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Dialect
When visiting the Halifax and Calderdale area, you will encounter local variants of standard English words and linguistic forms
Some of the words shown below are standard English forms – and meanings – but are used more frequently here than in other parts of the country
I also include some older terms which may be encountered when researching local and family history
As with most regional dialects, the local forms are more likely to be used by the older population, as the young adopt the received forms from radio, television and popular culture. The well-tuned ear might detect some variation in the dialect – and the pronunciation – in the various parts of Calderdale, but what follows will suffice on first contact
In the examples below, I have used:
t'to represent the word the when it is pronounced as a glottal stop, as described in the Foldout on Pronunciation
| A |
- A-gate
-
To start, get going, on the way.
Get a-gate! »» Get going, on your way
The word is also used as an auxiliary verb meaning To start, to begin doing something, as in She's getten a-gate cleaning »» She's started cleaning
The stress is on the second syllable.
The word may be related to the Old Norse gata [a road, a journey] – as in the element gate
- Abide
- To bear, endure, suffer.
I can't abide to hear that child cry; I can't abide the new vicar
- Aboon
- Above
- Addle
- To earn, to acquire.
The word comes from the Old Norse ødla
- Again
- Near to, close by, against
He lives again t' mill
Although the word is usually pronounced in the standard manner = a-genn, it is often pronounced ageean with 3 syllables
- Allus
- Local pronunciation of Always
- An' all
- And all, also, as well, too.
He's coming an' all
- Arrand
- A spider
- Article
- An unpleasant or undesirable person.
He treated his kids cruelly ... the article
- At
- A contraction of that. That's 'im 'at she married »» That's him whom she married
- Aumery
- A food cupboard. May be related to Aumbry
- Awkerd
- Aka Okkerd. Local pronunciation of awkward. The word also has the sense of being intentionally difficult.
When he got older, he was an awkerd bugger
- Ax
- A form of ask. Other forms are encountered:
ax axed axing
| B |
- Baan, bahn
-
Going, bound for, heading for, will.
Where are you baan?
Am baan to 'it 'im if 'e doesn't stop
- Babby
- A baby, child
- Back-end
- Autumn
- Back-word
- To give back-word is to cancel
- Badly
- Ill, sick
- Badly off
- Poor, hard up
They're not badly off, they've got a bit of money
- Baht
- Without. As in On Ilkley Moor Baht 'At and Baht meat week
- Bairn
- Child. From the Scandinavian and Old English
- Bait
- A snack, food eaten at work.
The word comes from the Old Norse beit
See Jock
- Bang
- An old term for a drinking binge
- Bar
- Except, but.
I can stand anything bar the hot weather »» I can stand anything except the hot weather
- Barm pot
- A foolish person
- Black-bright
- Very dirty.
He was playing outside and now he's black-bright
- Black clock
- A black beetle
- Blaeberry
- A bilberry.
The word comes from the Old Norse bla [blue]
- Boggart
- Used in place names, the element means an imp or a spirit.
See Hob
- Bottom
- To clean thoroughly.
When we get a warm day, I'll give the kitchen a good bottoming
- Brass
- Money
- Brat
- Apron, pinafore
- Bray
- To hit, beat, fight.
He was braying on the door »» He was knocking on the door
Also Yer dad'll bray you when he gets home »» Your father will hit you when he gets him
- Brig
- Bridge.
Sorby Brig »» Sowerby Bridge
- Briggs
- Fire irons to support pots and pans during cooking over an open fire
- Britches
- Trousers, breeches, knickers
- Brush
- See Living over t' brush
- Brussen
- Full (of food); Bold
- Buck-stick
- A playful or cheeky child
- Buck up
- Cheer up, got better.
He bucked up when he heard the news
- Buffet
- A small stool
- Bully Bowl
- A large hoop which a child rolled along the ground, propelling it by means of a stick or a hook
- Bun
- Any cake, tart or bun. The word does not specially mean a plain bun
- Bup
- Drink – when talking to a young child.
Have a bup of your milk
| C |
- Cack-handed
-
Also kack-handed, Caggy-handed.
Left-handed; clumsy
- Cadge
- To beg.
