DIALECT AND WORD MEANINGS

[Bodger]

What is / was the name of stones that were put at the entrance of archways etc, they were about 2 ft high cylindrical, with a section cut out to fit the corner of the building, i think they were there to protect the buildings from horse drawn vehicle wheel hubs

[chinatyke]

Yesterday I used a word in a conversation with my wife and she didn't understand me. She is Chinese so rarely understands me anyway. The word was "mun" but that may not be the correct spelling. I was giving instructions via her to our Chinese builder and said something like "tell him he mun do that before Friday." My understanding is that it is a cross between must and can, or should. Is this word still in regular use in Yorkshire? From memory the negative form was mun't, as in you mun't do that.

Strange how these dialect words are retained, I can't remember hearing this word since my childhood.

[Stanley]

Bodge, also cast iron ones at busy entrances and yes, they were to deflect wagon wheels too close to the structure. I don't think I've ever come across a special name for them. There is another use for masonry in-fills on reverse corners. I came across it in the Black Country in the angle outside the door of an ale house. It was to discourage men using the comparative privacy of the corner to have a pee. Sounds reasonable to me.
Tyke, 'mun' still in use but only by the older end.

[Bruff]

Last week's Great British Bake Off gave the origin of 'spit n' sawdust'.

The 'sawdust' was the eel bones in eel pie. The 'spit' was their being spat out onto the floor as you ate them.

Well I never knew that.

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

Richard, I'm not arguing but it sounds a bit contrived to me. I have always associated it with sawdust on the floor of pubs to make it easier to clean it after people had spit on it. Last time I saw sawdust used on the floor was many years ago in butcher's and fishmonger's shops.

[Tripps]

I too was immediately sceptical., so did a bit of research, and came across http://www.eelhouse.co.uk
I'm a bit less doubtful now, but (partly as a resul of geneaogy research), I believe there's often more than one derivation of a particular word?

PS - I've never tasted eel in any form, so maybe time to have a go. I've seen jellied eels in tesco. Are you supposed to eat them cold or do you heat them, and presumably melt the jelly. Serving suggestions welcome.

[Steeplejerk]

Eat them cold Tripps,they're very nice !!

[Stanley]

I was lucky enough to be in Dordrecht when the first of the IJsselmeer eels were being smoked on the quayside and you could buy a hot eel butty straight out of the smoker. Highly recommended, much better than eels in liquor like they sell in London.

[Tripps]

"Eat them cold Tripps,they're very nice !!"

Why do I get the feeling that I'm being led into a trap here? Perhaps the !!

Anyway Tesco were sold out yesterday, so perhaps a lucky escape? I will try again though.
Despite my name though, I couldn't eat tripe, and oysters are definitely not on the menu.

[Steeplejerk]

Oysters are wonderfull,should make yourself a seafood cocktail,Oysters,muscles,jellied Eel,Rollmop Herring,dont eat with your eyes

[catgate]

"Eat them cold Tripps,they're very nice !!"

Why do I get the feeling that I'm being led into a trap here? Perhaps the !!

Anyway Tesco were sold out yesterday, so perhaps a lucky escape? I will try again though.
Despite my name though, I couldn't eat tripe, and oysters are definitely not on the menu.

The best way is to use the method used for the Greenland Gurnet, a large tough skinned fish.

First get a stout piece of board. The traditional is a piece of Norwegian oak, but I think any old piece of decent hardwood is suitable.
Slit and gut the fish (whatever it happens to be, and then nail it to the board securely.
Half fill a large pan, or fish kettle, with water and pour in a good measure of whiskey, or schnapps, followed by your favoured seasoning (mace, lemon grass, garlic,rosebay willow herb, sea salt,tomato puree...all or any, to your own taste).
Then place the fish on its board into the pan and bring to the boil. Simmer slowly for about three hours and than let rest over night.
The following day tip out the cooking liquid and replace with another similar fresh mix.
Simmer again for about three hours and leave to rest overnight,
The following day discard the liquor, remove the nails, throw away the fish and eat the board.
Delicious.mmmmmm.

[Tripps]

I've realised that the sentence "hang on a minute, I'm just talking to a steeplejack from Blackpool about jellied eels" may well be the oddest I've ever uttered.

