Proper Brummie
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
'Proper Brummie' represents the first attempt ever to comprehensively document the Birmingham dialect. I'm sure it will come as a great surprise to many, as indeed it did to me, that there has never been anything like it before. When I first started researching this dictionary I was astounded by the lack of information on the language of England's 'second city'. Apart from the odd humorous take on Brumspeak, like Ray Tennant's 'Book of Brum' booklets, one of the only published works I could find which takes a serious look at the Brummie tongue was one which proposes to do away with it; Frank Jones' (1917) 'Brummagem English: being an account of the peculiarities of pronunciation commonly heard in Birmingham and District together with a course of phonetic exercises to correct them'. The other, Hans Oskar Wilde's (1937) 'Der Industrie-Dialekt von Birmingham', is written entirely in an almost impenetrable form of academic German. For those who want to find out about the dialects of other parts of England, on the other hand, there is an abundance of published material available in any public library; from books on how to 'Larn Yersel Geordie' (Dobson, 1969) to a glut of Scouse, Cockney, Glaswegian and even Black Country dialect dictionaries. Anybody hoping to familiarise themselves with the Birmingham dialect, however, might well end up believing that such a thing does not exist.
I've heard it said that Brummie, unlike other British English dialects, does not have a large collection of specifically local words or phrases, but this is patently untrue; as, I hope, the huge amount of entries in this dictionary will prove. Birmingham has its own instantly recognisable dialect, which us Brummies, contrary to popular opinion, are fiercely proud of, and yet it has been ignored by linguists and lexicographers alike. Brummie, furthermore, is an historic tongue. Along with dialects spoken in surrounding areas of the English Midlands, it is probably the closest you're ever going to get to the way Shakespeare spoke. Shakespeare's plays are peppered with dialect words and phrases which many Brummies still use today, but popular attitudes towards the Shakespearean and Birmingham dialects couldn't be any more different. Shakespeare's language is celebrated all over the world, whereas a Brummie still can't open his or her mouth without making some other English person cringe.
The aim of this dictionary, therefore, is not just to provide the definitive guide to the Birmingham dialect, but also to shatter a few of the myths, common misconceptions, and prejudices surrounding the language of this city and its people. It seems perverse that at a time when discrimination on the basis of sex, race, age, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation is generally condemned, prejudice against people who speak certain dialects should be allowed to continue unabated. I am not, of course, under the illusion that prejudice against those who do not 'speak proper' will vanish overnight, but, with any luck, this dictionary may help a little in turning the tide. Since, as the poet Tony Harrison ('National Trust', 1992) warns us, "the dumb go down in history and disappear," it appears to be of the utmost importance that our language and the language of our ancestors is recorded before it's too late. There is nothing wrong with the way Brummies speak. Birmingham English is just as good as any other form of English, and its distinctiveness and vitality should be celebrated, not stigmatised. Brummies have, up until now, been denied a voice; silenced; written out of history, and I think it's about time we made ourselves heard.
An A - Z of Brummagem Dialect Words
acky vortis - noun. a crude form of nitric acid used by jewellers and brass founders.
barm - noun. yeast; from the Anglo-Saxon 'beorm'.
collar - noun. work; labour; graft eg. "It worn't arf 'ard collar in them days."
dup - verb. to open up eg. "And dupp'd the chamber-door" (Shakespeare, Hamlet, IV).
egg - verb. to incite or instigate eg. "Ill eggin' meks ill beggin'."
faddle - verb. to bother with or be concerned about eg. "I can't faddle with teapots."
gulley - noun. an entry, alleyway or passage between terraced houses.
huckster's - noun. a sweetshop or confectioner's, often applied to any cornershop.
ill-favoured - adjective. ugly; unattractive eg. "Blimey, 'e's an ill-favoured sort."
jack-bannock - noun. a stickleback or any small freshwater fish caught in the cut.
kitha - interjection. used to attract attention eg. "Kitha! Tek a dekko at this, our kid."
lungeous - adjective. aggressive or boisterous eg. "'Er's a lungeous beggar, 'er is."
mumchance - adjective. silent; speechless or mute eg. "An' there 'er sat mumchance."
nare - adverb. never; not ever eg. "Nare-a one of 'em was any good."
out-door - noun. a shop licenced to sell alcoholic drinks for consumption off the premises.
powk - noun. a stye; an inflamed swelling on the eyelid.
quiddle - verb. to chew, chomp or munch food slowly in the mouth.
ruckus - noun. a fight or brawl eg. "'E'd got into a bit of a ruckus down the Queen's."
summat - pronoun. something; an undefined thing eg. "'Er got summat out of 'er bag."
tissicky - adjective. ill; unwell; sick eg. "All the upset's med us feel a bit tissicky."
umming and arring - verb. hesitating or dallying; taking a long time to decide.
vergis - noun. the acidic juice of crabapples or unripe fruit, used in cooking.
whinnock - verb. to whine; to whimper or cry fretfully, as a child does.
x's yennup - noun. Brummagem market traders' back-slang for 6d in old money.
yampy - adjective. mad; crazy; insane eg. "'Er's as yampy as a March 'are, 'er is."
zonked - adjective. tired; worn out eg. "I'm zonked, I've bin on nights all wick."
