| A-Z
GLOSSARY: How do you say it? |
| Slang
Term |
Definition
of term |
| Awld |
Old |
| Butty |
Friend |
| Cratur |
Creature |
| Dyuth |
Death |
| Ettles |
Stinging
nettles |
| Flump |
Fall down
or collapse |
| Gyule |
Gloat or
poke fun at |
| Hummuck |
Leg |
| Im |
Him |
| Jud |
Dead |
| Kip |
Short sleep
or nap |
| Lug |
Ear or tow |
| Moot |
To root in
the ground like pigs do |
| Nesh |
Delicate
or feeble |
| Oik |
Lift |
| Pizzun |
Poison |
| Quat |
Sit |
| Rasty |
Rancid or
unpleasant |
| Strame |
Stream |
| Thou'it |
You will |
| Undud |
Hundred |
| Vorest |
Forest |
| Wuss |
Worse |
| Yud |
Head |
| Zid |
Saw |
Read the history of the Forest of Dean and how the
unique dialect evolved. It's written in 'Vorest Spake' so see how you
get on!
It be pretty well zertin that our Vorest dialect evolved over unduds -
p'raps thouzands o' years. Durin thic time it 'ave choinged an' altered
a yup.
It be reazonable to azzume vram 'istorical an' arkeelogical
recerds that iron ore minin' wuz carried on yer in the Vorest o' Dean
ver over vour thouzand yers.
Vust cum the Zilures vram the Celtic vamilies o' Urope
in vour undud an' vivty B.C. Then cum the Romons vollowed by the Zaxons
an' the Narmons. All on 'em brought wi' 'em thar various languiges, aczents
an' dialects.
But it wuz vram the erliest Celtic period that the vocablary
an' dialect ztarted to evolve in the Vorest.
The Zilures wuz Druids, an' thar leeders wuz cawd 'Grey
Yuds', zo the uze o' the word 'yud' ver 'ead' da goo right back to theese
erly doys. Zo to da the minin' terms 'gale' an' 'scowle'.
Zo thee cost zee az it awl da goo back a 'ell o' a long
woy.
Dezpite all theeze yer invoiders the Vorester allus kep'
'is independance an' did not mix zocialbly ar intermarrym but even zo,
much o' the invoiders languiges an' dialects muzt 'ave rubbed off on 'em.
Zum o' the Vorest vocablury be pure Awld English, zuch
az wen thoy da uze the pronouns 'Thee' an' 'Thou', thiz moy bin hinfluenced
by all them thar non-convarmizt religious movements zuch az the Quoikerz
an' the Primative Methodizts az wuz about in the Vorest bout two 'undud
ar zo years agoo.
But the biggust hinfluence on the Vorest dialect wuz the
minin' induztry an' the miners tharzelves.
The miners lived a very inzular life, thoy worked tagither,
lived in thar zmall villiges tagither, looked a'ter thoir ship tagither
an' a'ter work wen' to the pub tagither - if thoy 'ad a yupny ver a pint
o' zider.
Many vroizez az thoy uzed at work wuz alzo uzed in thar
everydoy lives. 'Ows thee acker cuttin?' In the pit thiz ould mean 'Iz
yer axe zharp?'. But outzide 'o work it 'wer a general inquiry inta yer
mates 'ealth. 'Ow bist thee awld butty?', the butty zyztem wuz a woy o'
payment in the pit wer the Butty Mon ould poy out a group o' miners workin'
under 'im. But the word 'Butty' wuz alzo uzed az a word ver yer vrend
ar mate.
Many werds wuz peculier to the miners an' the mines:
Comp - Candle
Dipple - Steep incline
Tushin - Carrying
Daddocky - Rotten (wood)
Whenever thus uze the hindefinite article 'that' or that'n'
allus uze the werd 'thic'.
The letter 'H' be zeldom uzed in Vorest - 'cept wer it
zhouldn't be. 'H' da becum 'Y'. 'Come here' becums 'Come yer'.
The letter 'H' can be added to a werd - zpecialy wen a
'ooman da wun a zound 'posh':
Er 'ad a neck az ong az a hostrich
Garge's dahter uzed ta zing in the Hopera
The vowel 'I' da nearly alwoys becum 'OI':
'Ard toimes
'Im wer allus roight
Thee cost zhift the consonants about anywer theeze loik:
Do'st wun a goim a donimoes
Ar zumtimes thee cost add a hextra zylible to a werd:
The poor zod drownded in the river
If theez wun to zoy 'DO', 'CAN' ar 'BE' in the negative
then theez gotta zoy:
Thee disn't - thee cosn't - thee bisn't
Thee zhould niver zoy:
I'm gwain ta 'ave a lie-down
Thee zhould allus zoy:
I'm gwain ta 'ave me a lie-down
The uze o' MALPROPRIZMS is very commun in Vorest - specialy
'mong the wimmen.
I be gwain ta git garge a pup ver 'iz birthdoy, one
o' thoy zpotty damnations
Im 'ad 'iz appendages remuved - jus' a'ter the general
erection it 'wer
Er cud zee a lot bitter wuns er 'ad er cattericks remuved
Our Vorst be choingin'. Volks da muv out an' volks da
muv in bringin wi' em thar aczents an' dialects an' mergin' wi' our awn
an' zo dilutin' ont.
The young 'ums da lissen to the tele an' the radio an'
da lern to spake like them on it.
All the deep pits 'ave zhut an people da goo vurther avield
ver work. New roads da meen az thoy can goo vurther Vram 'ome to thoir
jobs an zo mar da cum yer to live 'cos it be a nize ploice now thit all
the pits iz zhut 'an the ploice av 'ad a good clane-up.
Many da vizit uz now becus it be a nice place to zpend
a 'oliday.
Wi 'ave cum a long woy vram the doys wen the only wuns
to cum yer by caravan ztopped at Crump Medda. 
Article reproduced by the kind permission
of Keith Morgan
Test your knowledge of the Forest dialect
See also:
Mining
in the Forest, from the Forest of Dean
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