BS: regional uk slang

Subject: BS:Regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 03:10 AM

most of us are aware of cockney rhyming slang.
Do the other major cities such as Manchester or Birmingham, etc, have interesting examples of slang?

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 03:52 AM

Yes, they do.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 04:59 AM

In Liverpool they learn yer to talk proper. It's all the rest who use slang.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Michael
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 05:01 AM

Thanks DtG, made me splutter into my tea.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Senoufou
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 05:02 AM

Norfolk vernacular has numerous examples of 'slang'. Usually class-related, but much more colourful than RP!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 06:09 AM

Birmingham ? how can half a million people have the same speech defect ?

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 07:58 AM

Damn you David I was going to post that!! ;-)

It's one million people by the way!!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 10:24 AM

in norwich and norfolk a ladybird is a bushy barnaby. so Dave any examples

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Senoufou
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 10:38 AM

Here are a few used in Norwich and the rest of Norfolk:-

dwile - a cleaning cloth
mardle - to chat
squit - load of rubbish, nonsense
harnser - heron
loke - a small street
pightle - a paddock
dickey - a donkey
mawkin - an effigy (usually a scarecrow)

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 02:10 PM

Clout, article of clothing, old saying, never cast a clout till May's out.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 02:18 PM

docky, west suffolk bury st edmunds term for elevenses.
Cob leicester term for bread roll.
twitchell, notts term for alleyway.
coo de heck bury st edmunds term for surprise.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Mr Red
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 02:26 PM

Black Country

tranklements - ephemera like jewellery or trinkets that you keep for no useful purpose. "Stuff" that weighs you down, emotionally.
suff - sewer
bostin - excellent, very very good
bobby dazzler - smartly dressed person
puck - past tense of pick
tump - slag heap
glede - cinder, partly burnt coal
bull - factory noise announcing the start of the shift, or return from lunch. The word is somewhat onomatopoeic. Heard from a long way away.
gob fire - underground coal fire.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 02:32 PM

Presuming you want examples of intersting slang, Dick

Yer clout yed (You silly person)
I'll go t't'foot of our stairs (I am surprised)
It's black ower Bill's mothers (Precipitation is imminent)
Gi' it another thrutch (Try again)
Come away like a flock o' sparrers (My bowel motions were rather loose)
Put wood inth'ole (Close the door)
Clean th'essole (Remove the ash from under the fire grate)
There's only me an thee an if I 'ad me cloggs on there'd only bi thee (This event was poorly attended)

All from the Swinton area of Manchester withing my lifetime.

Bit of a daft question though, Dick. Surely you have seen the Oldham Tinkers or the or Gary and Vera or many of the other Lancashire acts. Likewise there must be dozens from the Midlands too.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 02:47 PM

daft? this forum has members from all over the world, they would not have attended lancashire evenings...neither have I,I have not attended concerts by the OLDHAM TINKERS   
This forum is not parochial.... eg..having a limited or narrow outlook or scope
WHY WOULD I HAVE SEEN LANCASHIRE EVENINGS? i have seen Gary and Vera a couple of times at folk festivals but not when they were doimg specific lancashire dialect etc

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 03:00 PM

Gary and Vera attended my last gig at Swinton folk club, AND DID A FLOOR SPOT BUT DID NOT DO ANY LANCASHIRES DIALECT MATERIAL.
Dave Howard was there of OldhamTinkers[ an excellent guitarist] but did a spot with GARY ANDvERA

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 03:21 PM

Devonshire.... 'Gwain down't rawd drayin ood' is 'going down the road collecting wood'.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 04:57 PM

Yes Dick. Daft. It is obvious that all regions have their own dialects, accents and slang. If you want examples of regional dialects and slang just ask for them rather than posing a question you already know the answer to. Plus, only those who know Manchester and Birmingham are likely to answer your question so your point about this being an international forum is equally daft. I'm glad Gary and Vera, and Dave were at your gig. They are very enjoyable and don't go out of their way to rub people up the wrong way...

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 05:13 PM

With me brought up in the Somerset and Anne, my wife, brought up in Haslingden, Lancashire, we sometimes surprise each other with dialect words that the other does not know.

Last one I remember saying was "dimpsy", as in at twilight.

The odd thing is that some words are quite similar between the two regions and I can even understand more of what Sid Calderbank says than a lot of less heritage educated Lancashire folk.

Dave Howard is a bit of a railway enthusiast, by the way, and lives close to the East Lancashire Railway. Helen has told me that the dog has better hearing than him, of course, and he has it trained to come and ask for a walk when it hears a steam loco coming!

