Local Words

What Staffordshire words, phrases and sayings do you remember? Let us know...

Pauline Baddeley
Does anyone else recall 'saff' which we used for rummaging around on the tip for free goodies? It was also used for trying to get anything for nothing. Also, rather painfully, to 'dookbash' which meant flicking someone on that very sensitive area between the nostrils?

Chrissi
Johny ma lad, Johny ma lad, can I come in can I come in, ya cosna cos me faythers in, ya cosa wisle ya cosna shout but rattle thee clogs till I come out. I am not sure if my spelling is right. One of me Mums sayings she called luncheon meat "prem".

Rosie
I was born n raised in 'Uttchexter' Uttoxeter. And a good saying is 'Hecky Pecky' which means Oh no! At the moment I'm working in London and I like to confuse londoners with that saying! he he he

sarah
I'm from stoke, and i love my accent, ah wunna change anyfin bwt it to be honest wiv ya :) and i type ow i speak so yeah! i love the phraise "costna kick a bo agen a wo an ed eet wiv ya ed and bost eet" which means "can ya kick a ball against the wall, and head it with your head and burst it" Its fair simple, our accent is a lazy one, and we conna say yes! it gets added with long "s's" yesssssssssssss lol so we say yea or ah!! and bus for us, is buzz.. and innit is isnt it or aint it!! and if i say like..." thats doin my tree in tha is" thats "thats doing me head(tree) in" i love eet XD it's so cool ^_^

M Willis
The 'Posher stick'used in the old washing tubs. and is 'Mardy' a Staffordshire saying? M W (Cannock)

Perth, Australia
I was raised in Staffordshire (Uttoxeter) and a SEG (refer Dave Machin)was a steel strip hammered into the heel or toe of your shoe to reduce the wear and make them last longer. Maybe that's where the 'hard lump' connection comes from? They were also very slippery on smooth surfaces!

jack dempsey
Oh,someone thinks that doofah (doofer) means "remote control"!!!We were using that word in Cheshire before they ever existed.It means any little gadget or thingo that will "do" (fer) this or that.A doorstop or a pitprop -anything suitable that maybe you can't remember or don't know the name fer.

jack dempsey
One lady asked on here about what county the word "bint" came from. I was surprised - because i believe it to be Arabic for "daughter" - and hence used of any female, often in a patronising way.When i was in Australia,i encountered what i thought was pure Aussie slang - "perv" or "purv" meaning to snoop or investigate, to look into. Surprised to discover it in Stokie, meaning the same....

mick Hartshill
The potteries dialect in many ways is akin to old anglo- saxon middle english

Bob's ya uncle
I use the word 'oatcake' and people from different places of Britain don't know what that is, people from Newcastle-over-Lymne say 'Bap'.

Sue - Consall
my Mum used to say - Get that Charlie off yer back - meaning stand up straight.lozzakin - meaning to lounge around on a settee.Nesh - feeling the cold easily. Trashers - old worn out shoes for working in.

roger birchall
they sen meaning "yourself"

John Repton Deane B.E.M.
att o rate, Are you all right

D oreen Mullen
how about the man asking for a light..matches..an eny on yer eny on yer

Tony Wood
Ex him or emAsk him or them

linden kilbane[australia]
snappin---foodtup--person who is no good

Nemma - Newcastle-under-Lyme
A couple of examples that we use that haven't been mentioned yet - 'doofah' meaning a remote control, and 'sneeped' meaning upset.

Ken Clarke - Longton
Mashing = courting. Peedy =small marble.

Perth, Australia
My mum uses mard to mean "spoilt", as in "dunna be so mard" - here in Perth (australia) they say a child's acting "sukey".Rachel

Emma Wright - Milan Itlay
rhetorical questions like: 'e anna as e?' 'e inna is e?' dunner-don't wunner-won't...Since I am a teacher of English to foreigners I have actually tried teaching my students some Stokie dialect..... amusing to say the least!!

Stuart Tunnicliff - Draycott-le-Moors
One of my Fathers sayings in hot weather was 'Arm as dry as a Larm Burners clog', Which refered to the clogs of lime pit burners who's clogs would split because of the heat of the pit.When he came home if he looked worn out I would ask 'At O rait' he would some times say 'No th oppers brok a gen' Which refered to the coal hopper which lifted coal trucks at Stoke sheds to load coal into the steam engine tenders - it was a very tempermental piece of machinery. He was outside forman at one time in the sheds.Other Sayings 'Our Youth' elder brother / 'Our Kid' younger brother / 'Goin Whom' going home / 'Schraff tip'. where all the pot banks tipped the waste from the factories broken pots and moulds etc. / 'Mar lady' or 'th missus' terms for the wife, Bless em!

Dave Machin - Biddulph
What's the correct word for lumps of hard skin on your finger due to overwork? I've always know them as SEGS being a Biddulph bloke, but down south they don't know what segs are.

David Evans - Kidsgrove
thadge-a lot;smidge-a little bit;bucker-a dare, usually jumping cuts (canals!);buckered -to have failed a dare;cooting-courting;simming-spying on courting couples

Jo -Stoke
alreet - alright / ow at - how are you / wot you on - what are you doing / nithered - cold / bosted - ugly / gangly - tall & lanky.my folks always used to say off you go up the wooden hills - meaning time for bed / ow at thee ducks - how are you love

Rodger Deane - Biddulph
Whatabout the words and phrases used by miners? "Shut yer gob" keep your mouth shut, which I think originated from N. Staffordshire miners - a gob being an area of coal that had been taken out and had a tendency to spontaneously combust or catch fire. The miners would then seal it up - 'shut the gob'.Also what about "butties" and "doggies" and "tommy shops". are these N. Staffs mining terms?

Chris Preston - Meir Park
By the way, nobody has yet mentioned the term, 'come keen' which means sharp pain; if, say, you trap your finger in a door an observer might say, "Ooh, I bet that come keen!"

Clifford Ellis - Hanley
when I was a lad your trousers were referred to as your kecks and your sweater was a gansey.

Hazel - Leek
My mum (from Cheshire) uses the word "traklements" to describe belongings if someone was going off somewhere. I thought she made it up! - but it is very similar to the word 'tranklements' a word described by 'algy from Melbourne Austrailia' and seemingly used in the same kind of context! Does anyone know where the word comes from?

Gillie Crowder - Nashville TN USA
A few months ago you mentioned a book which had the potteries dialect in it - I cannot find it any longer can you help me please. My parents live in SOT and could bring it over to me when they come in December. many thanks

Clifford Ellis - Hanley
Two staffs words spring to mind.One is kale which means housework,the other one is rocks which means sweets.

Paul - Huddersfield
My mum used to tell me that one, but she'd always finish with 'I cost, cost thay?' (I can, can you?)

Paul - Huddersfield (used to live rahnd t'Meir
Tell yer this, Derek, it'll cost our langwidge if we dunna towk lark way shud. Potteries, Yorkshire, West country, it dunna matter what area, ower lowcal words are baying killed off bar 'Estuary English'. Whut gud is us aw towking t'sayme wee? Bay prahd ov thar langwidge, it's aw part o a rich an varied vocabulary an it's a shame ta do it in.

Paul Juckes - Girona, Spain
kweedlin'/queadlingMy Mum (Hanley born and bred) used to call it kiddling. She also used to have a firkle in her handbag. (She meant have a root around.)