For the record - I'm a regular rollmop eater, and don't mind the occasional mussel. Tesco still out of stock today - watch this space........

[Stanley]

Love the eel thread, only on Oneguy! Back to the Dordrecht eel; I'd just finished my butty and heard a voice, definitely a Lancashire accent, "Ugh! I can't eat that!" I turned round and saw a lady just about to throw her eel butty into a waste bin after just one bite. "Nay Lass! Don't do that! I'll eat it!" She gave me the butty and I forget where she came from but she came to look at our engine later.
On the energy thread I just used the word 'puther', it describes the way smoke billows back into a room if a flue isn't drawing properly. Northern? Or more general? Closely associated is 'sweeling', the process of cleaning a flue by allowing something that flames freely to be drawn up the chimney. My mother used to sweel our flue at least once a week.
When I was a lad we used to play a game called 'Devil up the spout' You fund a very high water spout, usually on a mill, and put a crumpled piece of burning paper in the bottom. If the spout was clear it was sucked into the spout and as it went up there was a peculiar droning noise. Great fun but frowned on by the mill owners!

[Wendyf]

I have seen sweeling or swaling used to describe stubble burning in fields after the crop has been harvested.

[Stanley]

Nice one Wendy, never heard about that. I was thinking about puther. Puthering back was the description of smoke getting back into the room and puther generally was any dense smoke billowing out of the top of a stack.

[Tripps]

I've managed to get hold of a portion of jellied eels! Report to follow.

[Tripps]

Well - they cost £10 per Kilo, so a portion (six pieces) was £1.80. Bit of a disappointment really. Not much flavour to them, but I now think the "spit and sawdust" phrase which started all this nonsense is probably fact. The bone comes away from the meat cleanly, and just asks to be spit out. I think they would be better smoked, like mackerel.

Summary - I'd be better off with a tin of sardines

[Stanley]

Look for the IJsselmeer eels on the web. It will be expensive but I'll bet you will like them!

[Bodger]

Just home from pub, after watching a couple of games of rugby,, in between we were comparing soccer players and their form of lying down and"whinghing", or what ever its spelt, but still a word that the rugby player dose'nt have in his vocabulary, even if they don't get £ 150,000 a week. i hate soccer, it was once a game for men, but now a bunch of pansies. getting back on topic, Whinging ?

[Stanley]

Looked in Webster. Modern usage of Whingeing as in Whingeing Poms is thought to be Australian. First noted 1150 in Scots/N England dialect. Prime root could be from old Scots 'Quhynge' Old English 'hwinsian', not found in Middle English. Old High German has 'whinson'. All thought to originate from 'whine' as in dog.

[Tripps]

Elsewhere, Panbiker uses the expression "belly whack". I've not come across this, but am familiar with "belly warch". I guess there is a connection.
I looked it up, and found a comedy site which lists the 'Baxter Northern Pain Scale' - graded from Niggle - Twinge - Sprunge - Throb - Gripe - Warch.
The decription of the symptoms is graded from mithered to mauled. Some good words there.

[Stanley]

'Belly wark' (or whatever spelling it suggests to you) is something I haven't heard for years but it used to be common round here.
On another subject. We've looked at the origin of 'gay' for homosexual in the past. All sorts of theories such as 'Good As You'. I was whiling away the time with Common Jewish Expressions by Arthur Naiman yesterday and came across 'faygala', the Yiddish word for a male homosexual. I wonder if 'gay' or 'fag' could be a corruption? I can still remember the first time I heard someone using Yiddish, it was the proprietor of a shop in NY who was on the phone when I went in. It fascinated me because I could understand some of the words as it is 70% derived from German.

[Whyperion]

Tripps , is the Northern Pain Scale taught in medical schools ( I guess every country has its own version )

[Tripps]

No - it's just a joke, though the equally unlikely sounding 'Glasgow Consciousness Scale' Does exist. During my recent hospital repair job, they kept asking me to describe my pain on a scale of one to ten. That seems to be the modern method. A bit subjective though. Mercifully it never got above one to two.

[Stanley]

As my mate Ernie used to say "Don't mention pain, I've got seven!" Could that be the Barlick Pain Scale?