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 05:45 PM

Talking of Dave Howard and dogs I remember one of the other 'Tinkers saying they called their dog Grieg because all it could do was pee agin't'suite :-D

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 02:30 AM

some irish slang words, not the uk [apart from ulster] but close tohome and using english language.
Wagon.   Chancer
Flute, Someone with an empty head or sometimes someone who is a prick41 – 56: Common Irish expressions to use when referring to someone that you dislike

We’ve an almost endless number of ways to describe a person that we don’t like in Ireland. These Irish slang words can range from tame to offensive, so use with caution.
41. Clown

Tame. Usually used casually with friends. For example, ‘I clipped the wing mirror off the pillar yesterday’. ‘You’re some clown’.
42. Goon

Another one that’s fairly tame. For example, ‘He’s only a goon that lad’.
43. Geebag

So, this is a pretty insulting bit of slang that’s female-specific. For example, ‘Mrs. O’Tool gave us about 7 weeks worth of maths homework. What an absolute geebag’.
44. Gobshite

Another tame one. And actually this is one that was made famous by the fantastic Father Ted series. For example, ‘She’s an awful gobshite’.
45. Eejit

This is yet another tame one that’s used to describe someone dense. For example, ‘He used cooking oil on the lettuce thinking it was salad dressing… what an eejit’.
46. Pox

Someone that’s a nuisance. For example, ‘He got a taxi home with us and hopped out without giving us any money towards it. He’s a miserable little pox’.
47. Melter

Used to describe someone that’s annoying. For example, ‘That lad keeps on texting me. He’s a bleedin’ melter.’
48. Bollox

This one can be offensive, depending on the context. Offensive: ‘You’re only a bollox’. Not as offensive: ‘Go and ask my bollox’.
49. Gombeen

An old Irish slang word used to describe someone that’s a chancer. Or a bit dodgy. ‘Your man that I bought the car off is a serious Gombeen. The thing has gone to shit and I only have it a week’.
50. Gobdaw

This is another one for describing someone that’s stupid. For example, ‘Did you hear Martin and Bernie’s youngfella was caught cheating in the Garda exam. If ever there was a Gobdaw it’s that lad’.
51. Dope (an Irish slang word my aul lad uses constantly!)

Now, for our American readers – when we say ‘dope’ in Ireland, we’re not talking about anything dodgy. In Ireland, ‘dope’ is another way of describing someone stupid.

For example, ‘Her new fella was here last night. Talk about a dope’.
52. Wagon

This is another female-specific word that’s reasonably offensive. For example, ‘His sister told his Mam about what happened. She’s an awful wagon’.
53. Gowl

Another word for eejit. For example, ‘He’s a gowl and a half that boy’.
54. Dryshite

Someone that’s boring. For example, ‘All them lads do is sit in and play the Xbox. They’re a pair of dryshites’.
55. Scut

Someone that’s a waster. For example, ‘He spends his day going between the bookies and the pub. A useless scut if I’ve ever seen one’.
56. Shitehawk

No idea how to describe this one. For example, ‘Shamey Brannagin was caught stealing from Kerrigan’s again

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Jos
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 02:50 AM

Most of the words offered in this thread so far are what I would describe as dialect or interesting local terms, but are not really slang.

The words in Sandman's list are what I would call slang. They have an element of dislike or insult, and are not necessarily restricted to one area.

Another thing about slang is that it keeps changing as new terms are invented, which then spread as people hear and use them, while other expressions drop out of use.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 04:09 AM

Funny one, "bollox/bollocks." Aside from its pejorative sense, it can also mean the best, the acme, the real deal, the top dog, as in "these strawberries are delicious, best I've ever tasted - they're the bollox." Variations with the same meaning are "the danglies," "the dog's danglies" or "the dog's dangly bits." If you're very pleased indeed, you can precede any of these with "the absolute..."

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 04:55 AM

...Or even "the dog's bollocks."

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 04:58 AM

…or even, even “the canine’s cojones“.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 05:55 AM

Another one that can have polar opposite meanings is "bastard." "That bastard over there has just scratched my car." (UK); "G'day, you old bastard, great to see you! " (Oz)

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 07:55 AM

It's strange what different people take away from listening to someone sing.

I knew Gary & Vera reasonably well from the late sixties to the mid eighties. Their whole act was based on the fact they were Lancastrians with broad Lancastrian accents.

A great many of their song were based on the two facts above, From the North, Lanky Spoke 'ere, The Ship Canal song, Auntie Kytell for example and Vera's dancing was almost entirely Lancashire Clog dancing.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 08:04 AM

having a lancastrian accent is different from presenting an evening of lanky., dialect songs
Gary has a reputation for rubbing people up the wrong way, I had to listen to a monologue on how great Brexit was from him at swinton folk club , on that occasion they did not perform lancashire dialect songs , they spoke with lanky accents, but that is not relevant to lanky slang. despite his views on brexit and his tendency to speak at you rather than have a conversation, i find him quite likeable.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 08:09 AM

Barm. bread roll
Stop skriking
Degging - Watering, to water a plant.

