Local dialect of sheffield

[Faylalu 10]

I moved to Liverpool 3 years ago and recently married a scouser.

 

Now, when I say anything he wets himself laughing he tells me its not a real word and asks me if my Mum says it! (which annoyingly, she does)

 

My world shattered when I discovered snerped (Her face looks 'snerped'), puther (look at that smoke 'puthering' out of the chimney), crozzled (its all 'crozzled' around the edges) and chaveled (the hoover has chaveled the rug tassles) weren't real words!!

 

Well, what would he know... he's a scouser!

 

However, I believe that some of the words above are just ones shes made up, bless her!

[DUFFEMS 56]

I moved to Liverpool 3 years ago and recently married a scouser.

 

Now, when I say anything he wets himself laughing he tells me its not a real word and asks me if my Mum says it! (which annoyingly, she does)

 

My world shattered when I discovered snerped (Her face looks 'snerped'), puther (look at that smoke 'puthering' out of the chimney), crozzled (its all 'crozzled' around the edges) and chaveled (the hoover has chaveled the rug tassles) weren't real words!!

 

Well, what would he know... he's a scouser!

 

However, I believe that some of the words above are just ones shes made up, bless her!

 

All of the above words: snerped, puther, crozzled, chaveled are all regularly used Sheffield words tell your Scouser!

Another one he'll not know but you probably will is: "clarty"

 

Duffems

[Dexman 10]

Where does It`s gerrin dark o`er ted`s mothers come from? (refferring to black clouds looming up over the horizon)

[DUFFEMS 56]

Where does It`s gerrin dark o`er ted`s mothers come from? (refferring to black clouds looming up over the horizon)

 

It's very often Bill's mother's but, most Sheffield families put their own relative's name in. It must relate to an occasion when someone literally looked towards the skies where dark clouds were looming and worked it out to be where "ahr Bill lives o'er theear".

 

Duffems

[Sultana 10]

We tend to say "It's a bit soupy oe'r Bills mothers" For pouring rain we sometimes say "Its tonking it dahn" don't know where this comes from.

[DUFFEMS 56]

"Siling dahn" (no idea where that comes from) or "coming dahn in stair rods"

[Sultana 10]

If someone makes a mess, or siplls summat - I say "sloppy chuff"

[Nodens 10]

Here are some old Sheffield trade words, and Sheffield dialect, some of which I remember.

 

Bull Week – The week before Christmas when cutlers "bulled" at work – worked overtime or made an extra effort at work to earn extra money.

 

Chavel – To chew or fray a rope or band

 

Click howd – To catch hold of anything.

 

Clout – a cloth used for wiping knives clean.

 

Choil – depart in a great hurry.

 

Cuckoos – Faulty work. When a man has faulty work returned he is greeted with cries of “cuckoo” from his mates.

 

Dollop – a lot, large number of articles.

 

Gobbed-on – Soldered on; The expression is said to arisen because men used to spit (gob) on an article frequently as they soldered it; but it may also be a term of contempt indicating that it may just be stuck together with spit.

 

Kelt – money.

 

Knobstick – a blackleg or non-union workman, also a man who hadn’t served an apprenticeship.

 

Little Mester – a Master Cutler working on his own.

 

Rammel – refuse of any kind.

 

Skerrick - a morsel of something.

 

I particularly remember "cuckoos". I started my apprenticeship in 1963 and worked with a group of Sheet Metal Workers at the Light Press, English Steel Corporation at Grimesthorpe.

 

If one of them dropped a clanger with a job the others would gather round and start singing "cuckoo". It was very embarrassing for the bloke who had erred

 

I've never encounted it since.

[PopT 10]

The other day an old pal said his leg was giving him some 'jip' meaning the pain in his leg was troubling him.

 

Where did the word Jip originate?

 

It was commonly used years ago in Sheffield.

 

Happy Days! PopT

[Sweatshopboy 11]

Cuckoos to me were short measures pulled on the old hand pumps, the form was to stare at the drink and repeat cuckoo, cuckoo cuckoo like the bird, other customers would join in the call till the landlord topped up the drink. Another drink related term was sneck lifter, the price of the first drink, If you were skint, then hopefully someone would buy you another. Kelt for money? we called it Gelt. I knew we were losing the Sheffield dialect when I was telling my niece about Scoyl and Scosh and she told me It's not Scoyl or Scosh It's school.

[Plain Talker 11]

"Siling dahn" (no idea where that comes from) or "coming dahn in stair rods"

 

I STR someone of Danish extraction saying to me that "siling" was a Norse word for heavy rain.

[dowkeruk 10]

My grandma (b.1886) used to say 'dear chavel' for expensive food and 'lundy'

for anything awkward to handle.