Fews Glossary E-G

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Earnest sum of money given to seal a bargain
Edge ‘she gave him the sharp edge of her tongue’
 ‘her temper’s a bit on edge’
Endeavour
 attempt,
‘I’ll do my endeavour to get it’
Erran
  errand
Easy come by easily procured,
‘money’s not easy come by’
Even
  impute, suggest ‘
would you even the likes of that to me?’
Even one’s wit
 have words with,
‘I wouldn’t even my wit on ye’
Every
  each, ‘
there’s an egg in every nest’
Elsin
  awl

Face  ‘the thing has no face on it’ [unlikely story]
  ‘it seems faceable’ [probable]
Fadge
  portion, cake of bread,
‘give him a wee fadge for his pocket’
Failed 
 ill, ‘
She’s looking failed recently’
Fall to
  an invitation to eat
Fangled entangled, ‘
the goat’s all fangled in the tether’
Farl
  the fourth part [of griddle bread]
Farness distance, ‘
What farness off do you live?’
Farntickles
 freckles
Fashion habit, ‘Looking wise is a fashion he has’
Fault  blame,
‘he faulted him for spreading the story’
Favour ‘he is ill-favoured’, ‘he favours his mother’s side’ whereas his brother is ‘the dead spit of himself’
Feart
  afread
Fetch  report, story ‘
he always has some fetch in his mind’
Fickle
  unsafe, ‘
the ice is in a fickle state’, ‘a fickle fence’
Fidge
  fidget, n. a small amount, ‘
I couldn’t give a fidge’
Figary
  trick
Find  notice, ‘
do ye find the cool breeze now?’
Finished
 perfected, ‘
a finished blackguard’, ‘a finished scholar’
Fire
  throw, ‘
he fired a stone at me’
Fissling
 rustling noise
Fizz  impress, ‘too much drink never fizzes him’

Take a fizzic! calm down!
Fix  condition, ‘
in a fix’
Fell on
 stumbled, ‘
the horse fell on me’
[in his] feet 
barefooted
Feth  faith
Fettle  condition, ‘i
n fine fettle’
Flake
  beat, ‘
he flaked the oul’ mare’
Flaming
 angry, ‘
she was flaming’
Flammery
 flattery
Flatter  coax, ‘
I’ll flatter it out of him yet’
Flipe
  an untidy or careless woman
Flit  to change one’s abode
Flite  a scolding or silly person
Fly  sly,
‘he’s the fly boy’
  ‘she’d fly at ye with her tongue’
  ‘he let fly with his boot on me shin’
  ‘he let fly wi’ his fists’
Flush
  a pool of water, a drain; with loads of money
Fluster confuse, hurry
Fogg  moss
Follow  trade, occupation, ‘
what does he follow?’
Folly  
follow, ‘he’d folly me anywhere’
Foot  ‘hay on foot’ [still uncut]  ‘child on foot’ [beginning to walk]
  ‘lost his foot [slipped]
Footing
 authority, ‘
he’s no footing over me’
Footings
 small clamps of turf
Footy  small, mean
Footery awkward
Fornenst opposite
Forrad  forward
Ill-founded without foundation
Founder chill, ‘the cow has a founder on her’
Foxy  sly
Fozy  light, spongy
Framed made-up, ‘a framed story’
Freak  out of the ordinary
Free  loose-talking ,
‘she’s too free wi’ her tongue’
From  at a distance, ‘I saw him from me a bit before it began’
Full-farmer
 well-to-do farmer
Full-drunk very drunk
Furbish to dress, brighten

Gather up  assemble and arrange, harvest, ‘gather ’em up there’ ‘Gather yerself up, there, before the priest comes’

Get-up  outfit  ‘some get-up she had on!’

