Hutch for sale
There was an interesting item on dialects on You and Yours, Radio Four, today. In Devon, I discovered, they have a word - Backsyfore - that people use if their cardigan happens to be on the wrong way round.
I always enjoyed Yorkshire dialect as a child. My maternal grandmother not only used it, she enjoyed reading it whenever there was dialect item in the local newspaper or in the Dalesman.
There have been times when I have inserted dialect words unwittingly in to my newspaper copy wondering why ever the sub editors should question them. A little while back I referred to someone as a contrarian and was flummoxed to find that it was missing from the dictionary. I assume what I thought was a word was no more than the pronunciation of "contrary one" or "contrary 'un" referring to someone who enjoys contradicting people.
Often dialect is no more than a different way of saying a word. In Yorkshire, for example, people hang out the "weshing" instead of washing or laundry.
As children if we were continually running up and down the stairs my mother would tell us that we were "up and darn thrussen" or we would be told that were "in an' out like a dog piddling in snow."
Those, I suppose, were more colloquialisms than dialect. I have no idea where certain sayings came from. If my mother wanted to vent her spleen on someone the most hurtful comment she could muster was: "I hope your rabbit dies and you can't sell its hutch."
Euphemism was popular too. I remember my auntie once telling my mother in hushed tones that a young woman they both knew "fell off a bus." I was concerned for the health of the lady and pestered my auntie to tell me how she was. It turned out the woman had become pregnant "out of wedlock" and was now "living over t'brush," or "living tally" to which a common reply of astonishment might be: "Well I'll go t'bottom of our stairs."
My favourite among all Yorkshire words is "thoil". If you can't thoil something you can't justify its expense. Another favourite is "appen" meaning "maybe".
If you see people walking slowly and seemingly aimlessly in Yorkshire, they're "traipsing" along. I did a lot of "traipsing abart" with friends as a child. Today everything has to be purposeful. I'm thinking I don't traips enough.
I always enjoyed Yorkshire dialect as a child. My maternal grandmother not only used it, she enjoyed reading it whenever there was dialect item in the local newspaper or in the Dalesman.
There have been times when I have inserted dialect words unwittingly in to my newspaper copy wondering why ever the sub editors should question them. A little while back I referred to someone as a contrarian and was flummoxed to find that it was missing from the dictionary. I assume what I thought was a word was no more than the pronunciation of "contrary one" or "contrary 'un" referring to someone who enjoys contradicting people.
Often dialect is no more than a different way of saying a word. In Yorkshire, for example, people hang out the "weshing" instead of washing or laundry.
As children if we were continually running up and down the stairs my mother would tell us that we were "up and darn thrussen" or we would be told that were "in an' out like a dog piddling in snow."
Those, I suppose, were more colloquialisms than dialect. I have no idea where certain sayings came from. If my mother wanted to vent her spleen on someone the most hurtful comment she could muster was: "I hope your rabbit dies and you can't sell its hutch."
Euphemism was popular too. I remember my auntie once telling my mother in hushed tones that a young woman they both knew "fell off a bus." I was concerned for the health of the lady and pestered my auntie to tell me how she was. It turned out the woman had become pregnant "out of wedlock" and was now "living over t'brush," or "living tally" to which a common reply of astonishment might be: "Well I'll go t'bottom of our stairs."
My favourite among all Yorkshire words is "thoil". If you can't thoil something you can't justify its expense. Another favourite is "appen" meaning "maybe".
If you see people walking slowly and seemingly aimlessly in Yorkshire, they're "traipsing" along. I did a lot of "traipsing abart" with friends as a child. Today everything has to be purposeful. I'm thinking I don't traips enough.
Labels: Dalesman, flummoxed, Radio Four, thoil, traips, wedlock, weshing, You and Yours
posted by Richard Donkin at
2:09 PM
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