Brossen - To be too fat or overweight.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 08:48 AM

When I worked on Radcliffe Parks fifty years ago, degging was watering in a freshly-planted bedding plant, and you did it with a degging can.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 08:53 AM

Ahm clemmin (Hungry) Ast geet any snap? (Food)

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Mr Red
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 01:58 PM

I had to listen to a monologue on how great Brexit was from him at swinton folk club

35 years ago I had the displeasure of listening to him proselytize his politics. But the tradition holds with Billy Bragg. I had to listen to him tell me to vote for Corbyn, just for leader of a political party. Even worse while he was hectoring, he claimed, he was only the messenger. No he was an evangelist.

As if I am going to join a political party (that would have me as a member). And anyway, how did that go?

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 03 Aug 21 - 04:57 PM

A degging can was what I had to ask Sid Calderbank about after hearing him recite "Bobby Grundy's Shop". Everything else in the interminable list made sense!

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 05 Aug 21 - 02:45 AM

suffin cold suffolk for cold

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 05 Aug 21 - 03:02 AM

back slang was used by smithfield market bumarees and london butchers; watch your scales became chaw.ru elacs

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 05 Aug 21 - 03:15 AM

My mother and her sisters used to speak back slang, I had forgotten all about it! I think they did it to talk about things that they didn't want to discuss openly in front of their children.

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Senoufou
Date: 05 Aug 21 - 03:41 AM

If one is in a fix, Norfolk people might ask, "Hev the battm drarped owt?' And if I'm up and about a bit earlier than usual, my funny neighbour will ask, "Didjer shit the bed gal?" And if one is going through difficult times (especially in this awful pandemic) you hear nearly every day, "Dew yew keep a-troshing!" (Norfolk version of Keep calm and carry on).

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 05 Aug 21 - 12:43 PM

A couple of Scots terms of endearment (not) to add to Sandman's Irish ones:
Bawbag
Bam (or bampot) _Ewan McVicar did a great parody of La Bamba - just called Bampot)
Shite (always that, not shit)
Pish (rather than piss)

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Aug 21 - 06:02 PM

I thought the squits was diarrhea

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Senoufou
Date: 06 Aug 21 - 03:19 AM

In the plural, yes. But if one is talking rubbish, a Norfolk person will snort and say, "Thass a loood uv squit!"
Another word for the runs in UK is Delhi Belly! (Sorry to Indian people, no intention to offend etc etc. One can't be too careful these days)

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 Aug 21 - 06:17 AM

jimmy riddle is piddle. as is number one.
vera lynn is gin.
big business is shit
hands are mitts or maulers
jalopy is vehicle
khaazi is lavatory.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Senoufou
Date: 06 Aug 21 - 07:10 AM

Lavatory here in Norfolk is 'thunder box'
Hands are sometimes 'Dannys'
Men go to 'point Percy at the porcelain' when they need a wee.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 06 Aug 21 - 07:24 AM

Men go to 'point Percy at the porcelain' when they need a wee.
Or:
Shake hands with me best mate
Syphon the python
(when drinking) Make room for another

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 06 Aug 21 - 07:40 AM

Or even…

Turn me bike round.
Wring me sock out.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Aug 21 - 10:48 AM

Drain the spuds.
Shake hands with the wife's best friend.
Or, in less fortunate times, shake hands with the unemployed.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Senoufou
Date: 06 Aug 21 - 11:52 AM

Haaaghaaaghaaagh!!!!! These are all so funny! :)

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 06 Aug 21 - 06:26 PM

We came up with another. There is a silly song that samples phrases from the Lord of the Rings films. One of the phrases that repeats is "They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard". We now use it as a euphemism for going to the bog :-D

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: BobL
Date: 07 Aug 21 - 02:43 AM

"Going on a journey" was one such expression of old. Crops up in 1 Kings 27, where Elijah was winding up the prophets of Baal something chronic.
Sorry, I drift.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 08 Aug 21 - 12:56 PM

langers are people from cork city.
jackeens are dubliners

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 08 Aug 21 - 12:58 PM

langers is very drunk ,under the weather is pissed,
trouble with his her nerves, neurotic to the point of madness.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Mr Red
Date: 08 Aug 21 - 01:43 PM

Shikered - NZ & Oz for drunk.
Uptake - to pick up, as in "a leaflet" - NZ & Lalans Scots

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 08 Aug 21 - 03:13 PM

gombeen.. irish for wheeler dealer
A gombeen man is a pejorative Hiberno-English term used in Ireland for a shady, small-time "wheeler-dealer" businessman or politician who is always looking to make a quick profit, often at someone else's expense or through the acceptance of bribes. Its origin is the Irish word "gaimbín", meaning monetary interest

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Mr Red
Date: 10 Aug 21 - 08:05 AM

wide boy - WW2 black marketeer ---- (gombeen ?)

