This week we are going where no cunning linguists have gone before. In the 150 years since study of the Isle of Wight's dialect began, no previous publication has ever dedicated a chapter or section to the letter X. Largely because no recorded Isle of Wight word actually begins with the letter X.

We have not let such a trifling matter deter us, and by a combination of ingenuity and desperately scraping the bottom of the barrel, the Post brings you a World Exclusive.

X

The quiz below combines every single recorded word containing the letter 'X' that has been recorded in either A Glossary of Isle of Wight Words by Major Henry Smith and Charles Roach Smith (1876), A Dictionary of Isle of Wight Dialect by WH Long (1886) or Isle of Wight Dialect by Jack Lavers MBE (1988).

X Marks the Spot

Can You match the correct words from the meanings listed below?

Main Round

There are three possible answers listed for each word below, but only one is correct. Can You guess which is right?

Axen

• Evil Doctor Beeching's reaction to the Isle of Wight's railway network.
• Publishing the banns of marriage.
• Asking a question.

Devvul's Snuff-Box

• A puffball mushroom.
• Tobacconists.
• The Pepper Pot.

Dungmexen

• A mezzanine floor.
• Someone who wants to build a wall across the border with Mexico.
• A dunghill.

Extry

• An extraterrestrial and/or someone from the Mainland.
• Bumping into your ex at an awkward moment, such as at a social event.
• Extra.

Kex

• A dry stalk of hemlock or cow-parsley.
• A number of small barrels.
• A measurement of kilocycles per second.

Kix or Kixies

• A kickback or recoil.
• Fairies said to haunt Bloodstone Copse and the Long Stone.
• Sloe, the bullace or wild plum.

Nubby Dux

• A Dandy.
• A Beano.
• Waddling ducks.

Onaxd

• Unasked
• Uncoupled, no longer attached.
• A cutting, galeforce onshore wind.

Pixe

• Swine
• Boxing match.
• Implement that, like a shovel, is used to dig dig dig dig dig dig dig in a quarry the whole day through.

Rox

• Heavy lumps of ground bigger than stones.
• Pieces next to the Horsies on a chess set.
• A dry cough.

Roxell

• Wrestling.
• A rocking chair.
• A rodent, such as rat or red squirrel.

Saacebox

• Small, square portion of ketchup or brown source given away in cafes that, due to the packaging, is impossible to actually open.
• A saucy boy.
• Ballot box.

Vox

• A town cryer.
• A fox.
• A vortex or whirlpool in the Solent.

Zix

• Six.
• Feeling sick.
• Trouser zip.

Click on the picture for the answers!

Bluebottle

29.01.18 Front Page

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