Fews Glossary: W

Dialect ‘W’

Wabbley                     (Wobbly) unsteady

Wabbler                     ‘he tuk a wabbler’ he suffered a fit, a ‘turn’

Wad                             handful, i.e. of money, rags, straw etc.

Waited on                     dying, ‘she’s being waited on, God spare her!’

Wag                         n. comic fool: v. to beckon, wave finger threateningly

Wake             Calling time for friends of the deceased before burial

Wallop            a loose, unsteady person; a blow; to hit; an armful

Want                     use, in negative: ‘we can’t want the sprayer any more’

Water-table     subterranean water level but also a small channel to draw away water

Way                 idiosyncrasy: distance ‘she’s got a great way with her’

                       ‘she has wee ways that draw ye’; ‘she can’t help her ways’
 ‘it’s a long way from here’

Wed                 weed;   ‘he’s away to wed the thistles from the spuds’

Wee turn         small piece of work; non-life threatening sick attack:

 ‘he’d do you a wee turn’; ‘he tuk a wee turn yisterday’

Well put on             well-dressed: ‘put upon’ though means cheated

Welt                 hard blow or mark left by it

Welt the flure         dance with abandon

Whack                     share, ‘he’ll get his whack after’

                             thrash, ‘he whacked the culprit well’

                            portion, ‘a whack of bread’

Whip                     snap; ‘he whipped it from her hands’

Whipper-snapper         pejorative term for a cheeky young lad

Whail                         beat soundly

Whammel :                to turn over, or cover

Whang                         leather lace; a slice broken from a farl of bread

Whapper                         a lie

Whopper                         a lie 

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.