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 04:23 AM

Mardarse: northern word referring to a miserable, whingeing git.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 04:31 AM

And scousers might say "get" for "git", as in the Beatles song "I'm So Tired":

"And curse Sir Walter Raleigh
He was such a stupid get"

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 05:05 AM

It’s ‘mardy’ meaning ‘in a bad mood’ or ‘miserable’ here in the Backwoods, and the person with the bad mood is a ‘mardy-arse’.

Alternatively, they’ve ‘got a cob on’.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 06:00 AM

mardy is also used in leicester

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 06:12 AM

And scousers might say "get" for "git"

I think that it might be the other way round and people say "git" for "get". "Get" has the same root as "beget" and refers to someone's illegitimate offspring. So, "He was such a stupid get" is the same as "He was such a stupid bastard" . "Git" is just the bowdlerized form.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 07:17 AM

Wow, never knew that! Thanks Doug!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 08:55 AM

Dick only includes part of the information given on Wlkipedia for the term Gombeen it reads in full:

"A gombeen man is a pejorative Hiberno-English term used in Ireland for a shady, small-time "wheeler-dealer" businessman or politician who is always looking to make a quick profit, often at someone else's expense or through the acceptance of bribes. Its origin is the Irish word "gaimbín", meaning monetary interest.[1] The term referred originally to a money-lender and became associated with those shopkeepers and merchants who exploited the starving during the Irish Famine by selling much-needed food and goods on credit at ruinous interest rates"

It goes on to say:

"More generally, "gombeen" is now an adjective referring to all kinds of underhand or corrupt activities and to the mindset possessed by those engaged in such activities. In Irish politics, it is used to condemn an opponent for dishonesty or corruption, although its definition has become less precise with time and usage and it can also imply pettiness and close-mindedness. Alternative modern parlance for a gombeen man is someone "on the make". It is also used to describe certain Independent politicians who are seen to prioritize their constituents needs, no matter how trivial, over national interests"

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Felipa
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 02:27 PM

"stop your girnin'"   stop complaining
"he's got a girney look on him" (less common than the verb "girning")

Northern Ireland,esp. County Tyrone
from the Irish Gaelic "ag gearán" complaining. In Irish "gearán" can also be used as a noun meaning a complaint or grievance.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: fat B****rd
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 03:22 PM

In the early 80s I worked at GEC near Darlington. One of my workmates was from Stanley. He once told me "Thoos nowt but a glairtyc***, Charley" !!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 04:56 PM

I knew that git came after get, Doug.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 04:59 PM

RAFFYTASH. i described gombeen as a wheeler dealer,
the extract that i quoted was not from wiki and did not include the rest of that which you quoted.
i have not heard gombeen used to describe politicians, the more usual term used for that kind of politician is cute hoor, and I live in ireland, my comments are based on personal experience, i am/was not quoting from wiki

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Allan Conn
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 06:16 PM

I think we can be in danger of describing perfectly common ordinary words as slang just because they aren't that commonly used through the entire UK. In particular the word "girn" which is a vey common word in Scotland in both the uses mentioned and is well attested in literature right back through Scott, Burns, Ferguson and right back to Barbour. Basically as long as there has been literature in Scots characters have been 'girnin' ;-)

Not just in Scots it is in the Concise Oxford too. I am sure it is reasonably common in northern England too. Not really a slang word at all.

Re why it is common in Northern Ireland? It may well be from the Irish Gaelic - but it certainly doesn't need to be from that source. A fair percentage of the Northern Ireland population is of Scottish and northern English ancestry. It even has its own recognised dialect of Scots in Ulster Scots. Those people would have known the word well enough without borrowing it from Irish Gaelic.

Maybe of course it came from both sources.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 07:06 PM

One which I hadn't heard until we moved up to Cheshire from the south of England (but also used in Shropshire) is "maithering" - i.e making a fuss.
And also, having been used to "keep your hair on" (meaning calm down) we now had in Cheshire/Shropshire "he really gets his hair off" (meaning he gets very upset)!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 07:33 PM

"Eee, I'm bloody mithered to death..."

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 09:30 PM

i was not quoting from wiki. Ilive in Ireland, i have not heard gombeen used to describe certain kinds of politicians , the usual phrase i have heard is cute hoor, and cute hoorism

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: BobL
Date: 12 Aug 21 - 01:59 AM

Any connection between girnin' and gurnin'?

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 12 Aug 21 - 05:28 AM

Dick, whoever you quoted (which you didn't make clear) is directly quoting the Wiki page.

The wording is EXACTLY the same from yourself and from the Wiki page I quoted. However the Wiki page goes further, thus I quoted some of the remainder.




Or perhaps the Wiki page is a plagiarism.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 12 Aug 21 - 05:55 AM

whatever you like, but wiki does not have it right. cute hoor is the term used here in ireland for those sort of politicians

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Allan Conn
Date: 12 Aug 21 - 06:02 AM

Bob the Concise Oxford gives "girn" as a spelling variation of "gurn" with the meaning "to pull a face".

