A Glossary of Broad Yorkshire Dialect The Tongue of my Beloved Yorkshire and the Language of my Childhood Addle, ...............To earn Agate, ...............At work, occupied with Agate,................For a short way as is, “I’ll gan agate wi thi.” Agate,................a little way Aimbry,..............Almondbury, a township of Huddersfield mentioned in the Doomsday Book A’ll,....................(sounds like ‘al’) I will ‘appen,..............perhaps 'Akkle, ..............To dress or tidy up, also to manage, as 'ackle 'er brass!' 'Avverbreead, ...Haverbread made from oatmeal when wheat flour was expensive Aye,...................Yes Baht, .................Without Bahn,.................Going, bound Bairn,.................A Baby Balk, ..................A large beam or beam of scales for weighing Bat or Stroke,.....'He's not struck a bat' - he's not done a stroke Betty,..................A guard placed in front of the fire to keep the ashes in, also known as a Tidy Betty Billy, ...................A machine for slubbing cardings Blether,...............Complain, whinge Blithering, ..........(adj) confounded, as in “You blithering idiot!” Botch,................To do a job carelessly, or artrlessly Brass, ................Money Brat,....................A child, or an apron. Brokk’n,.............. Broken Brig,.....................A bridge Brussen, .............Burst (applied to sacks); lucky (applied to a person) , overfed (person) Bust/busted,........Broken Buffet,..................A small stool Buffet,.................To strike or slap, especially at the side of the head Bunt, ..................A bundle (of cloth) Burl, ...................Pick small pieces of yarn or hair etc. from cloth Buzzer, ...............Mill whistle or siren Caird, .................A card or comb for dressing wool Cal, ....................Gossip Capt, ..................Surprised Causey, ..............A pavement, footpath , causeway Causey edge,.......Kerb Chip ole or oil,......Fish and chip shop Chunter, ..............Grumble ineffectually Clammed or clemmed, .............................Cold; hungry, short of food Clicks,...................Hooks for moving packs of wool Clinker,.................Hard cinder found in furnaces Claarts, claahts, or clouts, ..Clothes Claht eead,............Cloth head. A term of opprobrium. Cloise or close,......Field, perhaps from enclosure Clooathes,..............Clothes Cloth ears,..............Unwilling to hear though able to Cop,.......................Yarn spun on a spindle Cop,.......................Catch, or take hold of Cossie,...................Swimming costume Cropper, ................Cloth dresser Crozzil or Crozzle, ..Hard cinder found in furnaces, cooked crisp, as bacon Cut,.........................Canal Din, .........................Noise, racket Do, ..........................A commotion, a party, a lively time Donned up, .............Dressed in ones best clothes Druft,........................A drying wind, a draught Ee,............................Exclamation Ee ‘eck!,....................Expression of shock or surprise ‘E,He, ........................him Ee ‘ad,.......................He had He an't.......................He has not ‘Eead or ‘Eeyad,........Head ‘ey,.............................A cry to attract a person’s attention ‘ey up,........................hello ‘ey up,........................what’s happening? ‘ey up,........................whatever is the matter? ‘ey up,........................That looks strange! Fether,.........................Father Feyther,.......................Father Fadge, ........................Bundles of cloth or wool in a pack sheet skewered with wooden pricks Fast, ............................Puzzled or stuck Fearnaught, ................A brand of wool mixing machine Fent, ............................A fag end of cloth, three-quarters of a yard beyond the length of a piece. Weavers used to claim .....................................these to clothe their children Fettle, .........................To clean, especially used of mill machinery, or set something in order Fettler, .........................A machine cleaner Flags,...........................Paving stones. Flibbertygibbert,...........Empty headed girl Flit,................................Move Fold, .............................A yard, field, or a collection of houses standing in a yard Frame, ........................To set about a task effectively Fruzzins, ......................Hairs coming off the cloth when finished or from yarn when wound. Gaffer,.... ......................The boss or foreman Gainest, ........................Nearest Galluses,........................Braces Gang or gan,................. The verb ‘to go’. Gers, .............................Grass