SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Does anyone have any local dialect or slang words (either in use or dying out) to add to these?To blob - to not turn up.Laik - to play.Bob into the pub - go into the pub.Brae - to hit.Calling - talking.Gill - a half (of beer.)Chump - to collect firewood.On'y - only.Allus - always.etc etc These are just off the top of my head, but there must be loads of others.It would be good to record them here.CheersSi

owt - anythingnowt - nothing

slw wrote: owt - anythingnowt - nothing laik is a word i only came across when i moved to south Leeds,never heard it used north of the river.i do know that its origin is Viking,danish Viking to be precise.The danish vikings settled,eventualy in a swaithe across the north of England,from Cumbria to Runcorn,then across from Cumbria to the dales where they met fellow danes who had come along the humber and settled in what is now west,east and a large chunk of north yorkshire,mixing happily,after a fair old bit of turmoil,with the Angles who were the predominant settlers in those areas (i think its fair to say that south yorkshire was mostly inhabited by saxons when the Danes came over,along with the midlands,hence a marked change in the place names of what is now south yorkshire to the rest of yorkshire.)If you go up to cumbria/lakes you will possibly notice that their accent is not disimilar from that of West Yorkshire,and is certainly more akin to ours than those of south yorkshire to our own.The word laik is mentioned in Melvyn Braggs "The adventure of English" where he goes on to mention Leeds and its dialectual connections to cumbria and the dales.as for "Calling" well i have a little theory that this is the origin of an area of Leeds centre, the Calls, pronounced corls.There is no definitive theory for the origins of this place name but i have read that the inhabitants down this end were known as Low inners,as the various little courtyards and alleyways they lived in were also known as inns.Low inners was a derogotary term used by the higher echelons of Leeds society as they were looked down on and were considered to spend their day,literally gossiping and chatting,or "Calling".These Low inners,it is believed,were the source for the name Loiners,Lo-iners,a derivation that occured over some centuries.with this in mind is it not also possible that we now wrongly pronounce the area now known as "the Corls (Calls)" after years of linguistic evolution?Just my personal theory though,any thoughts?

"mine'st you" = mind you"ees" = his"mister"( or "that mister" )used by or to children for a man not known to the child."nobbling" = kidding, tricking someone"buffet" = stool or footstool"ginnel" = alleyway" feast" = fair

cnosni wrote: slw wrote: owt - anythingnowt - nothing laik is a word i only came across when i moved to south Leeds,never heard it used north of the river.i do know that its origin is Viking,danish Viking to be precise.The danish vikings settled,eventualy in a swaithe across the north of England,from Cumbria to Runcorn,then across from Cumbria to the dales where they met fellow danes who had come along the humber and settled in what is now west,east and a large chunk of north yorkshire,mixing happily,after a fair old bit of turmoil,with the Angles who were the predominant settlers in those areas (i think its fair to say that south yorkshire was mostly inhabited by saxons when the Danes came over,along with the midlands,hence a marked change in the place names of what is now south yorkshire to the rest of yorkshire.)If you go up to cumbria/lakes you will possibly notice that their accent is not disimilar from that of West Yorkshire,and is certainly more akin to ours than those of south yorkshire to our own.My father lived " north of the river " in Harehills and used " laik " and " laiking " all his life . As for " brae " surely it's " bray " ?Are not " braes " by " yon bonny banks " ? The word laik is mentioned in Melvyn Braggs "The adventure of English" where he goes on to mention Leeds and its dialectual connections to cumbria and the dales.as for "Calling" well i have a little theory that this is the origin of an area of Leeds centre, the Calls, pronounced corls.There is no definitive theory for the origins of this place name but i have read that the inhabitants down this end were known as Low inners,as the various little courtyards and alleyways they lived in were also known as inns.Low inners was a derogotary term used by the higher echelons of Leeds society as they were looked down on and were considered to spend their day,literally gossiping and chatting,or "Calling".These Low inners,it is believed,were the source for the name Loiners,Lo-iners,a derivation that occured over some centuries.with this in mind is it not also possible that we now wrongly pronounce the area now known as "the Corls (Calls)" after years of linguistic evolution?Just my personal theory though,any thoughts?

I think the expression 'to laik'is more predominant in Bradford than Leeds.I've worked with blokes from all over Yorkshire and dialects can vary from one town to the next.The first time I came across 'laik'was visiting an old mate who'd married a Bradford lass.When I called(not ca'l'ed)his wife told me he'd gone to watch city laik and I thought it was a place!

Si Apologies I don't ........ having left the city 24 years ago and having spent the last twenty years in Scotland, I have assimilated a vast range of dialect most of which isn't my native dialect (for example I constantly revert to saying this and that needs a 'redd up', meaning a tidy up which I think is a Scots mining term). I assumed a decade ago that my dialect was lost!What came as a shock though was a chance encounter in a ski centre car park in Montana a couple of years ago. As I got changed to get ready to spend a day skiing, the bloke parked next to me asked me in a typical american style how things were going? I cannot honestly remember what my response was other than general pleasantries. His immediate reply was a shock though "Man, you must be from the north east Leeds"Turns out he had spent two years working for an oil company in West Yorkshire (I seem to recall, based in Pool in Wharfedale), had initially been overwhelmed by the local dialect and then utterly bemused by the local (and very local) variations in dialect/accent. In the couple of years in West Yorkshire he used to entertain himself trying to identify the origin of folks he encountered just from dialect/accent alone!

Being from west leeds origionally, i can spot an East Leeds accent at 500 paces! but i have met folk from all over Yorkshire and have been told "You're from Leeds you" laikin' is used in the farming comunity in north leeds, i encountered it back in 1990's when i were a farm labourer outside Yeadon

Agreed about the different Leeds accents.When i used to work in a call centre roughly about 60 % of our calls were from people in Leeds and very quickly i could identify whereabouts they were calling from and not just North and South of the river but pretty much into 4 quarters - North-east, south-east, north-west, south-west and occasionally individual areas, especially Pudsey and Morley.It's fascinating to me because i grew up in north-west Leeds but moved down to south-west Leeds when i was 13.Strangely no-one in the south knew what chumping was and i couldn't ever play "Cuppy" it had to be "Wembley" after i moved.

When I was a lad in Pudsey, "laik" was used all the time. "Is Paul laikin' out?" for example. I don't know if "calling" has anything to do with The Calls, as it is pronounced as in Tallin, with a short "ah" sound. Some others:'ey up - various meanings, from a greeting to "look out."Now then - a greeting.Summat - something.Give over - stop it.Daft 'a'peth - Silly person (daft half penny worth.)Snicket - a ginnel. Anyone know if these are interchangeable, or are there different definitions?Nesh - feels the cold.Fair thraiped - knackered.Jiggered - ditto (or broken/damaged.)Any more?Cheers Si