DIALECT AND WORD MEANINGS

[LizG]

Translation "feeding on nutmeg" ????

[Stanley]

Yup!

[Tripps]

It was one of the words that the contestants were asked to spell during the recent 'Child Genius' programme on Ch 4 TV. I only watched a bit of it - I think they were aged about eleven.

[Stanley]

Don't some phrases run nicely off the tongue. I got a new duvet yesterday and what struck me was 'Snug as a bug in a rug', Try saying it out loud, it rolls off the tongue beautifully!

[Stanley]

A silly little rhymer came to mind yesterday, was it common?
"It isn't the cough that carries them off. It's the coffin they carry 'em off in!"

[Tizer]

I don't remember that one, but it sounds right.

Did Barlickers use the word `hoik' (sp.?) to mean lift? As in "The coal man hoiked the sack onto his back". I remember it used commonly in Blackburn.

[PanBiker]

Yes, part of my vocabulary.

[Stanley]

Yup, me too. Mind you, Blackburn twang got me once when a bloke said "Who's pinched my crowbar?" I told him I didn't know and he repeated it getting quite aerated. It turned out of course that 'who' was Blackburn for 'he'......
Another related word springs to mind. 'Thrutched' to describe an effort.

[Tripps]

I seem to recall that we decided that 'who' referred to a woman.
It 's been a struggle but I've found this to support it, from this site Dialect

"hoo - she (from Anglo Saxon "ao" - she)"

[Stanley]

In that case it was a bloke Tripp so it might be interchangeable.

[Tizer]

I remember it being used to refer to women rather than men. Pronounced like `ooze'. "Ooze knocking abat wi yon Irish fella".

Some of the pronunciations of foreign words were funny, such as those for car makers - Ren-alt and Pudge-ot for example. And my dad bought shampoo in satch-ets. Also, if he wanted a bit of adventure and some variety in his vegetables he'd eat `suedes'.

[Stanley]

When I first went to the US I was intrigued by the notice I saw in cafes and restaurants asking customers 'Please bus your own tables'. I soon found what it meant, clear up after yourself. This reminds me that my mother always referred to clearing the table as 'siding'. Is this term a general one?

[Julie in Norfolk]

When I first went to the US I was intrigued by the notice I saw in cafes and restaurants asking customers 'Please bus your own tables'. I soon found what it meant, clear up after yourself. This reminds me that my mother always referred to clearing the table as 'siding'. Is this term a general one?

Certainly I had to side the plates or side the table. This phrase though not known in Steve's house in Essex.

[Tripps]

Yes it was 'side the table' in my youth, but I haven't heard it used for a very long time. I guess it's related to 'sideboard'. Any young person now would take it to mean a portion of coleslaw or baked beans next to your burger.

There's a lot more to the word 'side' than I first imagined. Check it out here side . Within my usual attention span - I can't see any reference to clearing a table. I suppose, being American they'd say 'bus'.

[Stanley]

'Side away' was another way of saying tidy up, not restricted to tables.

[Julie in Norfolk]

Yup, me too. Mind you, Blackburn twang got me once when a bloke said "Who's pinched my crowbar?" I told him I didn't know and he repeated it getting quite aerated. It turned out of course that 'who' was Blackburn for 'he'......
Another related word springs to mind. 'Thrutched' to describe an effort.

Mum confirms that her Blackburn grandad used hoo or oo for "she", we also confirmed the siding up, siding the table today and one more (which has gone for the moment).

[Tizer]

Julie's post prompted me to ask where her Blackburn grandad lived. That led to a series of posts about family history that were off-topic so I've moved them to the `Miscellaneous genealogy resources' topic which is here: LINK

[Tizer]

A man on the radio this morning referred to `phubbing' which he says is ignoring (snubbing) someone by paying attention to your mobile phone instead of listening to them. He also mentioned `anticipointment' which he defined as being disappointed when what you anticipated didn't materialise (but it sounded a bit unnecessary to me).

[Stanley]

I heard that interview Tiz and I agree, it all sounded a bit contrived to me.

[cloghopper]

Technology has become the death of English

[Stanley]

It won't die as long as we're alive Cloggy!

[Julie in Norfolk]

On a post card on ebay "Mills Loosing, Brunswick St, Nelson". What does the term "loosing" mean? It looks like a parade of people walking down a road. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nelson-Mills- ... Swl9BWGS4-

[chinatyke]

On a post card on ebay "Mills Loosing, Brunswick St, Nelson". What does the term "loosing" mean? It looks like a parade of people walking down a road. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nelson-Mills- ... Swl9BWGS4-

Loosing means closing for the day in this context. It's loosing time = leaving time. Perhaps it came from closing time or letting the workers loose? I remember this phrase was used in Colne.

[Julie in Norfolk]

Thanks China, I had an inkling but wasn't 100% sure.

[Stanley]

Common in Barlick. I have always followed China's reasoning, being let loose after confinement in work. Could also be a reference to the fact that in earlier years the workers were actually locked in the mill.