See Cadger
- Call
- To chat or gossip, especially as with a group of people standing in the street.
The word is pronounced with a short a to rhyme with shall.
She's out calling »» She's visiting a friend and gossipping
- Call
- To criticise someone behind their back.
She's always calling her sister
The word is pronounced as in standard English
- Cap
- Be superior.
He caps our Billy at football »» He is far better than Billy at football
It caps owt I've seen before »» It beats anything I've seen before
- Capped
- Surprised.
I wer' capped when she told me
- Carr, cahr, ca'
- To sit, to settle, to become quiet.
carr quart »» be quiet
See Carr down
- Carr down
- To bend down, stoop.
This may be related to cower
- Causey
- Pavement. The kerb is the causey edge
See Causey
- Chats
- Small potatoes fried whole
- Childer
- Children. From the Middle English
- Chime in
- To interrupt someone to get your say.
I was telling my story when she chimes in with 'er two-pennorth
See Chip in
- Chip in
- To interrupt someone.
You can't say anything without 'er chipping in
See Chime in
- Chumping
- Collecting wood for a November 5th bonfire.
See Cob-coaling and Progging
- Chunter
- To grumble, mutter
- Clammed
- Thirsty, hungry.
Is t'tea ready? I'm fair clammed
- Clams
- A vice, a pair of pincers, or other device for holding things
- Cleg
- A horse fly.
The word comes from the Old Norse kleggi
- Click
- To succeed in a relationship with the opposite sex.
She's smiling at me, I think I've clicked
- Closet
- A water closet or toilet – inside or outside the house
- Clout
- A cloth or an article of clothing, as in:
Ne'er cast a clout till May is out
The word is still used in dish clout, a dish cloth- Clout
- To hit, or a blow.
You'll get a clout if you do that again »» I'll hit you if you do that again
- Cob-coaling
- Collecting wood for a November 5th bonfire.
- Cobs
- Sweating cobs »» Sweating profusely
- Cockle
- To curl up, to bend
- Cockled
- Bent, uneven, curled
- Cocklety
- Unstable, rickety, wobbly
- Cod
- To kid, pretend, deceive
- Collop
- Also scollop, scallop. Any thick slice or a lump of food.
Also a sandwich – made up of a slice of potato / a piece of cod / a slice of potato – which was dipped in batter and deep-fried
- Comer-in
- Another name for an incomden, a new arrival in a community
- Cow-clap
- A cow-pat
- Cow Rake
- A rake for scraping out the ashes. This may be a shortened form of Coil Rake
- Crackin' t'flags
- Very hot weather.
It wer crackin' t'flags last summer
Refers to weather which is so hot that the paving stones crack
- Creaking gate
- Someone who makes a noise or complains without any due cause
| D |
- Danny
-
Hand – when talking to a young child.
Hold my danny; Wash your dannies
- Delf
- Quarry
- Diddle
- To cheat or deceive someone.
Count yer change at t' shop, he'll try to diddle yer
- Diddlums
- A savings club which collected money on a weekly basis for distribution at holidays or times of need
- Ding
- To hit heavily, to throw down heavily
- Dinner
- The word is typically used for the main midday meal.
From the 19th century, the word was used for the evening meal, especially in the middle and upper classes.
See Tea
- Do
- A celebration, festivity.
We're having a bit of a do after the funeral; They'll be having a do at the pub
See Wake
- Doff
- To take off
- Dollop
- A large amount of, a lump of. Usually something soft, like mashed potato
- Dolly blue
- A small bag of whitener used in washing clothes
- Dolly stick
- A wood device – often like a small 3-legged stool on a pole – for agitating clothes during washing.
See Posser
- Dolly tub
- Aka Peggy tub. A wooden, or galvanised metal, barrel in which clothes were washed. The washing was agitated by a posser or a dolly stick
- Dolly yellow
- This gave your net curtains a creamy colour
- Donkey stone
- Aka Scouring stone, Ruddlestone. A soft, coloured sandstone – often white, cream or brown – which was used to draw designs, lines or marks on the steps and flags outside the house. The stone is produced when a geological inclusion in sand-stone – known as an acrespire – weathers. The name comes from the trade-name of Read's Donkey Brand of donkey stone
- Donned up
- Dressed up in one's best clothes
- Down t' nick
- In failing health.
