Dialect/slang

The origins and history of placenames, nicknames, local slang, etc.
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Croggy
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Post by Croggy »

Can't say I've heard 'jelly' used like that but it would be a fairly obvious contraction of the word generally ...My dad and grandad always did say 'five and twenty to/past' though rather than 'twenty-five to' .    

Trojan
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Post by Trojan »

tippi wrote: Hi I'm new here, so I don't know whether this has already been asked. I just wondered if anyone else remembers old people saying 'jelly' instead of 'generally' as in 'your mam 'd jelly be home be now, it's five a twenty to six'. She lived most of her life in Gipton although she was born in Scarborough - so I wondered whether it was Leedsspeak or North Yorks but I know I never hear it used now. Gen'lly perhaps?How about sither. As in "sither come 'ither wi' ther"A Yorkshire dialect word used to me when I was little by my grandma and her friends "doy" meaning love I think.
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Trojan
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Post by Trojan »

A good source of dialect stuff is "Clock" almanac. Written by John Hartley. I have a copy. An example of "Clock" humourWife " If God 'ad meant thee t' smuke 'ed a putten a chimley in thi 'eard"Husband "Aye an' if 'eed a meant thee to nag me 'eed a made me deaf"
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jogiebear
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Post by jogiebear »

Not sure if some of these have already appeared but here we go.'I’m ready for t’ knacker’s yard' – I’m feeling old'I’ll bang yer bleeding ‘eads together' - Said to my sister and me when we arguedSnicket – edged by trees/bushesGinnel – edged by wallsOd’on – Wait a minute (hold on)'Your eyes are bigger than your belly' - You have asked for more food than you can eatFuddle – buffet (usually at Christmas)'Blood and sand!' - goodness me‘Ah lee, Ah lee’ (Ali) – chanted at a school playground fight‘Ah’m banna knack you’ – I’m going to beat you up'It’s like t’GPO in here’ – The phone is ringing frequently this evening‘Tap’ – borrow e.g. ‘Can ah tap a fag?’ – Can I borrow a cigarette?‘Kick can an’ op it’ – children’s game‘Lanky streak o’ [edited for content]’ – a thin person‘Tha’d mek a better doower than a winda’ - You are in the way; I can’t see‘Put wood int ‘oil’ – Shut the doorKailai – sherbetKailai’d – very drunk‘A few sherbets’ – A few alcoholic beveragesI grew up in Morley but most of these were phrases my mum used (from Torre Crescent, York Road, East Leeds).Love this thread!

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cnosni
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Post by cnosni »

Trojan wrote: arry awk wrote: Hi CnosiA few weeks ago on the same subject of missingthe 'the' or t' in Leedsspeak, (It was in the posting aboutpronouncing Pudsey and Bradford!),I seem to rememberactually saying that most Leeds/Bradford/Pudsey peoplemiss 'The' and even 't' out altogether and substitutea very minute aspirate e.g; Pu<h>sey or Bra<h>ford,or'Get up in<h> mornin' Try it yourself! It comes out asa very slight constriction of the epiglottis!I only put the t' in those quotes in my previous descriptive, because a<h> could have caused confusionamong our 'Oft Cummed' SL exiles from other regions!Try, 'While<h>bus arrives'. (fits better than just missing out the conjunction, which doesn't sound 'Leeds' at all saying,'whilebusarrives'!Thanks for the dialect download. Have to unravel all those 'buttons'WHEN I get a minute! Thanks again.Arry Dropping the "t" as t'mornin' is common throughout Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the East Midlands. However Bratfurt is a classic West Riding pronunciation. I well remember being on Leeds City station as an 11/12 year old and hearing the station announcer say the word correctly Bradd forddd and thinking how funny it sounded.As someone who works mostly in Lancashire, there are difference (their peculiar "ow" sound in words like round" but for the most part much of what they say is familiar if slightly different. They laugh at wun for one (they say wan) they laugh at "yoo" for you when they say "yew" But for the most part north of the Trent we can understand one another fairly easily.There was a famous comedian from Wigan called Frank Randall, the owners of the variety theatre circuit in which he worked wouldn't allow him south of Nottingham, claiming he would be unintelligable. The film Kes when first released was only in cinemas north of Nottingham for the same reason.I tend to feel safe linguistically in the Rugby League heartlands although I suppose Hull's "gerrem on sard" is a bit foreign to Leeds ears well what you expect.A limited gene pool suddenly swamped with immigrants from Kent in the 19th century,bad combination if you ask me.They only sing when theyre fishing,sing when theyre fishing,they only sing when theyre fishing.....
Don't get me started!!My Flickr photos-http://www.flickr.com/photos/cnosni/Secret Leeds contactinfo@secretleeds.com

