BBC VOICES RECORDINGS http://sounds.bl.uk Title: Longbenton, Tyne & Wear Shelfmark: C1190/23/04 Recording date: 2005 Speakers: Hall, Marshall, b. 1960 Newcastle upon Tyne; male; Editor ‘Newcastle Stuff’ Thompson, Sheila, b. 1939 Newcastle upon Tyne; female Weaving, John Albert, b. 1938 Cramlington, Northumberland; male The interviewees are all related and share a strong interest in local dialect. Marshall and his mother, Sheila, and uncle, John, grew up in mining families. ELICITED LEXIS ○ see English Dialect Dictionary (1898-1905) * see Survey of English Dialects Basic Material (1962-1971) † see Dictionary of the Scots Language (online edition) ►see Romani Rokkeripen To-Divvus (1984) # see Dictionary of North East Dialect (2011) ∆ see New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2006) ◊ see Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2010) ♦ see Urban Dictionary (online) ⌂ no previous source (with this sense) identified pleased chuffed (“chuffed to heavens”) tired fagged; fagged out; tired; knackered, exhausted (of extreme tiredness); paggered# unwell bad fettle (“in a bad fettle”); not too clever; not over [aʊə] clever (“you divvent* look over [aʊə] clever to me”) hot het (of self/weather); hot cold cold ([kaːd] of self, [kaʊɫd] of weather, “I’m very cold [kaːd] today and it’s very cold [kaʊɫd] outside”) annoyed angry; aerated throw thraw (“thraw it over there”); hoy○ (“hoy it over here”) play truant skive (of school/work); wag off; knock it⌂1 1 OED (online edition) records ‘knock off’ in this sense but not ‘knock it’. http://sounds.bl.uk Page 1 of 31 BBC Voices Recordings sleep kip; nap; ganning○ to me crib◊ (used by “charvers” of ‘going to bed’, sounds “biblical”) play a game none supplied hit hard clout; belt; howk○ (used in past, “you’d get a good howking off your mam or your dad for being naughty”); good hiding; ploat# (used in past, “I’ll ploat you if you’re naughty”) clothes claes (“hae○ you got any clean claes?”) trousers trousers; drawers (“they’re a fancy pair of drawers [dɹaːz] you got on there”, also used for ‘knickers’) child’s shoe sand-shoes; dappers⌂, sand-daps2 (used at school in past); training shoes, trainers, gym shoes (modern) mother mother (“where’s me mother?” used when younger, thought to be spelt ‘mutha’); me mam (used when older) gmother grandma (“grandma Weaving […] grandma Brown” used to distinguish between paternal/maternal grandmother); nana; granny m partner wor lad#; old man; our man; me gadgie∆, me gaujo► (Romani); me mate; boyfriend; husband friend marrow (Pitmatic, not as common now as in past); mate gfather grandad; grand-da○ (“me grand-da Brown me grand-da Weaving me grand-da so-and-so” used to distinguish between paternal/maternal grandmother) forgot name thingummyjig∆; thingabob◊, thingummybob∆ (“oh you know, thingummybob you know him, you know, thingabob” [θɪŋibɒb]) kit of tools tool-bag; tool-kit; tool-box trendy flash Harry; spiv; charver (commonly used in Tyneside, thought to be Romani for “unruly youth”); chav (modern, thought to be invented by media); scally (used in Liverpool); scallywag; ned (used in Glasgow, thought to be “probation service term” for “non- educated delinquent”) f partner wor lass# (of own wife); their lass (of other person’s wife) baby babby○ (most common); bairn (suggested by interviewer, “bonny bairn”), toddler, kids, kid (“wor/our kid” also used of brother/sister), nipper (of young child) rain heavily hoying○ down; hoying○; pelting; pelting down1; chucking down1; chucking it down1 (“chucking it down with rain”) toilet toilet; bog (used by boys in past); netty (“good Geordie word” common in past, less common now) walkway alley (“we’re ganning○ down the alley”); alley-way; path; ginnel (used in Leeds); the cut (suggested by interviewer, used) long seat couch (most common, “get your feet off the couch”); sofa (not used); settee (used occasionally) run water dyke; stream; bog main room sitting room; lounge (used by “posh” speakers); parlour (used in past by “posh” speakers) rain lightly drizzle (“it’s just drizzling”); spitting on○, spit on○ (of starting to rain); spitting; “it’s putting in”⌂, “it’s coming over bad”○ (of imminent rain) rich minted; spiv (used in past of rich male); well off left-handed cowey* (also used locally for ‘rat’, also used by “charvers” for ‘ecstasy tablet’, e.g. “I was pure cowied off me heid”); cack-handed (heard used) 2 OED (online edition) includes both ‘sand-shoes’ and ‘daps’ in this sense but not ‘sand-daps’. http://sounds.bl.uk Page 2 of 31 BBC Voices Recordings unattractive