(from 'Proper Brummie: A Dictionary of the Birmingham Dialect', Birmingham: Brewin Books, 2001)
I've heard it said that Brummie, unlike other British English dialects, does not have a large collection of specifically local words or phrases, but this is patently untrue; as, I hope, the huge amount of entries in this dictionary will prove. Birmingham has its own instantly recognisable dialect, which us Brummies, contrary to popular opinion, are fiercely proud of, and yet it has been ignored by linguists and lexicographers alike. Brummie, furthermore, is an historic tongue. Along with dialects spoken in surrounding areas of the English Midlands, it is probably the closest you're ever going to get to the way Shakespeare spoke. Shakespeare's plays are peppered with dialect words and phrases which many Brummies still use today, but popular attitudes towards the Shakespearean and Birmingham dialects couldn't be any more different. Shakespeare's language is celebrated all over the world, whereas a Brummie still can't open his or her mouth without making some other English person cringe.
The aim of this dictionary, therefore, is not just to provide the definitive guide to the Birmingham dialect, but also to shatter a few of the myths, common misconceptions, and prejudices surrounding the language of this city and its people. It seems perverse that at a time when discrimination on the basis of sex, race, age, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation is generally condemned, prejudice against people who speak certain dialects should be allowed to continue unabated. I am not, of course, under the illusion that prejudice against those who do not 'speak proper' will vanish overnight, but, with any luck, this dictionary may help a little in turning the tide. Since, as the poet Tony Harrison ('National Trust', 1992) warns us, "the dumb go down in history and disappear," it appears to be of the utmost importance that our language and the language of our ancestors is recorded before it's too late. There is nothing wrong with the way Brummies speak. Birmingham English is just as good as any other form of English, and its distinctiveness and vitality should be celebrated, not stigmatised. Brummies have, up until now, been denied a voice; silenced; written out of history, and I think it's about time we made ourselves heard.
An A - Z of Brummagem Dialect Words
acky vortis - noun. a crude form of nitric acid used by jewellers and brass founders.
barm - noun. yeast; from the Anglo-Saxon 'beorm'.
collar - noun. work; labour; graft eg. "It worn't arf 'ard collar in them days."
dup - verb. to open up eg. "And dupp'd the chamber-door" (Shakespeare, Hamlet, IV).
egg - verb. to incite or instigate eg. "Ill eggin' meks ill beggin'."
faddle - verb. to bother with or be concerned about eg. "I can't faddle with teapots."
gulley - noun. an entry, alleyway or passage between terraced houses.
huckster's - noun. a sweetshop or confectioner's, often applied to any cornershop.
ill-favoured - adjective. ugly; unattractive eg. "Blimey, 'e's an ill-favoured sort."
jack-bannock - noun. a stickleback or any small freshwater fish caught in the cut.
kitha - interjection. used to attract attention eg. "Kitha! Tek a dekko at this, our kid."
lungeous - adjective. aggressive or boisterous eg. "'Er's a lungeous beggar, 'er is."
mumchance - adjective. silent; speechless or mute eg. "An' there 'er sat mumchance."
nare - adverb. never; not ever eg. "Nare-a one of 'em was any good."
out-door - noun. a shop licenced to sell alcoholic drinks for consumption off the premises.
powk - noun. a stye; an inflamed swelling on the eyelid.
quiddle - verb. to chew, chomp or munch food slowly in the mouth.
ruckus - noun. a fight or brawl eg. "'E'd got into a bit of a ruckus down the Queen's."
summat - pronoun. something; an undefined thing eg. "'Er got summat out of 'er bag."
tissicky - adjective. ill; unwell; sick eg. "All the upset's med us feel a bit tissicky."
umming and arring - verb. hesitating or dallying; taking a long time to decide.
vergis - noun. the acidic juice of crabapples or unripe fruit, used in cooking.
whinnock - verb. to whine; to whimper or cry fretfully, as a child does.
x's yennup - noun. Brummagem market traders' back-slang for 6d in old money.
yampy - adjective. mad; crazy; insane eg. "'Er's as yampy as a March 'are, 'er is."
zonked - adjective. tired; worn out eg. "I'm zonked, I've bin on nights all wick."
(from 'Proper Brummie: A Dictionary of the Birmingham Dialect', Birmingham: Brewin Books, 2001)