'e's goin' dahn t' nick; 'e's gone dahn t' nick since I saw 'im last
- Drawing tin
- Or Draw tin. A metal sheet which was held across the fireplace to cause a draught to draw the fire. This would be a fire-proof alternative to a newspaper
- Drinking
- Also Drinkings. Tea-time, or the meal eaten at tea-time
[Archaic]
| E |
| F |
- Fair
-
Quite, rather.
We were fair flummoxed; We lived at the end house, fair opposite the Vicarage
- Fast
- Hard put, tried, stuck, dubious, doubtful.
I'm a bit fast what to buy 'er for Christmas »» I don't know what to buy her for Christmas
- Fast on
- Sound asleep.
'e wer fast on »» He was fast asleep
Also 'e wer 'ard and fast on »» He was fast asleep
See Hard on
- Fatty-cake
- A small, rich, flat, round bread. Often made from left-over pastry
- Fettle
- In fine fettle »» In good form
- Fettle
- To tidy, prepare, clean. Fettlin' day was often Friday.
A fettler was someone who cleaned a machine in a mill
- Flaight
- A ghost
- Flasket
- A long, shallow basket, or trug.
See Swiller
- Flayed, fleyd
- Afraid, frightened
- Flaysome
- Frightening, threatening.
He gave her a flaysome look
- Fleak
- A gate which is fitted into a gap in a wall
- Fleeting dish
- A bowl for skimming milk
- Flit
- To move house. The word comes from the Old Norse flytja
- Flummoxed
- Confused, puzzled
- Folk
- People. There's a lot of folk in the shop
There's folk who don't talk to him
- Frame
- To perform, get organised, shape oneself. From the Old English, to be helpful.
Frame yourself, you should have been up hours ago
- Fratch
- To argue, disagree, quarrel.
Her two boys are always fratching
| G |
- Gain, gainest
-
Near, short, quick.
This is a possible origin of the name Gainest
- Gammy
- Lame
- Gaum
- Also Gorm Heed, attention.
He paid no gorm to owt I said
The word comes from the Old Norse gaumr.
See Gaumless
- Gaumless
- Also Gormless. Clumsy, stupid, having no common-sense. Derived from Gaum.
See Sackless
- Gavlet
- Gawp
- To stare, to look at something open-mouthed.
The word comes from the Old Norse gapa
- Gill
- A half-pint. See the entry for gill in the main Alphabetic Section of Malcolm Bull's Calderdale Companion
- Gimmer
- Old person, old woman. The word is also used for an immature female sheep.
The word comes from the Old Norse gymbr
- Ginnel
- Local term for an alley, a passage, or a narrow lane between buildings.
See Snicket
- Gip
- To stop the breath, as when about to vomit.
T' smell made me gip
The word is pronounced with a hard
g
- Gizzened
- Full, choked. Used in a situation where you have eaten something, such as a dry cream cracker, which leaves you gasping for breath
- Gleg
- A small amount. There wasn't a gleg of light in the cellar
- Gob
- A mouth
- Going home
- Wearing out, threadbare. Yer gardening trousers are going home »» Your gardening trousers are wearing thin
- Gorm
- See Gaum
- Gormless
- Gradely
- Fine, excellent. More common in Lancashire and the west of the district
| H |
- Happen, appen
-
Perhaps.
'appen I'll go.
The word comes from the Old Norse happ, as in perhaps
- Hard on
- Sound asleep.
'e wer 'ard on »» He was fast asleep
Also 'e wer 'ard and fast on »» He was fast asleep See Fast on
- Heck, Eck
- This is a general exclamation, meaning
Hell!
What the heck is that? »» What the hell is that?
I don't know what the heck he's doing
Goodness! in expressing surprise:
Heck! Look at that!
- Hey up!
- Look out, be careful. It is also used as a greeting
- Hoblin
- A name used in the Upper Calder Valley for a windrow
- Hoile
- Hole.