Fews Glossary, C

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Caddie boy, good-for-nothing person
Cadge  carry, ‘ye’ve had a long cadge o’ it’
Cadger little, sometimes applied to a pedlar
Cailey  gossip, round of calls on neighbours
Call  arrange, need, demand, right:
  ‘he’s called an auction’
  ‘you had no call to hit him!’
  ‘ * got the best call’ i.e. was in greatest demand
  ‘what call have ye to take that attitude?’
Called  spoke with abuse: ‘he called me out a name’
Came on happened: ‘What came on ye?’
Cant  Auction
Canty  jaunty: ‘A canty boy, him!’
Cap  to stop; a cover; takings from a collection
Care  family; ‘look after my care’ i.e. wife and children
Carried away: foolish, vain
Carry on misbehave
Case-equal similar; ‘they’re case-equal on truth-telling’
Case-hardened accustomed; ‘she’s case-hardened till he’s ways’
Cast  reject, reproach; ‘I cast that away’
  ‘he cast up her shortcomings to her face’
Casting-match quarrel
Causey the paved stones around the kitchen door
Cementing beating; ‘he got a well-deserved cementing’
Chanceable changeable
Chander scold
Change one’s feet put on dry socks/boots
Chap  blow; ‘he wants a chap on the lug’ [he deserves hitting]
Charge load, caution; charge the gun; I charged him to be civil
Chattered bruised, shattered
Chats  small; just chats of potatoes; wee chats like you!
Chay-cow a term used to soothe or call a cow
Check  chide
Cheek  impertinence
Cheep  talk; ‘if he cheeps, he’ll rue it!’
Chew upon it think it iver
Childer children
Chitter mutter; ‘chittering there to yerself like a looney!’
Chivvy chase
Clabber mud
Clamp  a covered heap [e.g. of potatoes]
Clart  a slovenly, dirty woman; ‘that clart, is it ye were with?’
Clarty  dirty, wet
Clash  repeat
Clash-bag story-teller [pejorative] ‘the worst clash-bag in the area’
Clash  blow; a clash on the face
Clat  to scrape
Clock  a hook, a thump; ‘I got a clock on the nose’
Clift  wise; ‘he’s on’y half-clift’
Clinch  agree, settle
Clip-blow a frolicsome boy or girl
Clipe  a thump; also a tell-tale
Clitter-clatter idle talk
Cliver  generous; ‘he’s cliver wi’ he’s money’
Clean  quite; ‘he’s clean done!’
Clemmed perished; ‘clemmed wi’ cold’
Clods  fragments of earth; also verb, to strike with …
Clocks  beetles
Clocking brooding [women or hens] ‘What’s she clockin’ on now?’
Cloots  feet
Close  secretive, mean; ‘she’s a close one’
  ‘he’s that close, he’d starve ye and him wi’ plenty’
Clout  rag, blow; ‘he’d a dirty clout for a hanky’ 
  ‘a clout on the head might mend he’s ways’
Clutch  flock of chicks
Coarse rough, stormy; ‘a coarse fellow’, ‘a coarse day’
Cock up to set up, ruin
Cocked-up conceited; ‘a cocked-up upstart’
  ‘aisy cocked-up’ – easily flattered by praise
Cod  a foolish person

Comic-cuts comic weekly like Beano, Dandy
Coggle shake
Cogly  unsteady
Cold-rifed a person who suffers from cold
Colley  soot smuts, as sometimes float round a room
Colloge gossip
Cogglety-corry see-saw
Condescend agree, assent; ‘she’ll condescend in the end’
Come at illicitly approach[ed]; ‘he was come at by the other side’
Come by respected; ‘he was well come by on both sides’
Come down drop caste; ”twas a come down for her till be marryin’ him’
Come in prove; ‘that’ll come in handy sometime’
Come round ‘he’s comin’ round’ [recovering] ‘he’ll come round to the right of it yit’ [accept the logic] ‘a man come round till his time of day’ [of his age]
Come over repeat; ‘he come over it again and again’
 ‘she can’t keep from comin’ over things’
Commerce dealings; ;have no commerce with him’
Connu-going easy-going
Con memorize
Consate pride
Conversible pleasant
Convoy large number; ‘a quare convoy there’
 Accompany; ‘he convoyed me part of the way’
Cop catch; cop the ball, ‘he’ll cop it when he’s da comes home’
Copies capers; ‘never heed her copies’
 ‘cutting copies’ – acting silly
Cop pig a young pig fed by hand
Corn [heart of] kind, thoughtful person
Cornaptious disagreeable
Country crop  rough, bowl-shaped haircut
Counted reckoned; ‘it’s not counted well to talk that way’
Coup upset; he couped the cart
Cove cave, souterrain
Cowe intimidate
Crab scold, [noun] short-tempered old woman
Crabbit adjective from above; ‘he’s that crabbit he’d differ from his own wife, if he had one’
Crack news; ‘what’s the crack?’
 Short time; ‘I’ll be with you in a crack’
Cranch crunch
Crap crop
Creepy a low stool, usually on 3 legs
Crig stub, as in ‘toe’
Croak about to die
Crowlie the runt, smallest of the litter
Crucify annoy, hurt; ‘she’d crucify ye with her tongue’
 ‘these boots have me crucified!’
Cruddle curdle
Cruel fine, big, very; a cruel big girl, cruel rich, a cruel funeral
Cruel hand unfortunate person; ‘his troubles have made a cruel hand of him’
Crulge crouch
Cut many! ‘the dog cut me’ [bit] ‘a cut of bread’
 ‘a cut of hay’ [auction term] ‘draw cuts’ [lots]
 ‘I’ll niver cut mate in that house again!’ [eat a meal]
Cutty small; a cutty spoon/pipe etc.  ‘a wee cutty’ [boy/girl]
 Applied also to worn-out spades, knives etc.
Cure tonic; ‘you’re a cure for sore eyes’
 ‘he’s a tarribe cure’ [he is fun]
Curleys kale
Cute astute; ‘a quare cute wee man’: cute hoor – one of the stars of the Mahon inquiry!

