that lives in our porch". That's the first (and, sadly, probably the last) time I've ever heard that old Cheshire dialect name for a bat used in normal conversation.

Another old Cheshire dialect word was 'welly'. This didn't refer to a Wellington boot, it was a shortened derivative of 'well nigh' meaning nearly or almost. For instance, if someone was referring to 'one and a half' they might refer to is as "one and welly one". If someone was almost starved to death they would be 'welly clemmed'

Another example of the Cheshire dialect was when some visitors to the village of Styal in the early 1950s bought some cherries from one of the elderly residents. They apparently enjoyed them and returned a couple of weeks later hoping to buy some more. "Have you any cherries left?" was the question. "No, they've all been etten and s***ten" came the answer!

 

[Graham W]

"Clarty" I believe a Yorkshire word (They'll lay claim to anything! ) Generally to mean sticky, like mud.
In Derby more often used to describe foodstuffs that stick to the roof of your mouth..."Granny's fairy cakes were a bit clarty."

 

[Studio488commercial]

“Ar kid” still used massively.
“Beltin” meaning good, great..
And who was/is “soft mick”. We used to say “has more money than soft mick”

 

[KIPAX]

Everyones wife or girlfriend is called "Peg" in Preston... our Peg.. And we refer to everyone else as "Cha"


I have another one But it's used all over the place..... BUT

Starts with T and ends with T

Growing up in Preston this word was always on a par wiht the C bomb (and meaning the same thing) .. It's a pretty disgusting word and not somehting I would use in front a lady as they say...

Imagine my surprise when I hear it on telly.. outside the watershed even.. used in jest.... apparently for the rest of the country it means something completly different...... But I cringe every time I hear it and god help anyone who would use it in front of myself and my missus...

 

[nilagin]

I have another one But it's used all over the place..... BUT

Starts with T and ends with T

Growing up in Preston this word was always on a par wiht the C bomb (and meaning the same thing) .. It's a pretty disgusting word and not somehting I would use in front a lady as they say...

Imagine my surprise when I hear it on telly.. outside the watershed even.. used in jest.... apparently for the rest of the country it means something completly different...... But I cringe every time I hear it and god help anyone who would use it in front of myself and my missus...

Just as the C bomb has two meanings/ uses, t*** has two meanings, neither bad really, a virgina or when used to describe a person it means, idiot or such like.

 

[KIPAX]

Just as the C bomb has two meanings/ uses, t*** has two meanings, neither bad really, a virgina or when used to describe a person it means, idiot or such like.

Never heard the c word used light hearted on telly outside the watershed and never heard it have two menaings either...... Also if the T word is the same how come the C word is frowned upon but the T not

Sorry I don't follow your train of thought at all ?

 

[nilagin]

Never heard the c word used light hearted on telly outside the watershed and never heard it have two menaings either...... Also if the T word is the same how come the C word is frowned upon but the T not

Sorry I don't follow your train of thought at all ?

The C word is a swear word. The other isn't.

 

[Nikon Ken]

When I was a boy in Bristol we wore "daps".

Moved to Devon and found that pasties were "oggies" but to use the full name it was a "tiddy oggy", a potato pasty. A potato was known as a "tiddy".

Now in Yorkshire and was amazed when discussing work times and someone described their working hours as "9 while 5". This was quite widely used.

 

[Mr Badger]

“Ar kid” still used massively.
“Beltin” meaning good, great..
And who was/is “soft mick”. We used to say “has more money than soft mick”

And don't forget 'bobbins' for something rubbish... it used to be a very popular adjective round the Manchester area years ago and apparently derives from rhyming slang 'bobbins of cotton' = rotten. "Was is any good last night?" "Nah, it was bobbins!".

Snip:

I have another one But it's used all over the place..... BUT

Starts with T and ends with T

Growing up in Preston this word was always on a par wiht the C bomb (and meaning the same thing) .. It's a pretty disgusting word and not somehting I would use in front a lady as they say...

They had rhyming slang to cope with that too at one time… “He’s a right top hat he is”. A lesser known bit of rhyming slang exists for the C word too, with ‘Berk’ being short for Berkshire Hunt. It’s surprising how many people use the word berk without knowing what it actually refers to!

 

[john.margetts]

When I was a boy in Bristol we wore "daps".

Moved to Devon and found that pasties were "oggies" but to use the full name it was a "tiddy oggy", a potato pasty. A potato was known as a "tiddy".

Now in Yorkshire and was amazed when discussing work times and someone described their working hours as "9 while 5". This was quite widely used.