ugly; minging, minger (used by “chav culture”, also used locally for ‘to smell’ e.g. “the toilet’s minging”) lack money skint; got nowt; potless drunk off his head, mortal, mortal drunk, bad with the beer, off his heid○3, paggered∆ (of extreme drunkenness) pregnant up the duff; up the spout (most common); up the stick; in the pudding club; up the pudding club; expecting; preggers; “she’s gonna have a babby” attractive bonny (common locally, of male/female, “she’s a right bonny lass, her”, “what’re ye daeing†, bonny lad?” used locally as term of endearment to males); nice-looking (“nice- looking lad, him”) insane mad; off his trolley; off his heid○3; mental; a nutter moody moody; bad-tempered (“she’s a bad-tempered so-and-so she’s in a right mood”); in a bad mood ELICITED LEXIS a one* = one (0:14:25 we used to play chucks that’s a thing with I think there was about five things on the bottom (little square) uh uh bottom and you used to throw them up and get them on your hand and I don’t know what you did with them after that (then you’d play onesies twosies threesies foursies and fivesies) again you and you had to catch a one and things and were easily amused; 0:31:27 yes, I’ve got ‘couch’ written there actually ‘couch’ (the ‘couch’, yeah) (‘couch’ ‘couch’) aye, “get off the couch”, like (never the ‘sofa’ sometimes the ‘settee’ […] “get the dog off the couch”); 0:33:09 so we really came from a one of these families, you know, and actually I liked it I’m glad I did) aye = yes (0:51:45 (wh… what would you call a ‘hammer’ there’s there’s there’s a ‘mell’, isn’t there, and things like that) there’s a mell, aye, or a hammer; 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) gotta dae all the messages for to get some money for to for to go) beetle drive = progressive dice game played for prizes at social and/or fundraising event (0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives and whist drives) oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were great) blooming = euphemism for ‘bloody’ used as intensifier (0:20:49 (‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’ means ‘smelly’ as well) yeah, we would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we? (‘minging’, yeah, “the toilet’s minging”) (aye, that’s awful what a horrible smell) “pah, blooming it’s mingy, that”) bonny lad = form of address used to males (0:24:37 i... if outside this region I was to to say, “you all right, bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of it you’d get a clip round the heid; 0:25:05 “what are ye daeing, bonny lad?” (even if you’re an old person they still say ‘bonny lad’) (‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them attractive in any way [...] it’s just a platitude, yeah)) canny = nice, good, great (0:56:47 (how would you explain um the meaning of the word ‘canny’ to someone who wasn’t from round here?) ‘nice’ “they’re nice people they’re right canny, aren’t they?”) canny# = quite, fairly (0:57:01 something could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no, I don’t know) which would mean it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’) what have you never seen a canny good film on the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes you can)) charver = young person characterised by designer clothes and associated with anti-social behaviour (0:16:58 a ‘lang cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of 3 English Dialect Dictionary (1898-1905) records ‘heid’ in sense of ‘head’; OED (online edition) includes ‘off one’s head’ in this sense. http://sounds.bl.uk Page 3 of 31 BBC Voices Recordings Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course) chucks#4 = children’s game similar to ‘jacks’ (0:14:25 we used to play chucks that’s a thing with I think there was about five things on the bottom (little square) uh uh bottom and you used to throw them up and get them on your hand and I don’t know what you did with them after that (then you’d play onesies twosies threesies foursies and fivesies) again you and you had to catch a one and things and were easily amused) clarts = thick mud (1:02:57 ‘clarts’ you’ll find that used in Norway (‘clarts’ ‘clarts’, yeah) ‘clart’ meaning ‘mud’ and ‘muck’ (a lot of people down south don’t know what ‘clarts’ mean) no, no idea what clarts are, no (it’s just thick mud watery mud)) cowie⌂ = rat (0:16:58 a ‘lang-cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course) cowie(d) # = ecstasy pill, to be under the influence of drugs (0:16:58 a ‘lang-cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?)