The word is used as a general term for a place in forms such as:
back-'oile »» back room, shed
The coile-'oile features in a popular rhyme:chip-'oile »» fish and chip shop
coile-'oile »» coal house, coal shed, coal cellar
Other versions use t'bum bailiff in place of t'landlord, and end with repeating the 2 lines:We're reyt dahn in t'coile-'oile Where t'muck slahts on t'winders We've used all us coil up An' we're reyt dahn to t'cinders An' when t'landlord comes E'll never finnd us
We're reyt dahn in t'coile-'oile Where t'muck slahts on t'winders
- How do?
- How do you do?
- Hug
- To carry
- Huggin
- A large amount, an armful
| I |
- Idle
-
Lazy (not just unoccupied)
- Inckel
- Thread or tape
[Archaic]
- Incomden
- Aka Comer-in. Someone who has recently moved into a community. As distinct from someone who was born and bred there.
The term can take many years to wear off a new arrival
| J |
- Jiggered
-
Tired, exhausted
- Jip
- Pain.
This leg's givin' me jip
- Jock
- The packed food taken by mill-workers to eat at lunch-time and during the breaks in their shift.
Other parts of the region use names such as snap and pack-up.
See Bait
- Jollop
- A mixture or a medicine I went to the doctor and he gave me this jollop to take
| K |
- Kack-handed
-
See
Cack-handed
- Kali
- Sherbet powder
- Kecks
- Trousers
- Keep t'band in't nick
- Maintain a relationship.
I sent her a birthday card, just to keep t' band in t' nick
The expression comes from the mill-worker's task of ensuring that the yarn did not jump out of the guiding mechanism, and the driving rope or belt did not come off the wheel.
See Mill band
| L |
- Lad
-
A boy, young man.
An informal term for any male
- Lading can, lading tin
- A tin can with a handle – holding around 2 pints – for moving water, or baling out
- Laisin
- Aka Lazin. An old word for
an armful of hay
5 or 6 laisins make a burden- Lake
- Aka laik, laiking, laiker. To play.
The bairns were laking in t' yard
It is also used to indicate a worker who is on holiday or vacation.
The word comes from the Old Norse leika [to play].
See Knurr & spell
- Lam
- To strike hard, throw hard.
The word comes from the Old Norse lemja
- Lass
- A girl, young woman. An informal term for any female
- Last push up
- At the last moment.
He allus does things at t' last push up »» He always leaves things until the last minute
- Lazy wind
- A cold, chill wind – it is said to be lazy because ...
it goes straight through you instead of blowing round you
See Sneaky
- Lig
- Aka Ligg. To lie or to lay.
He's bin liggin' in bed all day.
The word comes from the Old Norse liggja
- Living over t' brush
- Also Living tally. Living together as man and wife but not married
- Living tally
- See Living over t' brush
- Loitch, straight as a
- Upright, erect.
A loitch is a wooden spindle used in domestic weaving and spinning
- Lop
- A flea. There is also the adjective loppy.
The word comes from the Old Norse hloppa [a flea]
- Lose
- To finish, to close. The verb is used in expressions such as:
T' school's losing »» School is out, the children are leaving school at the end of the day
T' mill's losing »» The workers are leaving the mill at the end of the shift
- Lug
- To pull or carry something.
The word comes from the Old Norse lugge
| M |
- Mad
-
Cross, angry, vexed
- Mardy
- Sulky, spoilt
- Mash
- To brew tea.
I'll mash a pot of tea
Give the tea time to mash
- Mawngy
- Aka Morngy, Maungy. Moody, sulky, surly, complaining
- Mend
- To get better, recover from an illness.
She's been badly ill, but she's on t'mend now
- Merry
- Drunk, inebriated, tipsy.
See Fresh
- Middin, midden
- A dung heap, rubbish tip, dustbin, or a small building where refuse was dumped.
The word comes from the Old Norse mykidyngja.
See Mixen
- Mill band
- The rope or belt which drove a machine in the mill.
On bonfire night, this was a popular means of lighting fireworks, because the oil-soaked rope could be lit and would burn slowly during the celebrations.
- Mimmymoke
- To gesticulate.