Fews Glossary: B, 3

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Blether  n.v. foolish talk/er
Blood   fighting spirit Don’t raise his blood!
Blow   scold   I gave him a good blowing up!
Blustery  stormy, of temper as well as weather
Blutter  as with ‘
blether’
Boast
   hollow
Boke vomit: was man who’d do it on request, aka
Bill the Boke!
Bone-dry
 out of milk!  The wee cow’s bone-dry!
Bonefire  bonfire
Bothered  silly:  he’s a bit bothered in his mind.
Bottom  end, sense:  there’s no bottom to his story.
Bottom  low-lying field or meadow: 
He’s in the bottom field.
Boy
  male of any age: servant: the devil [as in ‘
old boy’]
Brag
 boast  
she was the brag of the ball:  he’s a bit of a brag
Braird
  prickly
Brakefast breakfast
Bran  new
Brash  illness:  may also mean help
Braskins milk raised by the churn-staff in churning
Brave  large, as in ‘a brave lump’:  wholesome, as in ‘
a brave day’
Bravery
 finery, as in,
‘she was out in her bravery’
Breast
  mount, as in
‘I haven’t yet met the horse I cudn’t breast!’
Brenth
y broad
Brew  the edge of a drain/bank of a stream: in town,
tea.
Brissle
 toast, as in
‘she was brissling her shins at the fire’
Broken
 no longer fair, as in ‘
the weather’s broken’
Brung
  brought
Buff  joke, naked 
‘he’s ony buffing!’ ‘in his buff!’
Budge
  more
Budget news, ‘
What’s yer budget?’
Buggle
 shy, as in horse’s refusal, ‘
the mare buggled at it!’
Bum
  boast, ‘
he’s a real bum’
Bunty
  small
Busk  dress, as in
‘All busked up and nowhere to go’
Butt ‘he jumped from a butt’  as ‘bunty’: ‘a quare wee butt of a lad’
Butter-fingered
 careless
Butter-mouthed treacherous ‘
a butter-mouthed deceiver!’
Bye-boy
 illegitimate son
Bye-name nickname

 

Fews Glossary: B, 2

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Bash He’d bash you in a minute! [He’d strike without warning]
Bastard (var. endings) Unsuitable 
The bastardin’ thing doesn’t fit right!
Bat
 Blow 
He hit him a bat on he’s neb.
Bat
  Stroke, exact time 
He arrived on the bat of the hour.
Be t’ be:
  Had to be 
It be t’ be that till make sense!
Be
  By 
Beck  Nod
Boon  Number 
He had the quare boon of workers on the job.
Become
Suit   
That outfit becomes ye well!
Bedrid
  Confined to bed 
She’s been bed-rid these months!
Bedivilment
   Fun 
What sorta bedevilment are ye at, now?
Beeld
 Festered 
He’s wound beeld.
Bees
 Is  
He bees working well now.
Beetle-head
  Heavy-headed: dull: sleepy
Be-hopes Expectations 
She’s be-hopes of clicking him.
Belt
  Physical punishment 
He got a whale of a belting aff he’s father.
Bend 
Effort 
He’ll make no bend for hisself at all.
Bemean
  Demean 
Ah wunn’t bemean mesself till arg with her!
Bit 
Crux  
When it comes to the bit, he’ll let ye down
Bing
  Heap 
a bing of potatoes: A binged-up plate
Birl
  swing, spin, dance 
Give her a birl there, ye boy ye!
Black-foot
  def.  man who accompanies the prospective bridegroom, arranges the match, helps with the courtship
Black looks  angry, expression
Enough of yer black looks.
Blade
  contemptuous expression, of a girl:
saucy blade!
Bla-fum
  nonsence 
That’s only bla-fum!
Blare
– yell 
Give her a blare!
Blast
– tune –
give us a blast of yer pipes, there! 
Blazon
– praise
Blind – fill, close  Blind that gap with a bit of a bush![n. a mask for a cow or horse]
Blirt v. spill the beans, whinge  Blirt it out now!  Quit yer blirting!  He’s a real blirt [i.e. cry-baby, informer].