Gig, ................................A kind of knife used to remove knots from the cloth Give Over!........................Stop it! Stop that! Goit, ...............................Channel cut to carry water to the mill Ginnil,or Ginnel . ............A narrow passage between buildings Gyp or jyp,.......................Pain, punishment, or a severe telling off Hank, ..............................Thread wound on a large cylinder. A hank of wool or cotton is 840 yards; 560 yards in worsted Heft,................................Carry 'Od Hold, as ion, "Tak 'od o' this!' ‘Ooam, Home Oppen or opp’n,................Open Jacks, .............................Part of a loom Jerry, ...............................A finishing machine that removed rough surface of cloth, a bit lahke a croppin' machine Jip or gyp,Pain, ................punishment, or a severe telling off Joss, ..............................The master , or ''t maister' Ketch,...............................to catch Knock on, ........................To get on with a job Koil Oil/’ole, .....................Coal place as in 't place wheer tha keyps thi coil! Kop, ...............................Catch Lake, ..............................To be idle, to play or have no work Leck or weet, ...................To wet as in wetting the cloth with stale urine to bring out the grease Leet, ...............................To meet with Leet geen [sp?].................Too fond of lasses [as] leet a an 'ayseed.........too fond o't lasses Lig, ..................................Lie down Lithairse, ..........................Dye house; Lister,...............................A dyer Loose ..............................fluff, often under a bed Lug, (n).............................Ear Lug, (v)..............................Pull or carry Lug ‘ole,............................Ear Lumb, ..............................Chimney Lurry, ...............................A wagon, lorry Mah-th,..............................Mouth Maister, Master Maun,Must Maund thissen,Watch out Midden,WC Middlin’, Moderate, or fair (health) Miln, A mill Milner, Originally the one who put the cloth in the milling stocks Milliner.............................Ladies hat maker Mongi, Idle Mule, Spinning machine Mullock, Mess or muddle Muff, Make a small noise Mungo, Old rags and woollen material, shredded to be rewoven Mun,Must Nah then,Hello Nah then,what’s this? Nah then,How are you? Nah then,I don’t believe you Nah then,Stop that! Naw,No Nob’dy, or Nubdi.....................No one Noan,.....................................Not Nogs, ....................................L-shaped pieces of iron placed on the beam to hold the warp Noils, Short fibres of wool removed by the combing machine Noit, Business Nope, To hit, especially on the head Nooa,No Nooan,Not Norther,Neither Nowt,Nothing Okker, To hesitate ‘Ole,Hole, or place. Ollis, Always On’t th’ed,On the Head Oss,To stir; move, to begin Owt, Anything Paand, Pound (£1)., also to beat (pound upon) Perch, To examine cloth by putting it over a rod, pole or perch, in order to remove burls or motes Pick, To throw the shuttle Pick,The line of weft laid through the weft Piggin, A lading can used to transfer hot water from the boiler or copper into the wash tub or vat, or other small vessel Poise,Kick Porty, woof Posser,A device for possing clothes. Pund, Pound (lb) weight Put’t’wood in’t th’ole,Close the door Rant,A Fair Rant,To gob on abaht summat Raht,An intensifier meaning ‘very’ Real,Good or outstanding Reet,An intensifier meaning ‘very’(Right meaning very). Right,an intensifier meaning ‘very’. Rordin, A Riding; a third part Rovin, In wool spinning where the filaments are drawn out to a greater length Rush,A festival Saig, Saw Saigins, Sawdust Sam, To pick up or gather, to lift Scoow-il,School Scribble, To give the first rough carding to wool or cotton Sharp,quick, as in “Look sharp!” Shauve, Slice (of bread) Shift thissen,Move yourself Shiftless, Feckless Shivvins, Small bits of wood or shavings in the wool or bits off the yarn (shavings) Sh’in’tin,She is not at home Shi’ll nooan,She will not Shi-waint,She will not Silin’,Raining Sithee,Look here (See, thee) Shoddy, Waste material thrown off by machines, used for low priced cloth Skep or skip, A willow basket Skitter,To hurry one's work Slaace,Slice Slawit,Slaithwaite, a small township of Huddersfield Sliver, A long carding of wool; a splinter of wood Slub, To draw out cardings into greater length Sluffed, Disappointed, distressed Stamperds, The four posts supporting a loom Splahwt,Splatter Starved,Feeling cold Starved,Hungry Stocks, Part of milling machinery Strinkle, To scatter or sprinkle Summat,something Sumpoil, Sump hole – the place to which surplus liquids flow T’,The Taew or