She was mimmymoking to draw my attention
- Mischief night
- The 30th of April, the devil's day, when imps wrought havoc on the people.
It was later moved to the 4th November, the eve of Guy Fawkes's Night
- Mither
- To pester, fluster. The word is pronounced
my-ther with the stress on the first syllable
- Moan't
- Mustn't, shouldn't. The negative form of mun rhymes with don't.
You moan't complain
- Muckment
- Anything unpleasant, or worthless. Also used for any food which is a mixture of tastes and flavours
- Mucktub
- An affectionate term for a dirty or untidy child
- Mucky
- Dirty
- Muff
- A slight noise.
... and I don't want to hear a muff out of thee
- Mullock
- Aka Mullocks. A mess.
What a mullock she made of t' dinner
- Mun
- Must, will, shall, should.
You mun be careful, it's slippy outside
The negative form is moan't which rhymes with don't.
You moan't complain.
The word comes from the Old Norse mun
| N |
- Nage
-
To ache, pain.
I've got this naging pain in my back
The g is hard and the word rhymes with vague. The word may be related to nag and gnaw
- Neb
- Nose, beak, the peak on a hat or school-cap.
The element is also used in placenames
- Nesh
- Sensitive to cold.
Is it cold today, or is it me that's nesh?
- Nobbut
- Only. A contraction of nought but, nothing but.
He was nobbut a lad
- Nor
- Than. See Nur
- Nowt
- Nothing
- Nur
- Than.
She's poor, but she's better nur some people; He's warr nur a babby »» He's worse than a child
See Warr
| O |
- Ocker
-
To stammer
- Oil
- Also 'oil, hoile Hole
- Okkerd
- Local pronunciation of awkward, awkerd
- Our
- Our is used to denote a close familial relationship:
Our Jack, Our Carol
- Overfaced
- Presented with too much food on a plate They gave us so much meat, I was overfaced
- Own
- To admit. I'm not the brightest man, I own
| P |
- Pan
-
To become accustomed to something, to set to work.
An extended meaning is To wear-in a new pair of shoes:
Yer shoes won't hurt once you've panned them in
Joe's started courting Mary Jane we s'ell after see a'h things pan out
- Panshun
- A large bowl for baking or for washing
- Peak
- To sit, put.
Peak thissen dahn there
The word is pronounced
pee-erk
- Peggy tub
- Another name for a dolly tub
- Pigging
- Aka Piggen, Piggin. A wooden pail
[Archaic]
- Piss-bed
- A dandelion
- Pissin' in bed wakken
- A futile or tedious task.
Scraping all this wallpaper off with this little knife is like pissin' in bed wakken
- Play pop
- Get annoyed, complain.
He played pop when she wer late »» he was angry when she was late
- Pobs
- A children's food made with bread and milk
- Poise
- To kick.
It may also be pronounced pawse as in Tuppin'.n Pawsin' matches
- Pop
- See Play pop
- Posnet
- A saucepan
- Posser, possing stick
- A wood stick for agitating clothes during washing.
See Dolly stick
- Pot
- A cup.
I'll mash a pot of tea - not necessarily a tea-pot of tea.
In the plural, it means crockery or washing-up:
11 o'clock and no pots washed
- Progging
- Collecting wood for a November 5th bonfire.
See Chumping and Cob-coaling
| Q |
| R |
- Rawk
-
To make streaks on something.
He rawked all down the paintwork with his muddy hands
- Reckon
- To pretend.
Don't reckon to be sick just to get off school
- Right
- Very.
I'm right glad to see you
- Right
- Unusual, remarkable, noteworthy.
We had some right weather during our holiday
- Rive
- To tear or split clothes, clothing.
The word comes from the Old Norse rifa
- Road
- Way, means, manner.
She's allus mardy 'til she gets her own road »» She sulks until she gets her own way
Any road up »» However, nevertheless
Look at it my road »» Look at it from my point of view
- Rooar
- To cry, weep
- The Room
- The front room or sitting room used to be referred to simply as the room and was reserved for use on special occasions – such as weddings, mourning and funerals
- Rubbing out and drawing afresh
- When someone is suffering from several aches and pains, you might say:
She wants rubbing out and drawing afresh
| S |
- Sackless
-
Ineffectual, listless, simple-minded.
