Having caught the back end of an item on the BBC news about certain slang words being frowned upon or even banned in schools it set me thinking.I am proud to be a Yorkshire woman. I love the Yorkshire accent and think it's probably one of the friendliest in the country but possibly we do have some of the strangest phrases and words in the whole of the English language.I don't consider myself to have a strong accent, indeed in the US I have been mistaken for Australian and Canadian.Either way, I have been able to make myself understood, only rarely do I use some of the slang words that Yorkshire is famous for. There are places in Yorkshire where you really do need a phrase book to decipher some of the stranger words or phrases. I have been jotting down some of the weirder words and their meanings (well what I consider they mean, if you know differently please let me know!) just so you can get an idea of what I mean. Fellow Yorkshire folk feel free to contribute if you have any favourite ones.I do remember speaking to my long lost cousin who lives in Weston Super Mare for the first time a couple of years ago and she said she was disappointed that I didn't sound 'more yorkshire'. Her grandma was a yorkshire woman and she loved her accent and favourite sayings. I can remember as children that we probably did use more slang words than kids today do. Spice were sweets, spanish was liquorice (no idea why), caggy handed -left handed, spoggy-sparrow, brass is money(remember Pretenders' Brass in Pocket' song? Chrissie Hynde wrote that when she played a venue in Wakefield and she overheard someone said they had brass in their pocket). We have some fabulous phrases some of which I still use,'' Wor tha born in a barn'- means shut the door,' appy as a pig in muck' means very happy and' daft as a brush'-stupid.
My friend Karen's late grandad was a typical broad accented no nonsense Yorkshireman and to this day I remember him asking a posh friend (well we thought she was posh, she spoke without a hint of yorkshire accent) 'A'tha ad tha nosebag on lass?' in a nutshell, had she had something to eat. How fantastic is that! I think gradually we are losing a lot of our phrases and sayings but you only have to listen to 'Ilkley Moor Baht At' to get a real flavour.
What do you reckon? Do you think our local accents are being diluted? Which is your favourite accent and why?
My friend Karen's late grandad was a typical broad accented no nonsense Yorkshireman and to this day I remember him asking a posh friend (well we thought she was posh, she spoke without a hint of yorkshire accent) 'A'tha ad tha nosebag on lass?' in a nutshell, had she had something to eat. How fantastic is that! I think gradually we are losing a lot of our phrases and sayings but you only have to listen to 'Ilkley Moor Baht At' to get a real flavour.
What do you reckon? Do you think our local accents are being diluted? Which is your favourite accent and why?
In a few years time there will be a campaign to bring back local accents because they will all be lost! I think accents should be kept. I am a Londoner bought up in Essex moved to the West Country but I understood all those words, and think I would have understood them without the translation. My grandmother who was born in the East End of London used to use the word Spanish for Liquorice, I never understood why either.
ReplyDeleteJulie xxxxxxxxx
It will be a shame if local accents our lost.I love a Georgie accent too, a softer one. Seems lots of people called liquorice spanish.I wonder why?
DeleteI was born in Lancashire (Cumbria was invented in 70's) and as we are so near to Yorkshire I recognise (and say) all the phrases you use. A friend's grandma, who lived in the country, called a sink a slopstan (!) and a mattress a palliass (don't know the spelling). I think we should start incorporating these fabulous words into our everyday conversation ... it will certainly make it more interesting!
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Love Claire xx
Hi Claire, I had a really long list of words but had to cut them back or the post would have been much too long! I have never heard of a slopstan and a palliass but think they are fab.
DeleteI am all for accents being kept at all cost. Not sure we are losing 'em as I think there has been a turnaround since the 90's to keep 'em. When I work in London I still have the p*** taken out of my Lancashire accent all the time and somehow it makes me put it on even stronger for my own amusement. In the 80's, 90's I think there was a massive down turn against accents and everyone began to neautralize, but living back in lancashire (3 miles from the Yorkshire border) I can happily say, it is as strong as ever.
ReplyDeleteHi Dan, I'm glad you put on more of a lancashire accent when you are having the p*ss taken!! I love how there are people who specialize in dialects and that they can tell to within a few miles where someone lives.Lets hope we never lose them.
DeleteDear Anne
ReplyDeleteI love to hear regional accents. Here in Lincolnshire, we're not so far removed from yorkshire, but there are quite a few words that seem to be Lincolnshire dialect. 'ikeling' (not sure of the spelling) but it means propping your chair back on two legs, 'd'orn't' for don't, 'having a monk on' - being in a bad mood, 'eat your orts' - orts being bits you have left from a meal. (there are lots of others, but those are the ones that spring to mind). I think you are right that the Yorkshire accent is a friendly one. I always think of Martha and Dickon from The Secret Garden - I used to love reading their conversations out loud (when there was no-one else around, obviously!)