 

Fews Glossary: B

Babbed :closed : A nivir babbed an eye the live-long night!
Babblement
: nonsense:  Stop yer babblement!
Back:     assist:        I’ll back ye on that!
  Opinion:      
The back o’ the country’s behind him.
Back-set:
  Relapse:    
God spare him, he’s had a back-set.
Back-spang
: Take advantage:
He’d back-spang ye if ye weren’t careful!
Back and forrards
  Commuting: 
I’m back and forrards there a lot.
Back-talk
:    Cheeky replies:  E
nough af yer back-talk!
Bad 
            Indisposed:        Ach, he’s bad, all right!       Bad Scrant  Ill-luck    Bad scrant to ye for yer lip!
Babboozle   Outwit, confuse: 
He’d bamboozle ye with his edimicated talk!
Bang 
     Thump, explosion:
I’ll bang ye on the lug!  Went off with a bang
Banjaxed: 
ruined, done:  It’s banjaxed, right enough!Banter   Tease  It’s ony a bit a banter!  Don’t pay no heed!
Bar   Disallow  
I bar that!
Barge
 Scold, shrew 
She barged at him!  She’s a right barge, that one!
Barra
  Barrow
He was wheeled in a barra to her place till propose t’ her!
         Borrow 
Cud a barra a cup o’sugar aff ye?
bum :
boastful, useless person, backside:  Quit yer bumming!  Don’t listen to that bum. Kick up the bum.

Fews Glossary : A

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Glossary of Fews dialect, then and now: 

A:  I :  A wudn’t be bothered! : It doesn’t interest me.

Abodes: as in Presages : The dog cried in the night: It abodes ill.  Something untoward will happen that the dog knows about!

A carry-on:  as in playful/malicious jest: Some a carry-on that!

Afeard: afraid

Afore: before

Age: put years on:  it’d age ye just to watch his a carry-on!

Agee: open:  leave the dur agee, wud ye?

Anear: threatening:  I’m not anear ye!

Ail:  annoy:  What ails ye at it?

Air: warming, walking:  she’s airing herself at the fire: .. taking the air.

Aise: take the weight of: he aised the begs on my back.

Allow:  accept the truth: I’ll allow that it may be so.

 

Fews Glossary A, 2

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Allowance: permission:       I can’t give you that allowance.
All sorts: a severe scolding, heavily: 
She gave him all sorts. 
   It was raining all sorts.
All there
:  cute, attractive:             He’s all there.
All there [not]:  intellectually challenged:
She’s not all there!
Anenst
: opposite, against:   
He lives anenst me on the road.
Antic
: funny:         
He’s that antic ye’d split yer sides at him.
Ar
: scar
Arn: errand
Art: direction:            What art is he from?

Article: character  She’s a bad article, that one!
Astray: unbalanced  I wus astray with the pain of it.                           
He’d put ye astray in the head.
At it
: quarrelling, having sex  
They were at it with their fists
 
They were at it like rabbits!
Awaiting
: expecting        
She’s awaiting for ye.
Atween: between.
Author: informant:         He’s my author on that one.
Away in the mind: unbalanced: astray!
Away:  with gusto:          
Sing away, there!
Ax
: ask
Awanting:  crazy, silly     
He’s awanting something.
  
var.  wee want             
There’s a wee want in him.
       needs                  
Yer ma’s awanting ye.