What – you don’t know what an idle Jack is?
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In the great scheme of things, Britain is a small, small island. And, in this age of hyper-mobility and globalisation, it’s got even smaller – people move around and relocate with greater ease than ever before.
Such movement makes regional differences in language and pronunciation seem less relevant. It necessitates contact with other speech patterns, the adaptation of ones own linguistic repertoire in order to be understood and a certain standardisation of the language. The kind of regional dialect distinctions in which Britain is so rich start to blur and may even be lost over time.
Yorkshire born, Derbyshire bred
Growing up in Yorkshire with two parents from Derbyshire, I was constantly in contact with a whole smorgasbord of delightful regional words and phrases belonging to Midlands dialect. I soon learned that what was said in the house differed significantly from what I’d hear outside of it at school and among my friends: my parents had obviously brought their own native speech patterns and terminology with them from Derbyshire.
Living abroad and becoming a language professional served only to heighten my interest in these quirky little words that I’d only hear at home. They are part of Britain’s rich cultural and linguistic heritage, worthy of protection and preservation. They should be in your vocabulary, not in the history books!
So here are 12 of the best words from Midlands dialect, in the hope that raising their profile will fix them in our imaginations that little bit longer.
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1. Slawming
“Stop slawming around and sit properly!”
We’d soon hear my mum say this if we slouched around on the sofa or at the table. Slawming, then, is to sit in a disorderly or slovenly fashion.
I’ve heard that the word is used in the Leicester area as a general description for doing something in a slap-dash or careless way (“he slawmed paint all over the wall”). This seems logical, but my mum only ever used it in the context of a bad posture while sitting.
2. Idle Jack
Until I went on the search for the origins of this word as part of writing this article, I’d never heard anyone else use the phrase outside of my family home and even thought it might be one of the many words and phrases that we’d invented ourselves.
But the term “idle Jack” is known in Derbyshire and refers to the loose (or idle) flaps of skin that you sometimes get at the side of your fingernails.
Isn’t that just lovely?
3. Clarty
This word is known across the north of England and in Scotland. It was used in our house to describe something sticky, possibly dirty. So, a pudding would be “clarty” if it was heavy and cleaved to your teeth. Equally, mud was “clarty” if it accumulated in great clumps on the sole of your welly boots when striding across the countryside.
There appears to be a similar word in Derbyshire, “clouty”, which means “dirty”. I’m not sure whether the two are related but there doesn’t seem to be a big conceptual leap between the two of them so I’m going to assume they are.
4. Rucked up
Not to be confused with the term “ruched”, as in the intentional design of a piece of clothing so that the fabric sits in folds. “Rucked up”, as it was used at home, was always unintended and an undesirable state of something being bunched or scrunched up.
For example, if your skirt rides up when you walk with a bag hanging down at your side, then it is “rucked up”.
5. Mither
“Stop mithering me!”
I remember hearing this quite often when I was bored and went to mum looking for entertainment or occupation. To mither (with the “i” pronounced like “eye”) means to pester or bother someone, and kids are especially good at doing this to their parents which is probably why I heard it so often.
While the word is listed in a lot of Derby dialect collections, it seems to be known in other parts of the country too.
6. Cob
The words a British person will use to describe a bread roll can be a good indicator of where they’re from – and provoke a lively debate!
What southerners call a “roll” is called a “stotty” or “breadcake” in Yorkshire, or a “bap” in Wales.
In Derbyshire, your cheese sandwich will likely be made from a “cob”. Because the term is not commonly used anywhere outside the Midlands, the only place I’ll ever use it is at home with my parents. Otherwise, I just say “bread roll” or “bread bun”.
7. Duck
This has nothing to do with the aquatic bird. “Duck” is a classic of Midlands dialect; a term of endearment along the lines of “dear”, “darling” or “love” (in Yorkshire). Derbyshire friends and relatives might well greet you with a hearty “Ey up, me duck!” and my parents often address me as “duck” or even “ducky”.
The origins of the word are vague, with some people arguing it comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “ducas” (similar to “duke”), which would make it a sign of respect for the person being greeted. Another theory is that it comes from the Old Norse word “dokka”, meaning “doll”.
8. Mashing
“Tea’s mashing, won’t be long!”
To “mash” is a verb in Derbyshire, meaning to make tea (“Are yer mashin’?”). However, the term has a slightly more precise meaning in our house, referring solely to the brewing of the tea when the leaves are sitting in the water.
While I tend to be quite restrained in the dialect words I throw out at non-native speakers here in Austria, mashing is a word I’ve quite happily taught The Other Half (a native of Luxembourg) and use on a day-to-day basis. We love our tea, so “mashing” is a fixed part of our daily routine.
9. Kibbling
Kibbling, like “slawming” was a mode of undesirable behaviour which we were often told to stop as children. It meant to lean back on your chair so that you are only balancing on the two rear legs. This obviously isn’t good table manners and the risk of falling over backwards (“kibbling over”) and hurting yourself is considerable, so kibbling was always something that had to be stopped immediately.
As for its origins – I have no idea. I’ve always assumed it’s a Derbyshire thing, but I’m not sure.
10. Jitty
Just like the names people give to the bread rolls on their lunch plates, the terms Brits use to describe the small passageways (for example an urban shortcut or path running along the backs of two rows of houses) will tell you where they’re from.
“Jitty” is a classic Derbyshire word. I happily use it, but also mix it in with the word “snicket”, which is widespread in Yorkshire (where I grew up and frequently found myself using such small paths to get from A to B).
11. Whittle/wittle
To “whittle” (or “wittle”) means to worry or fret. Since our household contained several people with a clear tendency to emotional agitation, the word was (and continues to be) whipped out often.
I have to say that I don’t say it in my adult life but I do like it, because it’s so descriptive. If you imagine the general use of the word whittle, i.e. to carve (wood) into a desired shape by slicing small bits off it, or to reduce something in size by a gradual series of steps (for example, to produce a shortlist), the meaning in dialect is very apropos and wonderfully evocative. By worrying, you are wearing yourself down smaller and smaller.
12. Black over Bill’s/black over Bill’s mother’s
Said while looking anxiously out of the window at gathering black clouds, wondering at the possibility of rain (which, in the UK, is present most of the time).
The Bill in this odd phrase is said to refer to Kaiser Wilhelm, Germany’s final emperor. He was known for his erratic foreign policy, the negative effects of which would quickly “blow over” and be felt in Britain. So, threatening bad weather was said to be coming over from “Bill”. Quite how Bill’s mother crept into the saying is unclear.
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Related articles:
Weird British sayings and their mysterious origins
The Yorkshire words and phrases I still use after 19 years abroad
Going back to Britain – the joys and the frustrations of returning to the mother ship
Northern English words from Old Norse
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