The word comes from the Old Norse saklauss
- Sad
- Unrisen, of cooked food.
Yer Yorkshires are sad »» Your Yorkshire puddings haven't risen; These dumplings are sad
- Sam
- To gather, collect, pick up
- Scrape
- Butter, margarine.
Presumably because of the need to scrape the butter or margarine thinly on the bread when times are hardI'll just have a slice of bread and scrape
- Scrattle
- To move about quietly.
It can also mean to rummage – less quietly
- Seg
- A small, crescent-shaped metal stud fixed to the heel or the sole of the shoe or clog to prevent the shoe wearing.
In this district, they were usually made by Blakey's of Armley, Leeds. The firm is still in existence, and is now known as Pennine Castings
The word is also used to refer to a hard callous on the hand.
The word comes from the Old Norse sigg
- Sen
- Self, as in:
MissEn »» Myself
In these forms, the stress is on the E.ThissEn »» Yourself
HersEn »» Herself
His'sEn »» Himself
See the Yorkshire motto
- Set off
- To go away for a holiday or a short trip.
Are you setting off this weekend?
- Set pot
- A large, fixed copper boiler for heating water
- Set-to
- A disagreement, an argument, a disturbance.
They haven't spoken since they had that set-to at Christmas; Mary and Dave had a right set-to about his drinking
- Shim-shams for meddlers
- A euphemism for mind your own business.
What are you and dad talking about, Mam?
Shim-shams for meddlers!
- Shippon
- A cow-house, cattle-shed, byre
[Archaic]
- Shut of
- Rid of, shot of.
Get shut of something, get shut on something »» Get rid of something
- Shuttering
- Pouring with rain
- Sickened
- Upset, unhappy.
He wer sickened when he heard the news
- Side
- To clear the table.
Side them pots then we can play cards
- Sile
- A sieve which was used for cleaning milk.
The word may be related to the Norwegian sila [a strainer, filter].
See Siling down and Tems
- Siling down
- Pouring with rain. Comes from the word sile
- Sithee
- Look here! A contraction of See Thee
- Sken
- To look at, peer at. Often with screwed-up eyes.
The word may be related to the Swedish sken [to glare]
- Skerrick
- A small amount, a trace.
There's not a skerrick of evidence against him
- Skew-whiff
- Cock-eyed, not correct
- Skinny
- Tight-fisted, miserly, mean
- Skip, skep
- A large wicker basket, such as those used for holding materials in a textile mill
- Skitters
- Diarrhoea.
The word comes from the Old Norse skita
- Slack
- Coal which consists of dust and small pieces
- Slack set up
- Dilatory, ineffectual.
She's a bit slack set up
- Slacken
- To slacken the dust is to sprinkle water on to the ground or on to a carpet or rug, in order to dampen down the dust when sweeping or beating, in order to prevent it blowing around
- Slart
- To splash.
When t'cars come past, t'muck slarts up t'winders
- Slob
- To slip off, as with a badly-fitting shoe.
My shoes are too big, they keep slobbing off
- Sluffened
- Disappointed, disheartened
He war' sluffened when they didn't ask him to play
- Slur
- To slide, scrape
See Slurring Rock and Sluther
- Sluther
- To slide, scrape.
Stop sluthering your feet!
See Slur
- Smitten
- In love with someone, have a liking for someone. The word has the implication of being struck by love
- Sneaky
- Cold, chill wind.
It's right sneaky out there
See Lazy wind
- Sneck
- The thumb-lever which is pressed to raise the horizontal bar of a door latch.
The curved nose-like end of the sneck behind the door gives rise to the dialect use of the word sneck to mean a nose
- Snicket
- An alley or a pathway, having the implication of being a short cut.
See Ginnel
- Soft
- Foolish, daft
- Spell
- A splinter of wood.
I've got a spell in my finger
- Spice
- Sweets, toffees
- Spice cake
- A fruit cake, Christmas cake
- Stalled
- Bored, fed up, out of patience
- Starved
- Cold, very cold.
