‘S’ 7 of 7
Sudden quick tempered,’she’s kind but sudden like’
Dialect – Words
Fews Glossary: R 1
Dialect ‘R’ 1
Rabble to talk foolishly
Rake quantity, ‘a rake of butter’, ‘a rake of flax-land’
Rampage to stamp noisily, to make a disturbance
Ram-stan rash, headlong
Rammel-tree beam in byre to which cow-stakes are fastened
Ramp to stamp in anger or rage
Rap rascal: also, rapscallion
Rasps raspberries
Rattle-skull silly person who talks without thinking
Ready make ready, prepare, ‘ready the horses for the plough’
Reason talk
Red clear, tidy up. ‘red the way for the cart’, ‘all red up’, red your hair, girl!’
Reel joke
Reek smell strongly
Reeve splitting, ‘a reeving pain in my head’
Rench rinse, ‘rench up the dishes, there’s a good girl!’ (Mum was always annoyed when I took this literally: i.e. failed also to dry and return them to their respective cupboards. Like when I was asked to ‘give the chile’s face a lick!’ Well, that’s what she asked me to do, isn’t it?)
Rib as thin as a, ‘just a stack of ribs, that girl’
Resate receipt
Ribbely rebellious
Rig ridge
Rickle a heap, ‘a rickle of turf’, ‘a rickle of bones’
Rift drift. ‘we rifted apart of recent’
Riff-raff people of low moral standing
Tarror
The visiting American University academic professed an interest in semantics, and especially in the local variety of word usage.
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
Fews Glossary ‘U’
This is the penultimate in our long-running series of an alphabet of words peculiar to, or used in a specific meaning in South Armagh. We have had few reactions, hostile or supportive, and few additions or corrections. Please correct this!
Dialect ‘U’
Unbeknownst : unknown to
Unchancy : unlucky, ‘an unchancy one, that boyo’
Fews Glossary ‘T’, 4
Trinkle : trickle, ‘there’s a wee trinkle left in the river still’
Trinnel : trundle; ‘trinnel it up to the cart for me, please’
Trollop : an untidy person; ‘don’t be walking out with that trollop!’
Fews Glossary: T, 3
Thrush: infection of the throat
Tick: credit, ‘most of our goods are got on tick’
Tied: outraged, ‘fit to be tied’
helpless, ‘we laughed that much we were fit to be tied’
confused, ‘you’ve got me tied up in a knot’
Fews Glossary: S 5
Dialect ‘S’ 5 of 7
Snig : cut or slash; remove burning end of cigarette with the intention of re-lighting it later
Snigger : laugh
Soople : active
Dialect ‘T’ 2
Dialect ‘T’ 2
Tell count, ‘I could never tell twice two’
Teem downpour, ‘It’s not raining, it’s teeming’