BS: regional uk slang

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: 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: Raggytash
Date: 21 Aug 21 - 11:14 AM

Nice one Steve!!

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: 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: 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: 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: 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 - 02:54 AM

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


You are inferior:-D

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 - 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: BobL
Date: 12 Aug 21 - 01:59 AM

Any connection between girnin' and gurnin'?

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: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 07:33 PM

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

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: 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: 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: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 04:56 PM

I knew that git came after get, Doug.

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: 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: 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: Backwoodsman
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 07:17 AM

Wow, never knew that! Thanks Doug!

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: The Sandman
Date: 11 Aug 21 - 06:00 AM

mardy is also used in leicester

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: 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: 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: Mr Red
Date: 10 Aug 21 - 08:05 AM

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

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: 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 - 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: 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: 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: 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