h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Has anybody ever tried to understand the people who come from South Yorkshire?
I mean, I come from just up the road in West Yorkshire and even I can't understand half of what they say.
You know what I mean, like?

I know exactly what you mean. I was born and raised in West Yorkshire (Huddersfield) and now live in South Yorkshire (Sheffield).

Some examples:-

Mucky (Hudds) = Loppy (Sheff)
Teacake (Hudds) = Breadcake (Sheff)
Currant Teacake (Hudds) = Teacake (Sheff)
Fish'n'Chips (Hudds) = Chips'n'Fish (South Sheff.) - Seriously! Even though Sheffield chippies still say "Fish and Chips" on the front

ay up muckers.
Hailing from sunny ol' Sheffield I think it is the rest of the country that don`t speak propper.
example : I can go into any chippy in Sheffield and ask for a Fish Cake and get a wedge of fish between 2 cakes of potato fried in batter. Go anywhere else and you get some sort of pulp that may or may not be fish with green bits in it dipped in bread crumbs.

I think you'll find that people from Barnsley have their own language, never mind dialect. "Over there," becomes "O'er theer," and suchlike... Anyone got anymore BarnsleySpeak?

You should have asked for a Scone.

Well, not quite barnsly speak, but
"I'm f t shop. dya want out?"

is quite common about 10 miles up the A628.


Mic

Art tha laikin'

(Are you playing?)

More Yorkshire idiom -

"Leet geen" - probably from "light going" - libidinous.
"Nesh" - weak, feeble.
"Snicket" - lane.
"Ginnel" - alley.

and a piece of advice

"Nivver let thee mother know she bred a jibber."

Is any one else familiar with the expresion "it's black oor Bills Mothers" meaning that the sky is dark over there and it looks like rain? trouble is that poor old Bills Mum lives where ever it is going to rain.
Also "Mardy" meaning easily upset. To be used in the phrase "E's a reet Mardy arse"

I've heard of the misfortunes of Bill's mother. As for 'Mardy', I think that word may be another of those transpennine interlopers, tha' knows.

Oh yes, 'Black over Bill's mother's' used to confuse the hell out of me when I was a kid. Especially as I had an uncle called Bill . I once heard that Mardy in Cheshire meant 'nice', now that would be confusing.

icelandic is the closest you can get to old norse, language of the vikings, And it's interesting when looking at yorkshire dialect to note.. Laiking, Yorks 'playing'- Ad Leikja is the verb 'to play' Leikhus is the playhouse, Dalur, is a valley, =yorks dales. I'll remember a few more soon, post them later.

As a Sheffielder who has worked in Barnsley, I was amazed to see a road sign in Scandinavia "Barn Lekker" (I think) which was close to a children's playground. The BArnsley equivalent would be "Bairns Laiking".

This explains a lot.....

It shouldn't really surprise, Yorkshire was well within the Danelaw in the second viking age and had presumably already absorbed many scandinavian words during the first. I wonder how many other Yorkshire expressions are derived from Scandinavian words?

For lots of poems - and even a few jokes - written in the Yorkshire dialect this site is really good - just click the 'Contents A-Z' when you get to the page.

http://www.yorkshire-dialect.org/