Sheffield Slang For A Story

[Plain Talker 11]

It's definitely modern - for some reason I forgot to mention that. Whatever is relevant currently is relevant for the story. He's in his mid 20s right now, so he was a kid/adolescent in the 90s.

 

He lived in Hillsborough till he was 12 - his parents were artists (I haven't decided completely, but I'm thinking his dad was more like a craftsman and his mom was a sculptor/painter) - and sometime in the mid-late 90s their career kind of took off which is why they could afford to move to an upper class area and him attend a private school.

 

Even though I'm pretty happy with that, I did just came up with it so I guess some of the gritty details, like occupation, could change. But that's the basic outline of what I'm trying to get at with his family history, and his childhood in Sheffield.

 

I would have thought a more bohemian area for his parents to have lived in, as artists, would have been Walkley/ Crookes. or Nether Edge/ Heeley.

 

"Upper-class" type areas in Sheffield would not have encompassed Hillsboro' even then.

 

Upper class (well upper middle Class) in Sheffield tends to be Fulwood/ Ranmoor/ Crosspool/ Brincliffe/ Ringinglow and Whirlow/ Dore/ Totley. (with perhaps a touch of Beauchief)

[vas8849 10]

I would have thought a more bohemian area for his parents to have lived in, as artists, would have been Walkley/ Crookes. or Nether Edge/ Heeley.

 

"Upper-class" type areas in Sheffield would not have encompassed Hillsboro' even then.

 

Upper class (well upper middle Class) in Sheffield tends to be Fulwood/ Ranmoor/ Crosspool/ Brincliffe/ Ringinglow and Whirlow/ Dore/ Totley. (with perhaps a touch of Beauchief)

 

Do you mean "encompass" by they wouldn't have accepted them or Hillsborough isn't included as an upper-class area? Because if it's the second, they'll move out of Hillsborough into one of the upper class areas when he's about 12.

 

Although, I like the idea of him being raised in a bohemian area as apposed to Hillsborough. Do you think his upbringing would change, i.e. do children from either areas speak differently or have slightly different upbringings from each other or is it kind of the same?

[Cyclone 10]

If your character was upper middle class, then they would probably not use any dialect words at all.

The working class people are the ones who have speech which has all the slang and dialect.

 

when I went to college at 16 and met people from the wealthier part of sheffield for the first time who were my classmates from places like Lodge Moor, Whirlow and Dore, ( typically upper middle class areas ) many of them spoke with a different accent and didn't know many of the sheffiledish words I was brought up with in hillsborough, which is traditionally more of a working class area.

They even tried to take the **** out of my accent because I sounded more northern then they did.

 

Exactly as muddycoffee says.

I'm middle class and from Sheffield and the majority of people can't identify any accent at all beyond 'northern' and that's down to the sharper pronunciation of letters.

Garage rather than Gararg, grass rather than grars.

That's not something you can get across very easily in text though short of describing the shorter, stronger pronunciation of the vowels and the more southern slightly more drawn out a's etc...

[Dimitri 11 10]

Some middle class/upper middle class people from Sheffield do use slang words but they are not the same slang words as are used by working class people from Sheffield. Working class people definitely use more slang and use it more often but with both working and middle class people it depends on the individual as to how often slang is used. I work with a lot of middle class people and they use:

 

'Dodge' to describe a place (usually a district or a pub) that is a bit dangerous or sinister. The working class equivalent would be 'on top' or 'bang on'.

 

'Full of townies' to describe bars in the city centre that attract predominantly working class people. The working class equivalent would be something like, 'it's a bit poncy' but obviously that would be to describe an establishment that attracts mainly middle class people (I mean that the working classes are describing an opposite rather than saying that middle class people are poncy). The less thick skinned could take offence to these phrases but IMO they are not meant to be offensive.

 

'Cool' and 'wicked' are used by middle class people in Sheffield whereas the working class equivalent would be 'sweet' or 'nice 1'. Basically the meaning is ok but only when replying positively to something.

 

'Wrecked' is a more middle class description of being drunk whereas 'blindo' or 'in a tangle' would be used by the working class.

 

The above are mainly used by the younger generation (early to mid 20's) rather than older Sheffielder's who typically use different slang words as well.

Edited September 23, 2009 by Dimitri 11

[vas8849 10]

Some middle class/upper middle class people from Sheffield do use slang words but they are not the same slang words as are used by working class people from Sheffield. Working class people definitely use more slang and use it more often but with both working and middle class people it depends on the individual as to how often slang is used. I work with a lot of middle class people and they use:

 

'Dodge' to describe a place (usually a district or a pub) that is a bit dangerous or sinister. The working class equivalent would be 'on top' or 'bang on'.

 

'Full of townies' to describe bars in the city centre that attract predominantly working class people. The working class equivalent would be something like, 'it's a bit poncy' but obviously that would be to describe an establishment that attracts mainly middle class people (I mean that the working classes are describing an opposite rather than saying that middle class people are poncy). The less thick skinned could take offence to these phrases but IMO they are not meant to be offensive.

