Accordin-lie | Accordingly: “Uhcordin-lie ter him”. With emphasis on ‘lie’. | |
Acrorst | Across: “I wet acrorst the rud to the busstop.” | |
Afore | Before: “Afore yew go, ole paartner, less hevva drink.” | |
Afreard | Afraid: “My dawg wuz hoolly afreard o’’ the dark, he wuz.” | |
Agin | Again, once more, or against: “Thass cold agin, ent ut?” | |
Allus | Always: “I allus cycle to wark.” | |
Alonga me | With me: “Come alonga me!” | |
An’orl | And all, hence: “An’ yisterday wuz wet, an’orl.” | |
Ar(t)er | After: the ‘t’ is barely pronounced, at the back of the throat, more like: “ar-uh” | |
Arly | Early: “Heh’yuh got yar arly tearters in yit?” | |
Arternune | Afternoon: similar pronunciation to ‘arter’. | |
Atwin | Between: “Atwin me, yew an’ the geartepust…!” | |
Ax | To ask: “If yew watta cuppa, yew hatta ax proper fur it.’’ | |
Axed | Asked: “Hev yew gotta loight, bor?” he axed. |
Backus | Scullery or out-house. | |
Badly | Poorly, or in ill health: “I fare badly terday, I dew, an’orl!” | |
Barney | A quarrel, or falling out: “I hed a roight ole barney wi’ him nex’ dor, I did.” | |
Beck | A small stream: Beeston beck. | |
Bein’as | Because of: “Bein’as th’ trearn dint come, I wuz learte hoome.” | |
Bishy-barney-bee | A ladybird. | |
Blar | Cry, or weep: “Stop yar blarin’, dew yew’ll mearke me blar an’orl”. | |
Blunder | To fall over: “I hoolly blundered over in the rud, I did!” | |
Bolt | Eat food too quickly, to ‘wolf’ it down without chewing. | |
Bop | To duck down, lower one’s head to avoid being seen. | |
Bor | Norfolk way to address males: “Hello, Bor, how’re yer gorn on, tergether?”. | |
Botty | Fussy, particular: “She wuz a botty little mawther.” | |
Brawk | To belch loudly after meals! | |
Burr | Haze around the Moon. |
Caution | Amazing or surprising news: “Well, ent that a caution – City won agin!” | |
Chimley | Chimney: “Mollie Windley she smook loike a chimley…” | |
Claggy | Moist or sticky. | |
Clam up | Go quiet, shut up: “When I arrived, she hoolly clammed up!” | |
Clever | Handsome or dexterous: “Thass a clever little gearte yew’re med, bor!” | |
Clip | A quick cuff of the hand: “My Maw dint harf clip my lug.” | |
Clout | A heavier blow: “I gev my thumb a clout with the hammer and it dint harf smart!” | |
Cobbles | Round beach pebbles used for paving and building. | |
Cop | To get caught out: “You’ll hoolly cop it when yew git home.” | |
Coshies, cushies | Sweets: “Here’s thruppence fur some coshies, Albie.” | |
Crowd | To push in: “Give me room – dunt yew crowd me so.” | |
Cuckoo | Cocoa: “I like corfee, but my wife likes cuckoo afore bed.” |
Dassent, dussent | Dare not: “No, I dussent do that, do I do, I might blunder down!” | |
Dast, dust | Dare: “I dast yew to climb that there tree.” | |
Dawg | Dog: “Clear yew orf, dew I’ll set my dawg onya!” | |
Dew | A social occasion. | |
Dickey | Donkey: “Dew yew fa’r keep a dickey, bor?” | |
Ding | A sharp blow, a cuff: “Mother dint harf ding my lug!” | |
Dint | Didn’t, did not: “I dint dew that…” | |
Dockey | A labourer’s dinner, kept in a dockey bag. | |
Dudder | Shiver, to ‘dudder’ with cold: “I’m all on a-dudder!” | |
Dutty, datty | Dirty, grubby: “Wipe yar dutty feet afore yew come inta my clean scull’ry!” | |
Duzzy | Silly, stupid: “Yew duzzy waarmin, yew.” |
Fare | To be, feel or seem: “That fare like rearn, an’ I dun’t fare too well!” | |
Fierce | A state of health: “My Martha ent tew ferce terday.” | |
Finnicky | Fussy, too particular (over food). | |
Floater | Type of dumpling. | |
Fosey | Stale, mildewed (food): “My apple wuz fosey!” | |
Fourses | Tea break in the afternoon (traditionally in the harvest field). | |
Frazzled | Frayed, worn (garments); worried, anxious (nerves). | |
Friz, frooz | Frozen: “That hoolly frooz laarst night, an’ the pond was friz.” | |
Fumble-fisted | Clumsy. | |
Furriner | Someone from furrin (foreign) parts. | |
Fy-out | Clean out (ditches) – but: “He gev his snout a good ole fy-out!” |
Gansey | Fishermen’s jersey or heavy jumper made of oiled wool. | |
Garp, gorp | To gape: “That Missus Smith dew gorp outta har net cartins.” | |
Gret, greart | Great: “Thass a greart ole lobsta yew’re got there, bor!” | |
Grizzle | Cry (with pain): “The littl’un grizzled orl night, what with har teeth a-comin’.” | |
Gurn | To grin, make faces. | |
