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Have you ever used a word or phrase that you thought everyone knew but they didn't?

346 replies

CaramelJones · 12/10/2022 19:14

Prompted by a discussion with a friend. When we first met she kept saying mardy and I had no idea what she meant.

Has anyone experienced similar with a regional word or a term that only your family use? It's making me wonder which regional words I might be using without thinking of it.

OP posts:
Iusedtobecarmen · 12/10/2022 22:47

Round the wrekin
Island instead of roundabout
Tip tops for ice pop and jublee for the triangle ice pops
Outdoor for off licence (as they used to be a little shop next to the pub)
Loads more that I cant think of which have baffled non local friends or colleagues.
I'm surprised mither has come up a lot, I say it and I hear lots of other people too

shinynewapple22 · 12/10/2022 22:47

@NippyWoowoo I think @ThanksAntsThants phrases are Black Country

Iusedtobecarmen · 12/10/2022 22:49

Sparklybees · 12/10/2022 22:25

Buggled as in my hair is buggled (knotted)

You mean you have 'lugs'in your hair?! Thats what we say!

GrasssInPocket · 12/10/2022 22:49

JenniferWooley · 12/10/2022 22:44

@MrsRinaDecker jamp is a Fife word used instead of jumped we use it all the time & most people here don't even know it's not a real word!

Brang/brung here is used in place of brought so you'd ask "who brang/brung the washing in?"

Anyone who has ever learned German will see the logic of this!

NippyWoowoo · 12/10/2022 22:50

shinynewapple22 · 12/10/2022 22:47

@NippyWoowoo I think @ThanksAntsThants phrases are Black Country

I don't know what that means 🙈

shinynewapple22 · 12/10/2022 22:51

Black Country is an area of West Midlands - north / west of Birmingham

shinynewapple22 · 12/10/2022 22:54

I think it for its name from the heavy industry there (once upon a time).

ThomasinaGallico · 12/10/2022 22:55

I was really surprised that both a Brummie and a Lancastrian had no clue what I was on about when I said it was mufti at DS’ school recently.

I remember being really taken aback in a previous workplace about 25 years ago when some colleagues complained about that term saying it was racist. Apparently it’s a colonial word.

supperlover · 12/10/2022 22:55

In Northern Ireland ' walking around in sock soles' means without shoes but just socks. Moved to South of England and discovered this was not generally known. In Devon they said, ' stocking feet'.

pigalow27 · 12/10/2022 22:55

Glaikit learnt from bf's Scottish grandmother

canteatlovefood · 12/10/2022 23:03

Not sure if this has come up yet but geg, as in stop geggjng in

mummabubs · 12/10/2022 23:03

Am I the only Portsmithian here to represent dinlo, div and squinny? I was convinced there'd be some Pompey lingo knocking around on here 😅
I've lived in Wales for the past 10 years, no one has a clue what I mean when I say any of those terms. Equally the first time one of my welsh friends said "I'll do it now in a minute" I had to ask them to repeat themselves and then ask which they meant- now, or in a minute? I love the welshisms mind.

AliasGrape · 12/10/2022 23:05

Lugs - as in knots in your hair - I’ve never actually heard anyone outside my family use that, but Google assures me it’s a thing.

powercut101 · 12/10/2022 23:07

I thought everyone had a oma for ages until someone asked me what I meant

Oma= grandma
Baine = baby (I'm spelling that wrong but I'm tired)
Sugar = shit
Dodo = dummy
Fiddle sticks = for fuck sake

Cattenberg · 12/10/2022 23:24

Some of my parents’ and grandparents’ Devon slang:

Gurt pudden - daft person
Toad - naughty child
Little maid - young girl
I’ll be there dreckly - I’ll come over once I’ve finished what I’m doing
Woollodge - dollop e.g. of ketchup
Joanies - trinkets/knick-knacks
Pixielated - bewitched by the pixies/ gone mad. When I was very young, my grandma told me of a woman she knew who went for a walk in the woods and got pixielated. I don’t really understand what she meant.

Thursa · 12/10/2022 23:28

Skelf…splinter
oxter…armpit
jamp…jumped
slater…woodlouse?
the side…kitchen counter

JenniferWooley · 12/10/2022 23:29

@Thursa I use all of those except for kitchen worktop I'd say bunker

MichonnesBBF · 12/10/2022 23:30

Asking for monkeys blood at the ice cream van...went to Wales and honestly when I asked for it, I thought the lady was trying to find somewhere to run...she took a step back looked both ways with sheer panic on her face....I sheepishly just said, oh its OK strawberry sauce will do 😳

The4teddybears · 12/10/2022 23:33

ThanksAntsThants · 12/10/2022 19:22

Yampy.

Brummie by any chance ?

The4teddybears · 12/10/2022 23:40

Iusedtobecarmen · 12/10/2022 22:47

Round the wrekin
Island instead of roundabout
Tip tops for ice pop and jublee for the triangle ice pops
Outdoor for off licence (as they used to be a little shop next to the pub)
Loads more that I cant think of which have baffled non local friends or colleagues.
I'm surprised mither has come up a lot, I say it and I hear lots of other people too

I use all of those expressions.
You must be a Brummie

Frith2013 · 12/10/2022 23:44

Half clammed
Like a shit off a shovel
Round the Wrekin
Black over Bill's mother's
Manky
Broch (badger)
Twmp (hill)
Tafarn (pub)

Furnitureflipper · 12/10/2022 23:49

Clodhoppers - large ugly shoes or boots
Monging out - being lazy
Dreaming of thee - being lazy
Pram pusher - young single mum

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 12/10/2022 23:54

I’m a lecturer and sometimes get an international student who is really keen to learn local words. I recently taught a lovely Italian girl who was just delighted any time she got something new. From memory the following really tickled her:

Bosie - cuddle
Fine piece - a cake/bun/biscuit, usually had with your “fly cup” outside of a meal
Haar - a sea fog
Mithering - agitating, as in the cat constantly mithering for her dinner from 4pm
Scunnered - completely fed up
Proper bobbins - absolute rubbish, the actual pits

Furnitureflipper · 12/10/2022 23:59

powercut101 · 12/10/2022 23:07

I thought everyone had a oma for ages until someone asked me what I meant

Oma= grandma
Baine = baby (I'm spelling that wrong but I'm tired)
Sugar = shit
Dodo = dummy
Fiddle sticks = for fuck sake

Oma is Dutch for grandma

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 12/10/2022 23:59

AnApparitionQuipped · 12/10/2022 19:26

Daps (plimsolls, gym shoes). Daps is south west and South Wales, but no one knows what it means where I live now oop norf.

I was going to put this too, we had dap bags at school 😊