Written in Black and Wight: C
Created | Updated Nov 12, 2017
You've heard of the seven seas, well this week we'll take you on a voyage across the 15 Cs, that is fifteen words from the Isle of Wight that all begin with the third letter of the alphabet.
This is a quiz series dedicated to the Isle of Wight's dialect, preserved in publications including A Dictionary of Isle of Wight Dialect by WH Long (1886) and Isle of Wight Dialect by Jack Lavers (1988)1. Each word is followed by a choice of definitions2, one of which is correct. But which is it? We'll soon 'C3'.
C
This week is words beginning with C.
Cagmag
- Book with pornographic or shocking content.
- An animal of poor breeding stock and also gone-off meat.
- Waterproof coat worn by fishermen in stormy weather.
Cappender
- A woman's bonnet.
- A boat large enough to have an enclosed cabin.
- A woven trap used to keep fish, typically carp, in one part of a river.
- A carpenter.
Chimbley
- A chimney.
- Chillblains.
- Glove worn as finger-protectors when sewing
Chine
- An area covered by a thick fog or sea mist.
- The ticking and hand-moving gear noise made by a church clock.
- Deep valley in a cliff caused by erosion from a river where it meets the sea.
Chinkers
- Chinks and fissures.
- Planks used to make a small rowing/fishing boat.
- Chicks, baby chickens.
Chizzle
- Particularly cold, fine rain.
- A nose ring for cattle or pigs.
- To cheat or swindle.
Chuckleheaded
- If something is being 'chuckleheaded' it is a large and/or heavy object being carried by two or more people4.
- Someone lacking in common sense.
- Someone making repeated snorting noises in an attempt to stifle a laugh.
Chockdog
- A wedge used beneath a waggon's wheels on sloping land to prevent it rolling down a Down or off a cliff.
- A sausage sandwich with high gristle content.
- Hard, brittle, locally-made cheese.
Clapperclaa
- To be scratched by someone, especially a woman.
- Wooden pincers used by shoemakers and saddlers to hold leather while sewing.
- To talk rapidly, especially spreading gossip.
Cocksettle
- A rooster's coxcomb.
- To fall head-over-heels.
- Pilot of a rowing boat.
Cowlick
- A milkmaid.
- A small, untidy tuft of hair on your forehead going in the opposite direction to the rest of your hair.
- A waterproof hood worn by fishermen in stormy weather.
Crapzick
- A broken or wrong-sized staff, pitchfork, billhook etc.
- To be ill through over-indulgent eating.
- Woven trap used by fishermen to catch crabs.
Crish
- To crash or crush.
- Crisp, cold and bracing.
- The cusp of a cliff or down.
Cruckle
- A cockle, a type of shellfish.
- To walk with a bend, stoop or hobble.
- A cross-shaped support, such as used on boats or as a frame for scarecrows etc.
Curridge
- Underwater rocks and ledges that can damage the bottom of a boat at low tide.
- To provide moral support in order to convince someone they have the confidence to do something.
- A wretched cur, a dishonest cheating swindler.
Click on the picture for the answers!
1Others include A Glossary of Isle of Wight Words by Major Henry Smith and Charles Roach Smith (1876), The Encyclopedia of Isle of Wight Words, Placenames, Legends, Books and Authors by Edward Turner (1900) and The English Dialect Dictionary ed. Joseph Wright (1906).2Normally three, but it is so easy to get carried away.3Sorry, couldn't resist the pun – it seemed a good idea at the time...4This typically results in the traditional direction-giving exchange, 'To me!' 'To you!'
