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

[CaramelJones]

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.

In a conversation with a colleague, he would have been in his 50's, he'd never heard 'siblings'. I was quite surprised

Oh I love a good regional words thread. It’s always a good chance to pull out this local gem. If I’ve “cruckled my ankle” my ankle what have I done?

My dad (Irish) used to say 'yer one' or 'yer man'. I'm a Londoner and when I said it outside the home, people didn't know what I was on about.

My nan (mum's side, also Irish) would call eggs "googies " which I think derives from the gaelic word.

My husband is from Northern Ireland, not a part of the world I was familiar with till I met him. When I started seeing him, he said something about my "gutties". I was looking at him blank till I found out he was talking about my Converse plimsolls.

I'd think pop is fizzy, not squash.

I didn't know that but it makes sense as my mum uses it and she's from Liverpool. I thought it was widespread ;)

I didn't know daps was a south-west thing.

I use mither. Such a good expression.

I didn't know "mitch off" (skive) was a regional thing until I used it at uni and people didn't know what I meant.

Didn't know "his nibs" was regional either!

I have parents from the north and have lived in a few different places so i think I've picked up various expressions without realising they were regional. Also "it's Baltic" - I'd have thought that was self-explanatory.

Daps are pumps where I come from ( Worcestershire/Shropshire borders)

We have gadgee, but it would mean a junkie or someone up to no good, rather than just a general man.
My ex’s auntie was from Glasgow and she used baffies for slippers.
I’d also say I was going through to wherever.

I'm in NI and would often use mustard to mean crazy or hectic, like the traffic was mustard today. My colleague from a different part of NI had never heard of it so maybe just a Belfast thing.

I'm Cornish, my maternal gran was Scots & I've spent time in the army. I work in London now and spend a lot of time explaining perfectly clear sentences to my colleagues!
Particularly confusing seem to be "threaders" = fed up, "redders" / "colders" / "icers" = hot /cold/freezing, "dreckly" (the poor fools think it means I'll do whatever it is they want immediately), "wished" / "loused" = tired / knackered, "back along" = ago & my personal favourite "madder do 'ee?" (does it matter, is it important?) to which the reply is "madder do' ee fuck" (no).

Bairn?

Those phrases are from the Black Country, it's a region near Birmingham. I think it's called that due to coal.

@Firecarrier
We called a forward roll a ‘head over heels’ when I was growing up

That is the correct term as far as I'm concerned 😊

DM will also say chocka block (or chocka for short) to mean she is full and doesn't want any more to eat, as well as it meaning a crowded place.
Giving someone a lift on the back of a cycle was a chuckie when I was a kid.
We're from the Black Country.

We called a lift on a bike a backie or a two up

I said to my mum the bus was heaving and she had no idea what it meant

@mummabubs i hadn't idea squinny or din/dinlo were Portsmouth specific phrases till I was a teenager. You can even buy jumpers and posters with the words on from a local organisation. I love the word squinny.

Someone mentioned mufti, I thought it was a military term, possibly used more in military areas rather than regional specific?

*had no idea

Forward roll-gambol
Plimsolls-pumps
Any fizzy drink-pop
Large fat bodied moth-bob owler
Large smooth pebble, as seen set in concrete in car parks-bibble
Crusty bread roll-cob
Stormy sky -"Black over Bill's mother's

I'm beginning to think the Black Country takes the prize for idiosyncratic usages!

I love this thread!

I'm from Kent but now live in Berkshire so I came on here to say Cheeselogs but PPs have already mentioned. In Kent we called them Monkeypeas which makes just about as much sense! Though apparently in the medway towns cheeseylogs is sometimes used.

I went to uni with a lad who introduced me to someone "having a cob on" when they were in a mood/ having a strop. We use it in our (very southern house of southerners) now.

My mum used to say "fingering" when she meant fiddling/meddling. Once I told my kids to "stop fingering the food" and they fell about laughing.

I've definitely heard His Nibs. I had the impression it was a bit like Lord of the Manor/ his Lordship but I will have to look up the origins to see if that's right

We definitely used to say chockablock and chocka in Kent.

Mufti I had never heard until an adult. We used to say "civvies" for school non uniform day.

I do remember knackered also having a rude meaning (in addition to being worn out/fit for the knackers yard) in the late 80s but that fell out of use. It was specifically used to mean tired after ejaculating (as in "emptied his knackers")

Oh and I never heard "bobble" for hair band until I left Kent. We used to call them hair bands or hair elastics. Traditionally they did have a small metal bobble to secure the ends so the name makes sense, less so now they don't! I can't bring myself to refer to them as bobbles unless they have an actual bobble!