In Scotland it has wider meaning than that - and it is more commonly used to mean "to complain peevishly or to whimper"

So for instance we might say someone is "aye girnin" meanin "always moaning"; or a baby who is always crying will be called "a girnie bairn"

"dinnae come greetin and girnin" for "don't come crying and moaning" etc.

It is one of those Scots words that is commonly used in Scottish Standard English too.

But yes I have seen the funny "gurnin" competitions in northern England too with photos of usually old men pulling faces. I am sure there are probably other uses too.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Rain Dog
Date: 12 Aug 21 - 06:14 AM

Sandman, if you search for gombeen and politics you will find numerous mentions like the following:

"It’s now generally used to describe politicians and businessmen involved in self-serving activities, and more specifically Irish politicians involved in Daly-style vote getting in exchange for pursuing personal favors for constituents. Gombeen men skillfully make insider deals while convincing their supporters that they are actually outsiders, like them, and hence more straight talking and capable of representing the common man’s interests."

Colleen Hennessy

I certainly have heard it used that way in the past.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 12 Aug 21 - 06:28 AM

A very good example of why one should use quotation marks and give the source.

What is the source of your quote Dick.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 12 Aug 21 - 06:58 AM

What is the source of your quote Dick.

If by Dick you refer to RainDog, he gives the source of the quote immediately after the quote.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 12 Aug 21 - 07:32 AM

I didn't know until you posted Nigel that Raindog's name was Dick.

However I think most people are aware that Sandman's real name is Dick and it to him I was referring which you may have understood had you read the previous few posts.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 14 Aug 21 - 03:47 AM

language and slang changes all the time.
my experience, and i am living in ireland is that cute hoor is a more used term for that kind of politician than gombeen, but that is only my experience.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 14 Aug 21 - 04:01 AM

Definition of 'gombeen'

1. the act or practice of loaning money at an exorbitant rate of interest. 2. an exorbitant or unlawfully high amount or rate of interest.
Cute Hoor and, by extension, "cute hoorism", is a cultural concept in Ireland where a certain level of corruption is forgiven - or sometimes even applauded - of politicians or businessmen.
these are both quotes from wiki, so they are only opinions not gospel

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 16 Aug 21 - 03:18 AM

It's quite easy to tell when Dick has used cut and paste for his quotes

The quotes use capitals, punctuation and standard spellings :-D

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Mr Red
Date: 16 Aug 21 - 04:06 AM

As it said (somewhat like) from the original OED & its editor.

"language has a very certain centre but a nebulous periphery with increasing uncertainty"

FWIW mardy and got a cob on aka got one on him were common in the English Midlands (Black Country/Walsall)

And the phrase daft 'apeth and the wider adjective saft were common there too.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Senoufou
Date: 16 Aug 21 - 04:26 AM

That's interesting Mr Red about 'saft' meaning foolish or daft.
Here in Norfolk the same word is used to mean exactly the same thing, only pronounced more like 'saaaarft'.
Dahn Sath (nearer to London) if someone is 'soft' it can mean they are soft-hearted or kindly. Or daft.
My (very) Norfolk neighbour will often say "Dornt yew be ser saaarft yew fewl!" if I offer to pay her for her gorgeous home-grown tomatoes which she lets us have at around this time of year.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 16 Aug 21 - 05:29 AM

I presume that the derogatory appelation "blacking brush" is racist in origin.

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 16 Aug 21 - 06:01 AM

I wouldn't have thought so, Robin. 'Daft as a brush' is common parlance and has no racist undertones. I would have thought blacking brush was an extension to that but you could be right.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Mr Red
Date: 16 Aug 21 - 06:20 AM

I presume that the derogatory appelation "blacking brush" is racist in origin.

cf

"a touch of the tar brush" - which is certainly a reference to one of a person's antecedents having a colour other than European. Usually, in Britain, referring to India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 16 Aug 21 - 08:10 AM

Dave the Gnome, why is it necessary to score points about capitalisation etc, do you have an inferiority complex?

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: HuwG
Date: 18 Aug 21 - 06:39 PM

Going back to a point about midway up this thread, the origin of the, ahem, the "mutt's nuts" was discussed by Stephen Fry, in one of the series of "QI", though I have been unable to trace it.

Way back in the olden days, apparently between the wars, the boys' toy "Meccano" was sold in two versions, the "Box Standard" and the "Box DeLuxe".

The "Box Standard" became "Bog Standard" (referring to anything means plain, basic, one-size-fits-all) and the "Box DeLuxe" became the, er, canine equipment.

A phrase I have come across in Sheffield and Manchester:
- "Me stomach thinks me throat's been cut" = "I'm hungry"

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Aug 21 - 07:16 PM

Huw, I first heard "me stomach thinks me throat's cut" uttered by Bet Lynch on Coronation Street about 40+ years ago and have been using it ever since! Another one of hers, praising the "credentials" of a bloke she'd been with, was "he's big in places where other men haven't even got places..." :-)

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 Aug 21 - 02:54 AM

At least you don't have an inferiority complex,Dick


You are inferior:-D

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Senoufou
Date: 19 Aug 21 - 03:38 AM

Hold yew haaard yew lot! This is tunning inter a looood of owld squit!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 Aug 21 - 04:00 AM

Old joke, Sen.

