DIALECT AND WORD MEANINGS

[PanBiker]

Mardy pant's a bit of a softy or mummy's boy, used in Barlick. Softy Walter in popular comic jargon and caricature.

[Stanley]

I heard it often in Stockport but can't remember it here. The word used most here was 'nesh'. which had the same meaning.
I had a furtle and found this.... There is a similar term nish used in Newfoundland. The word comes from Old English hnesce meaning feeble, weak, or infirm and is a cognate with the 16th century Dutch word nesch typically meaning damp or foolish.

[Stanley]

I almost used the word 'alekefic' this morning in a post but desisted on the grounds that most people will never have come across it. Like many new words I came across in tha army it originates from foreign service, in thius case almost certainly in Egypt. My regiment, the Cheshires, had been stationed there and so I'll go for this explanation. (LINK)
Other words were 'bondook' (rifle, thought to originate on the Khyber Pass). 'Imshi' for "get a move on" is fairly well known. I'll leave you to work out 'shufti kush badin' for yourselves.....

[Tripps]

I almost used the word 'alekefic' this morning in a post but desisted on the grounds that most people will never have come across it

I've come across it. Meaning laid back or coudn't care less - from the same source as Insh-Allah or Please God as the Irish are fond of saying.

Other expressions which I have regularly used at one time but rarely now -
Jaldi - quickly . dhobi laundry . dhobi dust - washing powder. ghari - lorry. char - tea.

makan - food. nasi goreng - fried rice.

alstublieft - dutch for s'il vous plait.

San fairy Ann - Ca ne fait rien.

I won't list the really rude one, the B word, but George Orwell had it covered. I'm saving it for when I finally lose patience with Indian call centre scammers.

[Tizer]

Don't forget `Have a dekko', as in `Have a look', which I remember well from childhood and still use. I guessed it would be another from India. Looked it up and found it comes from Hindi: dekho, meaning to see.

[Stanley]

Lots of loan words and phrases came back from India. One I still use is to describe someone exhibiting strange mental behaviour as 'Doolaly tap'. Indian army slang, from Deolali, the name of a town with a military sanatorium and a transit camp and Urdu tap ‘fever’.

[Tripps]

Heard the word 'kine' today. It was the answer to a quiz question

' For what group of animals that this is the collective noun' ?

I was surprised to see it was for cows. Never heard of it - what say you Stanley?

[Stanley]

Yes David, I knew that. It's an archaic word and I think frequently used in biblical Translation from the Hebrew. I'll have a furtle.... I also think I have come across it in poetry.
"From Middle English kyne, kyn, kuin, kiin, kien (“cows”), either a double plural of Middle English ky, kye (“cows”), equivalent to modern kye +‎ -en, or inherited from Old English cȳna (“cows', of cows”), genitive plural of cū (“cow”). More at cow."
"noun, plural cows, (Archaic) kine. the mature female of a bovine animal, especially of the genus Bos. the female of various other large animals, as the elephant or whale"

[Tripps]

Yes David, I knew that.

Good man - I thought you might have.

It struck me that the middle English 'kye' is just like someone from Ulster would pronounce 'cow' today.

[chinatyke]

I've come across kye-'eds in Westhoughton. The local yokels were called kye-'eds. The story went something like this. Long ago, a Westhoughton farmer erected a new gate to one of his fields. One day he found a cow had poked its head through the gate and become stuck. He tried unsuccessfully to free it but in the end had to resort to sawing through its neck. Hence the nickname kye-'eds: cow-heads. Still in use today!

[Stanley]

Never heard of that China. Bit like fishing the moon out of the pond......

[Tizer]

Cow: koh, German; ku, Danish & Norwegian; ko, Swedish.

[Stanley]

Koo for cow was quite frequent in dialect and Scotland. We always used to call out 'Cush cush' to bring them in off the field for milking.
Wain in West Scotland for baby. In England it meant a wagon or cart.

[plaques]

The origin of the word Dunce. Not many people know that?

[Tripps]

This one did.

[Stanley]

I remember knowing once but could not have answered the question about origin. Reading how he reasoned God exists persuades me I did right to forget!
Remember me coming across ' corridians' meaning old people who had paid to be cared for in old age by the monasteries? I Came across the general term, 'corridy' again associated with religious houses. This time it was in a description of duties that had to be compensated for if a grange was abandoned. I looked it up... "Corrody kor′o-di an allowance: pension: originally the right of the lord to claim free lodging from the vassal." and found that I am still a corridian!
Better not tell Rees Mogg. He would start using it as a term for pensions just to demonstrate he is well educated and cleverer than us...
I used the verb 'sam' as in gather this morning in a reply. Is it generally used or just local dialect? To sam up sheep or cattle.

[Tripps]

Never heard of 'sam' in that context.

Reading how he reasoned God exists persuades me I did right to forget!

Agreed - in spades.

Indulge me in this - I think my current personal list of irritating words has become long enough to publish


agency
and I'll tell you why
anxiety
basically
blah blah blah
channel
clear
conversation
critique
curate
dashboard
don't get me wrong
do you know what?
empower
from the get go
gammon
ideation
I won't lie to you
incredibly
I'm good
Jeffrey Archer
Let me be clear
mental health
meme
multi disciplinary team
naartamean? - yagetme?
narrative
need to
nomark
Occupational Therapist
optics
road map
safeguarding
safe space
so
so it is
triggered
trope
vulnerable
well being
who knew
woke

[chinatyke]

Born to be mild. . . and letting little things like these upset you?

I love the word 'nomark' [no mark?] - I first came across it used by Scousers and thought it was a very apt adjective for some of them!

[Tripps]

and letting little things like these upset you?

Upset would be a bit strong - (mildly) irritate would be nearer.

You're right - it should be 'no mark' . I first heard it in an episode of Emmerdale.

[Stanley]

Kind of?

[plaques]

Absolutely. Serves you right for watching Emmerdale.

[Stanley]

I've just heard a report on an art exhibition and the interviewer said it was "very overwhelming". I think that's tautology (very pregnant) but am not sure. What do you think?

[Tripps]

I think there may be degrees of being overwhelmed. You could be slightly, or temporarily overwhelmed - so personally I'd let 'very' sneak through.

You can't be very unique though .

[Stanley]

I suspect you're right David, it isn't a finite state. Come to think of it 'completely overwhelmed' is correct.

[Stanley]

'Bent Moor' cropped up today. Nothing to do with the shape, it's a moor that is covered by Yorkshire Bent, a very wiry tough grass. Funnily enough they aren't common in Yorkshire, ours are almost always Heather Moors.