When I moved to Scunthorpe 30 years ago from Cornwall, I ask directions and was told I needed to "go up there while the circle...". Flummoxed! Turned out I needed to follow the road until I got to the roundabout.

 

[john.margetts]

Cornish (or Westcountry, at any road) that I still use:
Flam new
'Entting with rain
Come us on
Proper job

 

[Mr Badger]

When I moved to Scunthorpe 30 years ago from Cornwall, I ask directions and was told I needed to "go up there while the circle...". Flummoxed! Turned out I needed to follow the road until I got to the roundabout.

Reminds me of when I asked for directions to my room when checking in to a B&B on the outskirts of Birmingham. "Go down the corridor and the stairs yam at the bottom" was the reply. Bollington in Cheshire was also good for directions if you got an elderly local... "Down't road and left under thacaduct". Thacaduct being the aqueduct!

 

[broc]

"Clarty" I believe a Yorkshire word (They'll lay claim to anything! ) Generally to mean sticky, like mud.
In Derby more often used to describe foodstuffs that stick to the roof of your mouth..."Granny's fairy cakes were a bit clarty."

Clarty is used in the North East (Tyne and Wear & Northumberland) too, so not a Yorkshire 'exclusive'

 

[john.margetts]

Not dialect as such, but when I asked for directions in Hull I was told repeatedly to go down the road until I came to the Land of Green Ginger. I assumed this was repeated mocking of my Cornish accent and ignored such people. Eventually I stumbled upon The Land of Green Ginger - it really exists!

 

[broc]

Tight as a cuddies @r$e...... meaning someone is scrooge-like. A cuddy is a shortened form of Cuthbert, and an Eider duck is known as a cuddy duck because of St Cuthbert's affinity to Lindisfarne and the Farne Islands off the Northumbrian coast where the Eider duck is commonly found.

 

[nilagin]

And don't forget 'bobbins' for something rubbish... it used to be a very popular adjective round the Manchester area years ago and apparently derives from rhyming slang 'bobbins of cotton' = rotten. "Was is any good last night?" "Nah, it was bobbins!".

Snip:

They had rhyming slang to cope with that too at one time… “He’s a right top hat he is”. A lesser known bit of rhyming slang exists for the C word too, with ‘Berk’ being short for Berkshire Hunt. It’s surprising how many people use the word berk without knowing what it actually refers to!

Probably because it is burk which like t*** means a stupid or idiotic person.

 

[Mr Badger]

Probably because it is burk which like t*** means a stupid or idiotic person.

That's just a derivative spelling of Berk, the origin was the same, it's the meaning that appears to have metamorphosed over the years, as is often the case.

 

[Cockney]

I still use some cockney rhyming slang. I still call a watch a kettle. I dont know anybody else who does.

 

[tijuana taxi]

I still use some cockney rhyming slang. I still call a watch a kettle. I dont know anybody else who does.

I do me old china, very regularly
Just this morning I referred to "makes a nice change to see the old currant out"

 

[Maggie52]

Tight as a cuddies @r$e...... meaning someone is scrooge-like. A cuddy is a shortened form of Cuthbert, and an Eider duck is known as a cuddy duck because of St Cuthbert's affinity to Lindisfarne and the Farne Islands off the Northumbrian coast where the Eider duck is commonly found.

As is a Tommy Noddy Which is a puffin.

 

[Graham W]

That's just a derivative spelling of Berk, the origin was the same, it's the meaning that appears to have metamorphosed over the years, as is often the case.

"Berk" as in Berkeley Hunt, more rhyming slang...you work it out.

 

[Mr Badger]

"Berk" as in Berkeley Hunt, more rhyming slang...you work it out.

I know, see Post #26. I was commenting on how the word berk seems to have lost its original meaning and now seems to be used to describe a daft or annoying person, rather than to describe a thoroughly unpleasant person as per the word the rhyming slang came from.

 

[Cockney]

I know, see Post #26. I was commenting on how the word berk seems to have lost its original meaning and now seems to be used to describe a daft or annoying person, rather than to describe a thoroughly unpleasant person as per the word the rhyming slang came from.

Language changes all the time though. Often with the origins of words for ever lost.
It differs from area to area & country to country.
Bitch for example is a major insult in USA.

 

[sphexx]

Never heard the c word used light hearted on telly outside the watershed and never heard it have two menaings either...... Also if the T word is the same how come the C word is frowned upon but the T not

Sorry I don't follow your train of thought at all ?

And curiously they both were often a Q word, ’queynte’ though apparently this is cognate with ‘quaint’ if https://skepticalhumanities.com/2011/01/18/chaucers-c***/ is correct .