I went to the psychiatrist the other day.

I said,"Doctor, I think I have an inferiority complex"

He replied, "No you've not. You are inferior"

:-D

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 21 Aug 21 - 05:21 AM

the wonderful Gnome has finished his pontification for the day HAIL GNOME HAIL CAESAR HAIL GNOME OF THE GNOMES

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 21 Aug 21 - 10:17 AM

Thank you for the praise, Dick, but I have far from finished. As a lady friend of yours told me, you are usually premature:-D

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Aug 21 - 11:12 AM

Or, in regional speech, the opposite, as in eee, Jack, yer late!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 21 Aug 21 - 11:14 AM

Nice one Steve!!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 21 Aug 21 - 12:18 PM

As I keep telling Dick, capitalisation and punctuation are important.

Is that the same Jack as in "help your uncle jack off that horse" ?

D

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 22 Aug 21 - 03:27 AM

Dave The Gnome is walking through the forest when he discovers another Gnome
“If you step on a purple mushroom, you’ll be forced to marry the ugliest person in the world,” warned the old gnome, so Dave continued carefully through the woods., Tiptoeing through the tulips, but
He didn’t step on any purple mushrooms.
Suddenly a beautiful man walked up and said: “We have to get married.”
“Why?” asked Dave, smiling.
“I just stepped on one of those pesky purple mushrooms!”

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 22 Aug 21 - 04:29 AM

The young gnome is driving. They get to Transylvania and are stopped at a traffic light. Suddenly, a diminutive vampire jumps onto the hood of the car and hisses through the windshield.

"Quick, quick!!" shouts the young gnome, "What shall I do?"

"Turn the windscreen wipers on, that will get rid of the abomination," says Superior Dave the Gnome.

he switches them on, knocking the vampire about, but he clings on and hisses again at the gnomes.

"What shall I do now?" shouts the young gnome. "Switch on the windscreen washer. I filled it up with codswallop in the loony bin, " says Dave Superior.

The vampire steams as the codswallop burns his skin, but he clings on and hisses again at the gnomes.

"Now what?" shouts the gnome. "Show him your fishing rod," says Dave Superior.

So he winds the window down and shouts: "Get off my fucking fishing rod!!"

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 22 Aug 21 - 04:36 AM

Dave Superior say to 3 gnomes "Because you've been so committed to this pond over the last 50 years you can go out this weekend and commit any sin you like."
"When you return you must drink this codswallop and all will be forgiven."

So the 3 nuns gnomes out for a fun-filled weekend.

On Monday when they return, Dave Superior summons them to his office. She asks them what sins they committed. The first gnome says..."I became an alcoholic and did nothing but drink myself stupid."

"I see" replied Dave superior, "Drink this codswallop and you will be forgiven."

So he drunk the holy water, and she was forgiven.

The second gnome says "I wrote a lot of drivel on Mudcat for the weekend."

Dave Superior shakes his head. "Very well" he says."I do that all the time, drink this holy water and you shall be forgiven."

So he drunk the holy water, and he was forgiven.

Dave Superior then turns to the third gnome and asks, "What sin did you commit?"

The third gnome replies "I masturbated in the codswallop!as well as writing rubbish on Mudcat"

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 22 Aug 21 - 06:38 AM

just having a bit of banter, Dave

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 22 Aug 21 - 07:43 AM

Thank god for that I thought it was an attempt at humour!!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 22 Aug 21 - 12:10 PM

no you are the only comedian on this forum and you are about as funny as Bernard Manning

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 23 Aug 21 - 11:06 AM

That's the spirit, Dick, but you really need to work on your material. I loved the first one but the next two did not make much sense. I didn't get the second one at all and during the third I wasn't sure if I was a gnome or a gnun. How did codswallop turn into holy water anyway?

8/10 for effort but only 3/10 for content. As a comedian you do make a very good folk singer though.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 24 Aug 21 - 04:42 PM

Sorry to interrupt this flow of banter, but just remembered that as students in the East End of London, we adopted quite a few of those Yiddish terms and other not-so-Yiddish phrases:
Can I schnorrer five bob?
It’s a real schlepp dahn Stepney Green
New dress: nice piece of schmatta!
And expressing surprise: So soon, already, my life!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Aug 21 - 05:57 PM

Thanks Tattie. Good to get back to the point rather than getting mythered by wassocks :-)

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: HuwG
Date: 24 Aug 21 - 09:38 PM

Dave the Gnome, you have reminded me of a Gary Delaney joke, which emphasises the importance of capitalisation and punctuation.

