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YORKSHIRE FOLK TALK:
Glossary

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GLOSSARY.


A, num. Adj. C. One. Vide Yah.

Aa! Interj. C. An interjection expressing admiration, surprise, and other emotions. It is more generally followed by another word than used singly. The pronunciation of this word, as well as of the a generally, is peculiar and characteristic; the sound corresponds very nearly with the a in air, only in this interjection it is more drawn out.
Ex.- Aa! Bud them's bonnie 'uns. Aa! Noo sha was sair putten aboot.

Aback, adv. C. Behind.
Ex.- It popp'd oot aback o' t' stee.

Aback o' beyont, adv. F. A very long way off; somewhere unknown through its distance.
Ex.- Ah wadn't mahnd if they was all aback o' beyont, i.e. I wish they were anywhere.

Abear, v. C. (pr. abeear). To bear, endure.
Ex.Ah can't abeear stooryin'.
Abide
is also used in the same sense and with about equal frequency.

Ablins, aiblins, adv. C. (pr. nablins). Perhaps, possibly.
Ex.He 'l1 aablins mannish.

Aboon, prep. C. Above; applied either to position or quantity.
Ex.It leeaks bad aboon heead. - There 'll be aboon a scoore.

Abrede, adv. C. Vide Brede.

Accorn, n. C. (pr. accron, and yakkron). An acorn. Vide Yakkron.
Acoz,
conj. C. Because.

Addle, v. C. To earn, to save money by little and little also, in a general sense, to gain.
Ex. He 's addled a deal o' brass. Ah 's addlin' nowt. He addles a good wage.

Addlins, n. C. Earnings, savings, wages.
Ex.Them 's all mah addlins. Hard addlins an' nut mich when deean.

Aether, conj. C. Either; there is another form -owther- of this word.
Ex.He gav aether on us yan.

Afear'd, part. C. Afraid.
Ex.-Ah 's sadly afear'd on t'.

Afore, prep. C. (pr. afoor). Before. Dan. For (before). Ex.He 'll mebbe cum afoor neet.

Again, prep. C. (pr. agaan). Against, i.e. near to. Ex. Oor spot ligs agaan Helmsla.

Agate, agait, C. (pr. agaat and ageeat). Engaged in doing; astir; going. Dan. At gaa (to go, move, work).
Ex.Thoo mun git agate i good tahm. Ah 's kept agate; i.e. I am kept on the move.They 've gitten ageeat wi pleewin.

Agate, part. C. Set going; let loose, as a horse into a pasture.
ExHe set 'em all agate.

Agee, adv. R. (The g is pr. soft.) On one side, not straight.

Ah, pron. C. I. This pr. is universal; in certain connections short e or i is used instead, but never I with the pr. as in Std. Eng. In the Jutl. dialect A = I. This pr. is usual in the whole of North Jutland; in other districts oe is the ordinary pr.
Ex.(1) Ah is. (2) Ah mun cum. (s) mun ah cum (4)Man e cam?
In (3) the ah is emphatic, and signifies 'must I come' as distinguished from some one else; (4) is the ordinary expression for 'must I come?'

Ahint, adv. and prep. C. (pr. ahinnt). Behind. Ex.It's nut mich ahint t' uther.

Aiger, n. F. The tidalwave; the 'bore' of the South of England. Ex.Wahr aiger (the common warning when the wave is approaching).

Aim, v. C. (pr. aam and yam). To intend, suppose, expect; to be under the impression that; to lead in the direction of.
Ex.Ah aamed ti git all on 't sahded afoor noo.Wa yam ti start i t' morn .--Ah nivver aamed at t' lass wad a'e sattled. Yon rooad yams ti Whidby.

Airm, n. C. (the r in this word is silent; the peculiar pr. is perhaps best indicated by aa'm). Arm.

Airn, n. R. Iron; seldom used now, but with some old people the word is still familiar. Dan. Jern (iron).

Airt, n. R. Quarter of the heavens; point of the compass. Ex.T' wind's gotten intiv a cau'd airt.

Ak, n. C. (pr. yak). The oak. Dan. En Eg (an oak).

Akwerd, akwert, adj. F. On the back; usually applied to a sheep laid on its back.
Ex.Ah fand yan o' Simpson yows laad akwert.
In Cleveland rigged is the usual word.