 

'Cool' and 'wicked' are used by middle class people in Sheffield whereas the working class equivalent would be 'sweet' or 'nice 1'. Basically the meaning is ok but only when replying positively to something.

 

'Wrecked' is a more middle class description of being drunk whereas 'blindo' or 'in a tangle' would be used by the working class.

 

The above are mainly used by the younger generation (early to mid 20's) rather than older Sheffielder's who typically use different slang words as well.

 

That's really helpful! Thanks!

 

I have two more questions...

 

Does the younger generation say love or mate...or both?

My character says "love" and "mate" but if the younger generation doesn't really say love then I should probably change it....

 

Lastly, are their slang words for American labels like "bindie" and "emo"?

[Cyclone 10]

Some middle class/upper middle class people from Sheffield do use slang words but they are not the same slang words as are used by working class people from Sheffield. Working class people definitely use more slang and use it more often but with both working and middle class people it depends on the individual as to how often slang is used. I work with a lot of middle class people and they use:

 

'Dodge' to describe a place (usually a district or a pub) that is a bit dangerous or sinister. The working class equivalent would be 'on top' or 'bang on'.

 

'Full of townies' to describe bars in the city centre that attract predominantly working class people. The working class equivalent would be something like, 'it's a bit poncy' but obviously that would be to describe an establishment that attracts mainly middle class people (I mean that the working classes are describing an opposite rather than saying that middle class people are poncy). The less thick skinned could take offence to these phrases but IMO they are not meant to be offensive.

 

'Cool' and 'wicked' are used by middle class people in Sheffield whereas the working class equivalent would be 'sweet' or 'nice 1'. Basically the meaning is ok but only when replying positively to something.

 

'Wrecked' is a more middle class description of being drunk whereas 'blindo' or 'in a tangle' would be used by the working class.

 

The above are mainly used by the younger generation (early to mid 20's) rather than older Sheffielder's who typically use different slang words as well.

 

None of these are Sheffield or even Northern slang, you'd hear the same things said in London, although to be honest I've never heard anyone use some of those examples...

[Cyclone 10]

That's really helpful! Thanks!

 

I have two more questions...

 

Does the younger generation say love or mate...or both?

My character says "love" and "mate" but if the younger generation doesn't really say love then I should probably change it....

 

Lastly, are their slang words for American labels like "bindie" and "emo"?

 

Younger middle/upper class will say neither very often.

They might say 'mate', but probably in an ironic way or if speaking to a working class friend.

Emo is the description for mopy neo gothic teenagers everywhere. I don't know what a bindie is.

[sauerkraut 10]

Hi Vas, I’ve got a suggestion. ‘Tis just an idea – prompted by the many occasions my kids, whose dominant language is German, ask me how to say something in English and get the response from me: “Well, it all depends...” (cue family groans all round).

 

How about you get a draft of your story done, or at least a very substantial chunk of it, without worrying too much how your Sheffield character speaks. Then post the whole thing on here so that everyone can see the character in context. (If you join the group, you can use the password protected section if you prefer.) That way your readers would be better placed to comment on whether the character and his circumstances sound authentic, because they’d have a more complete picture.

Edited September 24, 2009 by sauerkraut

[Dimitri 11 10]

Younger middle/upper class will say neither very often.

They might say 'mate', but probably in an ironic way or if speaking to a working class friend.

Emo is the description for mopy neo gothic teenagers everywhere. I don't know what a bindie is.

 

Yes it is very rare that you hear middle or upper class people using 'mate' or 'love'. Mate is used a lot by working class people but the use of 'love' is dying out IMO - My Grandad uses it for both men and women, my Dad uses it just for men and I don't use it at all (although I have heard people in my age group use it). 'Dude' is sometimes used by younger people from a middle class background, although it isn't that common. I am not entirely sure what an often used middle class equivalent of 'mate/love' is - maybe there isn't one really?

[vas8849 10]

I'm kind of deciding that I might just keep "love" only because I think it adds a little something special to his character. It might not be completely true to his generation, but I feel it gets a certain point across that I wouldn't be able to get otherwise.

 

I'm thinking about posting a section of it for you guys to read the major dialogue and decide what works and doesn't, just give me a day or two to refine it.

[Dimitri 11 10]

I'm kind of deciding that I might just keep "love" only because I think it adds a little something special to his character. It might not be completely true to his generation, but I feel it gets a certain point across that I wouldn't be able to get otherwise.

 

I doubt many people outside of Sheffield know the finer details of the slang that is used here so it wouldn't really matter that much anyway in terms of authenticity. The smartly dressed cockney wide boy types that Guy Ritchie uses in a lot of his films, no longer exist and probably haven't since the late 70's. He still uses them for films set post-2000 and it doesn't look that daft because stereotypes last longer in people's minds than they do in real life.

 

I'm thinking about posting a section of it for you guys to read the major dialogue and decide what works and doesn't, just give me a day or two to refine it.

 

That would be good and i'd definitely be interested to have a look at it.

[vas8849 10]

P.S. How do I join the password-protected group so I can post the story?

 

 

Edit: Nevermind! Found it

Edited September 26, 2009 by vas8849