Tow,To strive Tay,Tea Tail goit, Channel from the mill; tail-gate Tenter, Frame for stretching cloth to dry on tenter hooks Tenterer,The tenter operator Th’,The Tha,You, thou Thahn,Yours (thine) Tha’ll,You will Tha a’n’t,Thou hast not (you have not) Tha mun,You must Tha munt,You must not Tha’ll no’an,You will not Tha wain’t,You will not (imperative) Tha Wot?,You what? (what did you say/mean) Ther wer,There was Thi or Thee,You Thahn,Thine (yours) Thine,Yours Think on!,Remember! Thissen or thyssen,Yourself (thyself) Thoil,To bear; endure; not begrudge; spare Throng, Busy Thrum, The short ends of the warp cut off from a piece of cloth Thump, Local name for a feast or fair Tag or Tig, To touch (as in children’s games) Toit,To keep in toil; to keep in good order Tuner, One who tunes or sets the looms for weaving Ummer, Local word for Hell, emphasised as ‘bloomin ummer’ Us,Our, eg, “We’re off on us ‘olidays” Umpteen,Countless Uppards,Upwards Wain’t,Will not Wafter,A piece of rag used to cause a draught to scatter fluff Wallop,Hit, strike Wallop,Beer Wanty, A girth for a pack horse Wappy, Quick; a short cut Wind, To wind yarn onto bobbins Watter,Water Wassup?,What is wrong? Wim wam, An impulse or fancy, a name given to an imaginary perch for ducks Winteredge, Winter hedge; clothes horse Wit, Common sense Worsit,Worsted Wom, Home Yark, To jerk; pull or snatch Yeead,Head Yeed,Head Yetton,Kirkheaton, an ancient township of Huddersfield Yo’arn,Yours Yorkshire Phrases Ah dooant nooaa -I don’t know Ahm bahn wham - I’m going home Allus at t’ last push up- Always at the last minute Ah wer or Awer famished- I was hungry Ah wer fair famished- I was extremely hungry ‘As ee bin in? -Has he been here? E’s goin’ dahn t’ nick- His health is failing Ah wor fair starved - I was very cold A reight gooid sooart- A good and kind person ’E wor ’ard on- He was fast asleep ‘E teks a good laak’ness- He is photogenic Gerraway -Get away (hard ‘G’ as in ‘Gun’) Gerrawaywiyer -Get away with you (statement of disbelief) Gerroff- Get off Gerroffit- Get off it Gerronwi’it - Get on with it! Gerronwithi - I don’t believe you It caps owt- It beats everything It’s nut jannock- It’s not fair Nobbut a mention - Just a small amount Shintin - She isn’t at home Well, ah’m fair capped!- I am very surprised Worshein- Was she in? Livin’ tally- Living together as if married, but without benefit of clergy Livin’ ower t’ brush - Living together as if married, but without benefit of clergy Put ‘t t’wood in’t ‘t’oil- Put the wood in the hole (Close the door) Wats ta getten?- What hast thou gotten? (What have you got?) Wats tha getten?- What hast thou gotten? (What have you got?) A Powem I’ Brooad Yarksha (A Poem in Broad Yorkshire) Mi Native Twang By John Hartley - 1898 In the Broad Yorkshire Dialect THEY tell me aw'm a vulgar chap, An ow't to goa to th' schooil To leearn to tawk like other fowk, An net be sich a fooil; But aw've a nooashun, do yo see, Although it may be wrang, The sweetest music is to me, Mi own, mi native twang. An when away throo all mi friends, 1' other taans aw rooam, Aw find ther's nowt con mak amends For what aw've left at hooam; But as aw hurry throo ther streets Noa matter tho' aw'm thrang, Ha welcome if mi ear but greets Mi own, mi native twang. Why some despise it, aw can't tell, It's plain to understand; An sure aw am it saands as weel, Tho'happen net soa grand. Tell fowk they're courtin, they're enraged, They call that vulgar slang; But if aw tell 'em they're engaged, That's net mi native twang. Mi father, tho' he may be poor, Aw'm net ashamed o' him; Aw love mi mother tho' shoe's deeaf, An tho' her e'en are dim; Aw love th' owd taan; aw love to walk Its crucken'd streets amang; For thear it is aw hear fowk tawk Mi own, mi native twang. Aw like to hear hard-workin fowk Say boldly what they meean; For tho' ther hands are smeared wi' muck, May be ther hearts are cleean. An them 'at country fowk despise, Aw say, "Why, let 'em hang;" They'll nivver rob mi sympathies Throo thee, mi native twang. Aw like to see grand ladies, When they're donn'd i' silks soa fine; Aw like to see ther dazzlin e'en Throo th' carriage winders shine; Mi mother wor a woman, An tho' it may be wrang, Aw love 'em all, but mooastly them 'At tawk mi native twang. Aw wish gooid luck to ivvery one; Gooid luck to them 'at's brass; Gooid luck and better times to come To them 'ats poor—alas! An may health, wealth, an sweet content For ivver dwell amang True, honest-hearted, Yorkshire fowk, 'At tawk mi native twang. ~ Translated by Ronnie Bray – Born 1935 ~ Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England ~ ~ ~ Copyright © Ronnie Bray 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 -2008 All Rights Reserved | 