Best wishes
Ellie
Its amazing how many different phrases we all use. I do know the 'having a monk on' but I would say 'got the monk on'!
DeleteI wrote an assignment at uni on the rise of prescriptivism and its effect on education. It covered some of what was talked about in the news article.I have lived in Hampshire twice, Lancashire twice , Yorkshire twice and was born in Devon. My accent is a real mixture - predominantly northern but I can turn on my Winchester accent at the drop of a hat. Despite living in Lancashire for the last 37 years I must not have adopted a strong Lancashire accent or picked up many phrases as the girls have always been described as ' talking posh' by their cousins even though they were all born and brought up in the same town. One of my favourite childhood sayings is 'Gi'or' ( Give over) meaning 'stop it'. I remember using it as a child, but don't know if it's a West Riding or East Riding thing. I still use the words gadjee( man) and radged ( a bit daft), both from my childhood.
ReplyDeleteLots of people still say 'gi'or and I have done myself before now.
DeleteI was born in Yorkshire and I've lived here all my life. I've definitely got a Yorkshire accent and I still use many Yorkshire sayings. When the kids come in from school, I usually ask them What's tha know, owt or nowt? What do you know, anything or nothing? I don't know why though because they always reply, Nowt.
ReplyDeleteHi Jo, I Go in fits and starts using yorkshire phrases.My dad still says 'whats tha know owt or nowt' and I usually reply nowt too!
DeleteThis is such an interesting topic. I'm from the Midlands, but I'm not sure how strong my accent is. Some people say I sound like a Brummie. Others say they'd never have guessed I'm from the Midlands! I definitely think my accent has lost a lot of its strength over the years!
ReplyDeleteCarly
x
My ancestors came from the midlands and one branch (not yet discovered) still live there I think so I guess they will have 'brummie' style accents. Most of the family ended up either in Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire so we have a real mix.
DeleteMum's from Yorkshire,Dad's from London...I was born in Coventry but have no hint of a Midlands accent as I went to a posh prep school.After 23 yrs in Canada my inflection has changed but not the accent.
ReplyDeleteJane x
Glad to hear it Jane!
DeleteEy Anne lass, tha's a reet good blog post!
ReplyDeleteI certainly reel in horror these days when I hear kids talking with that slangy, gangster rap type speak, gosh I sound like I've turned into my mother! Regional accents are such rich and diverse and to be celebrated along with Welsh, Scottish & Irish Gaelic, part of our history.
I used to call licorice Spanish and sweets were Spogs & Spice. In E. Yorks I am referred to as cack handed in using a bit of left & right. When I lived in Leeds I switched my East Riding accent for West Riding as I prefer that.
Have a good weekend x
Thanks Sally. I think we need to research why we called liquorice spanish.I lived near Pontefract where the liquorice plants were grown to make Pontefract cakes so you would think I would know wouldnt you?
DeleteI have never had the pleasure of visit any part of England, that is why I enjoy reading your blog. Thanks for this blog post it was enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI hope you make it over here one day Paulette and I'm glad you enjoy reading my blog.I like writing about England and Yorkshire in particular.
DeleteYour post made me smile. I live in Lancashire and our neighbours have ridiculously strong accents. She was talking to me one day and I had no idea what she was talking about as she was using local dialect and she's in her 30's. I love a scottish accent. My friend is scottish but lived in Lancashire when her daughter was born. Until her daughter went to school she spoke with a scottish accent that she'd picked up from her parents.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend.
Ali x
Hi Ali, of all accents I find Scottish most difficult to understand.Then again there are variations from region to region and some are stronger accents than others.I do love a soft Scottish accent.
DeleteWhen I was a kid visiting Chicago, a friend said that I had an accent which surprised me. Westerners speak slower and don't speak thru their nose. I found the mid westerners to have a nasal accent - my father was one of them.
ReplyDeleteI recognise all your phrases and I'm from Lancashire. Liquorice was Spanish when I bought it as a child. Cack handed meant you were clumsy.
ReplyDeleteLove from Mum
xx
Ruth, for some reason I cant put an individual reply on your comment nor Mum's either.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for the reply to both of you!
Hi Anne, I was born in west yorkshire, lived in Berkshire, Durham, and Belfast! I found I changed my accent to fit in with wherever I lived, yet if ever i go back i can pick it up no probs. I never heard of Spanish for liquorice, but cackhanded I do remember. I think the regional dialects are softening over the years as more and more people move for work reasons, whereas when we were girls, you were yorkshire lasses born and bred, and no one moved far from their roots.
ReplyDeleteWell I am pretty broad despite being sent for elocution lessons as a child. I think I just rebelled against it!
ReplyDeleteAt least now we get to hear our own accents on radio/TV but, yes, dialect is dying out.
I love the "Yorkshire" words column in the Yorkshire Post, some reet funny ones!
Carol xx