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chameleon
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Post by chameleon »

arry awk wrote: Hi Chameleon.So sorry,it's ta'en me nearly a week toreply to your post abt Seacroft fever wards!Think I was just 7 when I got Scarlet fever. The wards then, (1937)were T and TU You graduated to TU about a week before beingdischarged if no complications had set in! Most I can rememberwas tea and bread and dripping for breakfast! Porridge if youwere lucky! One of the night sisters had a wind up gramophone,very tinny, and she used to play 'Rose Marie' selections sung by NelsonEddy and Jeannette McDonald! I still get 'flashbacks' when everthey get played on old fogies' radio progs!I remember the wards were always cold. "To kill the nasty germs" they told us! Don't remember open fires tho'. but there weresteam pipes (COLD) round the walls!Once I dropped an orange off the bed and scrambled out chasing it across the ward. Nurse caught me and I got a slapped bum!Had to stop in another fortnight because I caught bronchitis!Coming out,you had to ditch your nightshirt and go through adettol bath and put on fresh clothes that mum brought in.Quite an experience!cheersArry Arry - here's a fireplace for you! (before it was known as Seacroft Hospital - the old Hall)http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?reso ... SPLAY=FULL

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Steve Jones
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Post by Steve Jones »

just harking back to the grids bit earlier on here. In manchester i used to be told that "Jenny Greenteeth" would get me if I hung near grids or ponds! put me off I can tell you.I found out years later that this was a Lancashire term for duckweed in ponds and was a folklore goblin as well. I was wandering whether the term filtered over the pennines to Leeds/West Yorks?
Steve JonesI don't know everything, I just like to give that impression!

arry_awk
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Post by arry_awk »

Hi Chameleon(Can you actually change colourto match your surroundings?!! LOL! (A lot will at the next election!)Thanks for that Leodis D/L of the hospital.That's some flue for the stove isn't it?No fear of carbon monoxide poisoning there!Being 6 at the time I don't remember too much now,apart from bread and dripping and slapped bum from the nurse!That looks like a German 'Nuremburg' stove? Be worth a bit now if it was preseved.Thanks againArryHi Steve Jones. Although my dear Mum was born in Salford,I can't say she ever uttered any Jenny Greenteeth threats!In my service days in Wiltshire,we used to swim in a fairly deepbrook. The waterweed in there would really grip hold of your legsso you had to get assistance from your mates to drag yourselfout! We were banned from using that waterhole as a lot of usdeveloped ear infections.Arry

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Steve Jones
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Post by Steve Jones »

hi arryYeah duckweed can be horrible. i used to live next to the Leeds/Liverpool canal in Manchester. One of our dogs once jumped in and got covered in the stuff. we had to pull it off him."Jenny Greenteeth"originally was a water goblin who supposedly haunted the Ribble seeking souls to drown. The term seems to have been switched later to duckweed.The grannies used the name to scare us kids away from sitting next to grids in the road(as well as mentioning scarlet fever) and to stop us playing on our own around the canal , ponds or flooded quarries. they knew how to make you take care in those days<LOL>.
Steve JonesI don't know everything, I just like to give that impression!

Trojan
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Post by Trojan »

A dialect word you used to hear in Morley was "clotched" meaning barred as in "'es clotched from t'Seccy" - he's banned from the Sycamore (they can ban me anytime they like the beer's cr4p in there these days) I think the word may be related to cloche, which I believe is a cover gardeners use to protect tender plants.
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