Al, n. C. (pr. yal). Ale. Vide Yal.

All-fare, adv. R. For good and all.
Ex.He's gone for all-fare.

All-out, adj. R. Altogether, quite, entirely.

Ally, ally-taw, n. C. A playing marble as distinguished from steeanies and pottiesstone or baked clay marbles.

Al-hoos. n. F. (pr. yal-oos). An ale-house, a public house.

Almous, n. F. (pr. awmous). Alms; money given in charity.
Ex.-What awmoas a'e ya gotten.? Dan. Almisse.

Along of, prep. C. In consequence of, through, owing to.
Ex.It warn't along o' me; it war along of him.

Amaist, adv. C. (pr. ommeeast and ommost). Almost.
Ex.Ah wer ommost flayed ti deead.

Amang, prep. C. Among: frequently shortened to 'mang.

Ex.-Ah put doon mi brass 'mang t' rest on 'em.

Amell, prep. R. Between, among. The form mellem is, or was till lately, used at Staithes. where the fishermen are said to divide the fish, mellem yan anoother. Dan. Mellem (between).
Ex.Amell tweea steeals.

An' all, conj. and adv. C. (1) As well, also, besides. (2) Indeed, truly. This is an abbreviation of 'and all.'
Ex.--Tak them wiya an' all.Q. 'Did you enjoy yourself?' A. 'Ah did an' all,' i.e. I did indeed.

Ance, adj. C. (pr. yance). Once.

Ancle-bands, n. R. Sandals for shoes. Dan. Ankelbaand (ancle-band).

Ane, num. adj. C. (pr. yan and ane). One. Vide Yah.
Ex.- T' ane t' ither.

Anenst, prep. C. Against, by the side of, near to; also used in the sense of opposite to. It is almost always preceded by ower.
Ex.-Yon 's him stannin' ower anenst t' plantin.Ah seed him set ower anenst us.

Angry, adj. C. (pr. ang-ry not ang-gry). Inflamed (of a sore or wound), and consequently painful

Ananthers, Anthers, conj. O. In case, lest, peradventure; possibly a corruption from N. Fr. aventure. The form ananthers case was frequently used near Northallerton some years ago ; but I believe the word in any form is now obsolete, or very nearly so; though anthers was current a few years ago at East Acklam.
Ex.Thoo mun stop here ananthers he cums.

Anparsy, n. R. Boys in repeating their alphabet would say x y z anparsy; they did not know what it meant, but pointed in their spelling-books to the character, and this character was also termed parsy-and.

Any, adv. C. (pr. onny and any). At all.
Ex.Sha dizn't mend onny, i.e. She does not improve in healthIt didn't rain onny.

A-quart, ower-quart, prep. R. (pr. a-quahrt). Across, athwart. The latter form is perhaps the most frequent, and is used of motion across. Vide Over-quart.
Ex.T' beeos ran a-quart t' staggarth.A-quart is also used of people at variance.
Ex.Jim an me 's gitten a-quart.

Arf, arfish, adj. F. Afraid.
Ex.Ah felt a bit arfish.Rooads is seea slaap ah 's arf o' travellin'.

Ark, n. O. A large chest or bin with divisions inside, formerly used for keeping dressed corn in.

Arles, n. F. Money given to a servant on being hired by a master; it is thus the pledge of a contract: the sum given generally varies from 2s. to 5s. Also called Fest or God's-penny.

Arr, n. R. A scar left by a woundalso occasionally used as a verb. Dan. Ar (a scar).
Ex.He 's gitten an arr ov his back.

Arran-web, n. R. A cob-web. Fr. Une Araignee (a spider).

Arridge, n. C. The edge of a squared piece of timber, &c.

Arse, arse-end, n. C. The lower part or end of anything.
O.N. Ars. Jutl. D. Ast. The frequent use of this word to the exclusion of others of like meaning is remarkable.
Ex.A Rector's wife asks, 'Are you going to carry the wheat to-day?' 'Lead? naay!' says the farm man, 't' shaff arses is as wet as sump.'Stop, mun; t' cart arse has tumml'd out. Atkinson (Clevel. Gloss. p. 10) gives the following example : Pick thae stooks doon an' let t' arse-ends o' t' shaffs lig i' t' sun a bit.

Arsy-varsy, adv. R. Upside down.

