Common Northerner dictionary

[Flat Stanley]

Not just a Burnley expression but definitely northern is Pictures instead of Cinema. My mate came up to visit from London and had to ask my wife to repeat it 3 times before I explained what it meant.

Ecky Thump as an expression of surprise or astonishment is another good northern one.

[bartons baggage]

Lanky Twang is a good book for all the old Lancashire phrases.

[what_no_pies]

It i'nt int' tin.

Burnley for:

It isn't in the tin.

[keith1879]

My gran calls a bench in a park a "form". Think that is an east lancs thing. "let's just sit on this form for a minute".

Teacakes with reference to bread rolls with no currents in.

Someone said "bonny" above. In the east midlands if you call someone bonny it means that they are fat or chubby!

Read this and could hear my dad talking about "a form". I would say that made me emotional but don't want to be thought "a soft get".

[fatboy47]

oo... or alternatively hoo...as in shoo!

meant "she." Rossendale dialect..often used in a Bacup factory I had the misfortune to be enslaved in during my teens in the early 70's.

Oo takes it up the back end..
Hoo makes a grand spud pie.

[criminalclaret]

Ginnel = snicket = cut.
My wife used these terms when we lived in Kent, unsurprisingly no-one knew what she was on about.

My Grandad from Stacksteads called it a snicket and my Grandma from Rawtenstall a ginnel. That does bring back memories

[Healeywoodclaret]

I thought it was "selling owt shop" as in a newsagents or corner shop where you could get milk, bread etc.

Also slutch meaning mud, as in "get yer shoes off, I don't want you traipsing slutch all over the place"

Or I don't want you traipsing through here and getting slutch all oor"t show!

[Healeywoodclaret]

My mum used to say to my dad. If he came home drunk he could expect to "spend a night on the Coits"

Which were the big flagstones in the yard usually atop the outside loo or coal scuttle shed

My mum and dad used to say get your coit on its cold out!

And when I was really young out making snowballs come in skriking coz mi hands were cold she'd rub them by the fire and say Hecky Pecky!

[Healeywoodclaret]

A coit is the Lancashire way of saying a cote, ie a pigeon coit, but it can refer to and shed. My granddad would say "get thi coit wap thi bonnet on we're goin' fo' a tata. A tata was a walk.

Haha I still ask my two spaniels" are we going for a ta ta?! "

[Healeywoodclaret]

Choddy.....chewing gum,only ever heard it called that in Burnley

Kayli and Spanish meaning bloody he'll I only know it as Kayli can anybody help me out? And Spanish is Burnley for Liquorice. My husband is Scouse and they call the same thing sherbert and liquorice.

[Hazzyclaret1955]

My Grandad from Stacksteads called it a snicket and my Grandma from Rawtenstall a ginnel. That does bring back memories

A snicket is enclosed by fences or hedges, a ginnel by buildings.

[Carport]

My in laws often say 'at Saturday' instead of ' on Saturday' They live Brierfield.

[HatfieldClaret]

The Screaming Abdabs was the original name of Pink Floyd.

They definitely were not Pink Floyd fans.....

[Cirrus_Minor]

Cow clap - cow pat.

Oyning - annoying. eg. Oyning him to death.

Lerus gerus coyt on - wait whilst I put my coat on.

Skriking - crying. eg. Skriking kids.

Seggs - calluses. eg. If you sit there any longer you'll gets seggs on your arse.

[Healeywoodclaret]

spitting feathers.

this had a thread of it's own a while back but going down the co-op on a Saturday morning for half a dozen oven bottoms.

Don't you mean thoven bottoms?!

[Healeywoodclaret]

Read this and could hear my dad talking about "a form". I would say that made me emotional but don't want to be thought "a soft get".

Both my parents have passed away now, I must say I've been a bit emotional reading some of these, echoes of my childhood in Burnley. Great thread though.

[Gerry Hattrick]

keith1879 wrote:
" Read this and could hear my dad talking about "a form". I would say that made me emotional but don't want to be thought "a soft get".


Heaelywoodclaret wrote
"Both my parents have passed away now, I must say I've been a bit emotional reading some of these, echoes of my childhood in Burnley. Great thread though."

Reyt pair a mard arses:-)

[Sarum]

Ginnel (alleyway) is also used sometimes in these parts (the South) too. The Ginnel in Devizes town centre being one example.

Going on: on my way to Turf Moor some years ago I popped into a bakers to buy a sandwich. "Are you going on?" the young assistant asked me. "Going on? I'm not going on about anything, just ordering a sandwich." Staff in stitches, assistant apologies and clarifies " are you going ont' match?" !

[ClaretCliff]

Not just a Burnley expression but definitely northern is Pictures instead of Cinema. My mate came up to visit from London and had to ask my wife to repeat it 3 times before I explained what it meant.

Ecky Thump as an expression of surprise or astonishment is another good northern one.

Another name for the cinema, or pictures, was the flicks. Was used in hassy, don't know how widespread it was.

[ElectroClaret]

Chewing gum was speg.

[Healeywoodclaret]

Another name for the cinema, or pictures, was the flicks. Was used in hassy, don't know how widespread it was.

Flicks? Nah that's American. The pictures goes back to the silent movies such as Charlie Chaplin!

[Cornwallclaret]

Think ginnels used widely in Lancs and maybe further afield.

Back in t'day when Read was part of Burnley and not the ribble valley we had a ginnel next to the chip oyle( as it was known ) and I've necked( kissed..never heard it called that away from Burnley) a few lasses down there....not at same time mind

[Cornwallclaret]

Chewing gum was speg.

IT was Speg in Read but in Burnley it was always choddy..this I found out when I left school( crgs) and went Burnley college

[HatfieldClaret]

Back in t'day when Read was part of Burnley and not the ribble valley we had a ginnel next to the chip oyle( as it was known ) and I've necked( kissed..never heard it called that away from Burnley) a few lasses down there....not at same time mind

Never heard of 'necking' away from Burnley ??

I lived in the Middle East in the 60's and 70's with a multi international population and it was always called necking....resulting in hickies.

No camel jokes please

[bfcjg]

We used to call the canal the cut.