"I went to the Doctor. He said 'You need to lose weight. Don't eat anything fatty.'"

"You mean I should cut out burgers, chips [US = fries], that sort of thing?"

"He said 'No. Don't eat anything, Fatty!'"

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 03:05 AM

Huw- :-D I'm pinching that one

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 03:25 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKxLbYDpSUE

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 03:28 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q5IzLBwWaQ

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 03:36 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak08oFHQKM8 Posh Words to use Posh English Vocabulary How to Sound POSH British English Pronunciation

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 03:57 AM

some words only posh people use
Bins (binoculars) - 'Pass me those bins so I can have a good look at that Hooded Warbler.'

Marvellous - 'She has a marvellous chin.'

Jolly - 'Jolly good', 'Jolly bad', 'You're jolly well going to write your thank-you letters whether you like it or not.'

Rather - 'Do I think the Marquess of Douro is handsome? Rather.'
Read next

   

Beastly - 'Darling, please stop being beastly to your sister.'

Terribly - 'I'm afraid I divorced him because he turned out to be terribly dull.'

Bate (mood) - 'There's no need to fly into a bate just because I confiscated your horse.'

Yonks (ages) - 'It's been yonks since I wore my tiara.'

Tight (drunk) - 'I've been drinking since lunchtime and I'm afraid I'm now rather tight.'
Read next

   

Blotto (really drunk) - 'Can't talk. Need bed. Absolutely blotto.'

Seedy (ill) - 'I've been feeling seedy all morning.'

Gigs (glasses) - 'Has anyone seen my gigs? I'm squinting at the Times crossword without them.'

Bind (problematic situation) - 'I know it's a bind, but you may have to sell one of your castles.'

Jersey (jumper) - 'The dog has gnawed a hole in my jersey, may I borrow one of yours?'


   

Ass (fool) - 'He's a perfect ass.'

Golly - 'Golly, is that your yacht?'

Bugger - 'That mole has ruined my lawn, the bugger!'

Rugger (rugby) - 'I have to go and watch Archie play rugger on Saturday.'

Brick (reliable, trustworthy) - 'She's been an absolute brick since I got expelled for sneaking the gardener into dorms.'
Read next

   

Ravishing - 'I saw the most ravishing girl selling cheese at the Moreton-in-Marsh outdoor market.'

Slut (for its original meaning of slovenly) - 'You must brush your hair or people will think you're the most dreadful slut.'

Bad luck - 'I heard you lost an eye wildfowling last weekend, bad luck.'

---

I believe, plagerized from here.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 05:19 AM

Don't know where you got your list from dick but my friends and I use many (not all) of those words in our everyday speech and I doubt if any of us would describe ourselves as "posh"

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 07:35 AM

Me too. Seems to be a C&P from The Tatler but I thought only posh peopl eread that :-D

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 07:48 AM

I would describe anyone who uses those words as as posh

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 08:27 AM

My (very) Norfolk neighbour often tells me I'm 'roit lah-de-dah'. I don't think I am (and I don't use any of those words in your interesting list!) But she says my accent is 'loik wun o' they paaarsh Lunnon cooves'.
I think there are many aspects to how one is 'judged' :-
accent, vocabulary, social status and profession, origin (where born, where brought up)
I find all this diversity absolutely fascinating. Wouldn't it be horribly dreary if we all spoke in exactly the same way?

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Sol
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 08:42 AM

Re. Seoufou's "Wouldn't it be horribly dreary if we all spoke in exactly the same way?"
Agree 100%. Vive La Difference.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 10:20 AM

I think you would describe anyone who can use punctuation and capitals correctly as posh, Dick! :-D

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 11:05 AM

ROTFLMAO!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 12:04 PM

Fuck Off.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 12:18 PM

Well, well. That is not an expression you often hear in polite circles!!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 01:37 PM

But I have heard a lot of posh people say “Fack Orrff”. Trouble is, it doesn’t sound like swearing when a posh person says it!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 03:15 PM

At least it was capitalised. Even though the second one was superfluous. Better than the previous attempts at humour too :-D

Sorry Dick. I know I should stop but the temptation is too great when you keep leading with your chin.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 04:21 PM

Fuck Off.
Do you understand.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 25 Aug 21 - 05:04 PM

I think Dave was trying to explain, although I realise this is difficult to a person of limited intellegence, that you should have written "Fuck off" not "Fuck Off"

Just a little grammer and correct use of the language.

:-)

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 12:20 AM

Grammar.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 02:07 AM

I think Raggy was being ironic, Manitas…

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 03:08 AM

You should have used a question mark after "Do you understand".

Capisce?

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: The Sandman
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 05:21 AM

Limited intelligence.
I am intelligent enought to recognise a Champagne socialist, a troll and a nasty unpleasant little prick.
Capitalisation and punctuation have nothing to do with intelligence.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 05:45 AM

We all have limited intelligence dick, it's just that some people have a higher limit than others.