We were starved when t' fire went out
See Clammed
- Stoop
- A post, pole. This is a local name for a sign-post or a milestone.
The word comes from the Old Norse stolpi.
In some instances, it had the specialised meaning of a sign-post to mark a path in the snow.
Short, stubby stoops were also used to protect the corners of buildings from damage by passing vehicles.
See Staups
- Suited
- Pleased. He was suited when I gave him the money
| T |
- Tally
-
See
Living over t' brush
- Tallyman
- Someone who sold goods and collected payment in installments
- Tea
- The word is used locally to mean a meal which is taken in the early evening – much like the received english high tea – although the meal itself can be much like a larger dinner.
See Dinner
- Teem
- To pour out a liquid, to empty.
The word comes from the Old Norse toema.
See Teeming down
- Teeming down
- Pouring with rain.
See Teem
- Tem
- A sieve
- Tems
- A sieve used in brewing. This may have been made of horse-hair.
See Sile
[Archaic]
- That
- So.
It was that cold, we had to light t' fire
- Thoil
- To bear, bear to spend money on.
The word may be related to the Icelandic þola.
This is a delightful word for which there is no exact equivalent in standard English.
I couldn't thoil to spend £20 on him
- Thou
- Thou, thee, thy
- These forms are still used in the local dialect, although the pronunciation is slightly different from standard English:
-
Thou
Tha knows what to do Has tha seen mi book?
Ah saw thi in t'market He'll give it to thi when he gets here
Has tha lost thi book? Give us thi money
- Thrang, throng
- To be busy.
I'm a bit thrang right now.
The word may be related to the Icelandic þröng [narrow, forced, tightly-pressed]
- Thrush
- A game in which half of the players stood in a row, bent double. The other half would then leap on to their backs with a cry of
If one of the riders was able to touch the ground with his foot, without falling off, then the 2 halves exchanged rôles. If the standing players fell over, the 2 halves did not change rôles, and another round was playedThruuuuush! Coming with a long tar brush
- Thy
- Tinny
- Cowardly, shy, afraid
- Tipping down, tipping it down
- Pouring with rain
- Tipple-i-bum-bi-legs
- To somersault
- Toil of a pleasure
- An irksome task.
It's a toil of a pleasure taking her shopping
- Tops
- Hill-tops.
There's a bit o' snow on t'tops
- Trackless
- A trolley-bus, as distinct from a tram which ran on rails
- Troughing
- Guttering at the eaves of the roof
- Trump
- To fart
- Turnip
- A swede is called a turnip, a turnip is called a white turnip
- Tussy-peg
- Tooth – when talking to a young child.
Clean your tussy-pegs
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| W |
- Waff
-
To fan, wave, waft, whiff.
Waff it with yer 'at; There was a waff of something unpleasant
- Wahr, Wor
- Worse
- Walt, wolt
- To overbalance.
Them shoes are too big for her, and she keeps walting over
- Wang
- To throw
- Warr
- Worse.
He's no warr for it
He's warr nur a babby »» He's worse than a child - see Nur
- Wed
- Married. Used more frequently than in standard English
- Welt
- To hit, beat
- While
- Until.
Wait while your dad gets home; Wait here while it stops raining
A potential nightmare for any Yorkshire computer programmers!
- Whisht
- To keep silent or keep quiet.
- Wick
- Quick, lively.
Watch that little lad, he's a wick un
- Wick
- Covered in, or crawling with, insects or vermin
That blanket in the garage is wick with ants
- Wicking rake
- A rake used in weeding crops
- Winter hedge
- Aka winteredge, winteredge. A clothes horse or a wooden frame for drying clothes. The term reminds us that clothes could be dried in fine weather by hanging it on a hedge or shrub.
See Tenter and Wynteredge Hall, Hipperholme
- Worrit
- Or Worriter. Someone who is always anxious, worrying or complaining
- Wuthering
- Wild, blustery (wind).
In her novel, Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë says the word is
... a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which [Wuthering Heights] is exposed in stormy weather
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©
Malcolm Bull 2008 /
calderdale@aol.com
Revised 19th July 2008 / mmd32 / 73