Arval, n. O. A funeral feast. Dan. Arve-ol (a funeral feast ; literally, Heir-ale).

Ask, adj. C. Vide Hask.

Ask, esk, n. C. The newt. Gael. Esc (the newt).

Ass, n. C. Ashes, as distinguished from cinders; the latter being applied generally to coke. Dan. Aske (ashes).
Ex.Put a bit o' ass uppo t' trod, it 's sae slaap.

Ass-coup, n. R. A wooden box or sort of pail for carrying ashes.

Assel-tree, n. C. An axle-tree.

Ass-hooal, ass-pit, n. C. The hole or pit where ashes fall or are thrown. Dan. Aske-hul (ash-hole).

Assil-tooth, n. C. A double tooth or grinder. Dan. En axel Tand (a double tooth).
Ex. T' lahtle lass is sadly plagued wi yan ov her assil teeth.

Ass-manner, ass-muck, n. C. Manure from an ash-pit.

Ass-midden, n. C. An ash-heap. Dan. Aske-modding (ash-heap).

At, rel. pron. C. Who, which, that. This is probably not a corruption of that but the O.N. at.
Ex.Them at
(equivalent to 'those who'). There 's nowt at ah knaws on.

At, conj. C. That. Dan. At (that), e.g. Jeg veed at, &c. (I know that, &c.).
Ex.Ah deean't knaw 'at ivver ah seed him.

At, prep. C. To; also used in a peculiar sense of urging a request, and especially of persistent urging.
Ex. What her sha deean at t' bairn ?He wer awlus at ma aboot i4 i.e. he was constantly making a request about it.

At-after, adv. O. After, afterwards.

Athout, prep. and conj. C. (pr. athoot). Without, unless. Other forms of the equivalent for without are wioot, widoot, wivoot, bedoot, the last being seldom heard except in the North Riding. With this qualification the various forms of this word are used very indiscriminately, often by the same individuals. Without in the sense of 'unless' is invariable.
Ex. Wa sa n't be able ti lead ti-morn athoot wa git a bit o' wind.

Atter, Atteril, n. F. Matter of a poisonous nature, as from an ulcer; that which causes irritation or itching to the skin a child with a scabbed face is said to be iv a atteril. Dan. Edder (matter, pus).
Ex.Ah feels all iv a atteril.M'i mooth 's alt iv a atteril.

Attercop, n. R. A spider. Dan. Edderkop (a spider).

Aught, ought, n. C. (pr. between owt and ote). Anything a word in universal use.
Ex.A'e ya seed owl of oor Dick?

Auntersome, adj. O. Adventurous, bold, rash. Anntre is used by Chaucer in the same sense. Venturesome (pr. ventthersum) has now taken the place of auntersome and is very common, bold and rash being seldom heard.

Awebund, part. F. (pr. Awe bun'). Subservient, submissive, obedient.
Ex.Ah nivver was awebun' tiv him.
The primary meaning of this word is overawed, but it is now seldom so used.

Awhile, con). C. (pr. awhahl). While, until.
Ex.He ligged i bed awhahl dinner tahm.
Sometimes the initial letter of this word is omitted, but generally it is heard.

Awkward, adj. C. (pr. okkard). Contentious, obstinate, bad-tempered.
Ex.He wer varry okkard aboot it.Ah doot t' meer 's boun ti be okkard.

Awm, n. F. The elm.

Awns, n. C. The beards of corn. Dan. Avne (husks).

Ax, v. C. To ask, invite. Ax'd is commonly used in reference to banns of marriage, ax'd oot signifying that the publication has been made for the third time. Although ax'd is often used with regard to an invitation to a funeral, bidden is the more general word on such occasions.

A-warrant, v. C. (pr. a-wand). To certify. This word is only used in the future tense in the phrase Ah 'll a-wa'nd ya, and is equivalent to 'you may take my word for it'; it is generally used in a tone of encouragement, e.g. in reply to a boy asking doubtfully, 'Diya think ah can mannish 't' 'Aye, ah 'll a-wand it.'

Aye, marry, adv. F. An intensified affirmation equivalent to the slang expression yes! rather; it would be more correct to write it aye Marie, being a corruption of ' yes!
by Mary.' Marry is sometimes added to emphasize the adverb of negation, nay, marry, but it is more frequent in the affirmative form.



Transcribed by Colin and Pauline Hinson © 1997