Now, some people may castigate me for not using a capital letter in what appears to be my use of your name. However I was using dick in the colloquial sense.

The word eponymous comes to mind.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 05:54 AM

White van man rear bumper sticker I once spotted:

Badly driven? Visit gofuckyourself.co.uk

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Senoufou
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 06:11 AM

This thread should be re-named 'Regional Slanging Match'.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Raggytash
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 06:21 AM

:-) !!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 07:10 AM

Well done, Dick. You got that nearly right. There is some discussion on the use of commas in cumulative adjectives but, in the main, if they are all of the same group you do not use commas. Take "nasty unpleasant little prick" for instance. I think that no comma is required between nasty and unpleasant, as they are cumulative, but maybe you should have put one between unpleasant and little. Of course they may not be adjectives at all as "prick" is more commonly a verb. As in "This injection is a nasty unpleasant little prick" where you would not use commas at all unless it was an introductory adverb.

But I think we are getting ahead of ourselves. I am pleased with your progress so far. Keep it up! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 07:18 AM

Nearly forgot to add that you are also right saying "Capitalisation and punctuation have nothing to do with intelligence".

They do have a lot to do with being able to communicate though. Having all the intelligence in the world would be of no benefit to anyone else if you were unable to get your ideas across. This is a forum that relies entirely on the written word. The odd mistake or two is forgivable but complete incoherance makes everyones life difficult.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 07:19 AM

On slow news days, our local newspaper fills its pages with articles such as "Thirty expressions that show you are from Grimsby". While some of them are truly local, such as 'Meggie' for someone born in Cleethorpes, many of them are common across the north of England and are far from unique to Grimsby. Some words and phrases are used within families and a family across the street may use a different set of slang terms to cover the same things.

Films and television have introduced so many different accents and dialects into our living rooms, both from home and abroad, that very few slang terms can be claimed to be truly regional.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 11:12 AM

An example of the effects of television in spreading slang:

After watching an episode of "The Bill", I asked a police constable friend of mine if detectives really called their senior officers "Guv". The answer was "They do now".

DC

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Mr Red
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 01:46 PM

Black country (maybe)

Ganzy - jumper (probably derived from Guernsey cf Jersey)

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 02:02 PM

I always understood it to be derived from Guernsey, Mr R, but where I were brung up (Swinton, Manchester) Ganzy was used for a sleeveless, usually fancy, pullover. Funny how things get changed init?

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 02:24 PM

Those sleeveless things were ‘Tank-Tops’ here in the Backwoods. Gawd knows why!

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 02:46 PM

I only came across the term "tank top" in the 70s when they seemed to make a return to the fashion scene. I always thought they had a scooped neckline rather than the V-neck of the Ganzy.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: fat B****rd
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 03:32 PM

Speaking of my home town, I believe a "Meggie" was a bus/tram ticket from Cleethorpes to Grimsby. And still on the subject of Grimsby etc, how exactly does one go "Eggin' back o'Doigs" ??

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 03:40 PM

Ganzy was routine in our house. Radcliffe, tha knows...

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 05:19 PM

I believe a "Meggie" was a bus/tram ticket from Cleethorpes to Grimsby.

Well, that is another explanation to be added to the list of possibilities that I have heard.


... how exactly does one go "Eggin' back o'Doigs" ??

With difficulty, it would seem, as there aren't many trees in a shipyard. It would seem to be the equivalent of 'going to see a man about a dog' as giving an evasive answer to a question.

It's not a phrase that I have ever heard used but, since Doig's closed almost 20 years before I arrived in in Grimsby, that's not too surprising.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Aug 21 - 05:40 PM

They are posh in Radcliffe. Get out o't' bath to pee an everything.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 27 Aug 21 - 02:20 AM

I was told, many years ago, by friends in Grimsby and Cleethorpes, that a ‘Meggie’ is a person born in Cleethorpes - ‘Meg’s Island’ being an old name (possibly nickname) for Cleethorpes. And back in the ‘60s and ‘70s there was a folk-group from the area called ‘The Meggies’, later to become ‘The Broadside’. Well-known members were John Connolly and the wonderful Brian Dawson.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: gnomad
Date: 27 Aug 21 - 03:49 AM

I have this direct from Dave, the author of 'Egging...' as far a HE knew I'm from Hull and consequently ignorant of the phrase.
"'Egging' is playing outside. It derives from collecting bird's eggs (for food, times were hard then)."
He was right, in that I didn't know the term, but I was already an incomer in Hull.

Subject: RE: BS: regional uk slang
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 27 Aug 21 - 07:54 AM

... how exactly does one go "Eggin' back o'Doigs" ??

.......

With difficulty, it would seem, as there aren't many trees in a shipyard.

I suppose you could have been collecting eggs from sea birds which had nested on ledges of the ship repair buildings.

I am no ornithologist, so don't quote me on this.

DC