Guzunder | Chamber pot: goes under the bed. |
Ha and hacker | To stutter. | |
Haller | Shout loudly. | |
Hamper | To damage or hinder: “I woulda bin hare sooner, but the rearn hampered me!” | |
Harnser | Heron. | |
Hedge Betty | Hedge sparrow. | |
Het | Heated: “Hent yew het the kittle yit?” | |
Hid | Head: “I thacked my hid on that there tree!” | |
Higgle | To bargain or argue. | |
Hin | A chicken. | |
Hitch up | To make room: “Hitch up, bor, then there’ll be room fur me an’orl on the seat!” | |
Hold yew hard! | Listen a minute, hang on a moment. | |
Hoss | Horse, also be boisterous: “Yew hatta hoss about, dun’t yew? Yew hoolly cearme hossin down the rud!” | |
Howsomever | However. | |
Huh (On the) | Uneven, not level: “That wall yew built wuz on the huh!” Alternatively: “On the sosh.” | |
Hull | To pitch or throw: “He hulled the ball at me and it hit me in the gut; what med me hull up!” | |
Hunnycart | Vehicle for collecting night soil: “Thass afore the days o’ water closets, tew yew, mileardy!” |
Jam | To stamp on, or walk heavily: “We jammed about all day at the Show!” or: “Dunt you jam on my foot.” | |
Jiffle | To fidget: “Stop yar jifflin’,” the teacher told Tommy. | |
Jip | Pain, aggravation: “My corns hoolly gev me jip.” | |
Job, jorb | Something remarkable: “That new car o’ yars is the job, ent it?” | |
Jollificearshuns | Fun and games, joviality. |
Lady’s smock | Canterbury bell, cuckoo flower. | |
Laid | Corn flattened by gales or heavy rain. | |
Lam | To thump or beat: “He dint harf lam itter me.” | |
Larn | To teach: “That there teacha tried on it, but she coont larn me nuffin.” | |
Loke | A blind alley or a short lane. | |
Lollop | To walk ungainly or slowly: “That mawther dunt know how tuh walk, she jist lollop along.” | |
Lug | An ear – or to carry: “I in’t lugging that all the way home!” or “My dad gev my lug a clip!” | |
Lummox | A clumsy person. |
Mardle | To gossip, or chat: Also, another name for a pond! | |
Marl | Chalk: Dug out of pits and used as fertiliser on fields. | |
Master, masterous | An expression of admiration: “Thass a master good crop o’ tearters.” Or: “Thass a masterous job.” | |
Masterpiece | Anything amazing or astonishing. | |
Mawkin | A scarecrow: See: The Merry Mawkin. | |
Mawther | Girl or a woman: Sometimes ‘Maw’. | |
Mellow | Ripe. | |
Misery | Aches and pains: “That apple pie gev me misery in my stommick.” | |
Mite | Small, or a little bit: “I ent a mite hungry.” | |
Mob, mobbed | To tell off, scold, or take to task: “I hoolly mobbed that boy when his ball cem in my gaard’n.’ | |
Mow in | Join in, help out: “I spuz yew want me tuh mow in with the washin-up, dorn’t yew, Maw?” | |
Muckwash | Sweat, sweating profusely. |
Pamment | Pavement. | |
Pample | To tread lightly or quietly. | |
Pearks | Gadgets, new-fangled things, inventions. | |
Peerking | Nosing around, looking for something. | |
Pightle | A paddock. | |
Pingle | To play with your food. | |
Pishamire | An ant. | |
Pod | Belly, gut: “All that sluss, he’s got a pod on him!” | |
Pollywiggle | A tadpole. | |
Primmicky | Affected, difficult to please. | |
Puckaterry | In a muddle, or a bit of a temper. | |
Push | A boil, or large spot. | |
Putting on parts | Misbehaving, drawing attention to oneself: “Thass no good yew a-puttin on yar parts…” |
Rabbit | To cut a groove, rebate, in carpentry. | |
Rafty | Damp , raw weather. | |
Rare | Anything unusual: “Thass a rare fine pheasant yew’ve got there, bor!” | |
Raw | Angry, displeased: “Maw wuz hoolly raw wi me for duttying up her troshall.” | |
Reasty | Rancid. | |
Rent | Tear: “I blundered down in the street an’ rent me trousers.” | |
Rimer | Hoar frost: “Blass me, thass a right ole rimer this mornin.” | |
Ruck | To crease: “What hev yew bin doin now, my mawther? Yar skut’s orl rucked up!” | |
Run | To leak: “Dunt yew use that there kittle, corse that run, that dew!” | |
Run on (go on) | To exaggerate, to grumble: “Stop goin on about the wather – yew do run on, yew do, an’ thass a fact!” |
Sadly | Unwell: “He took tuh his bed, corse he wuz so sadly.” | |
Screws | Rheumatic aches and pains. | |
Shannock | A native of Sheringham; born of true Sheringham stock. | |
Shink | Should think: “I shink she wuz suffen savidge”. | |
Shiver | A splinter: “I’re gotta shiver in me finger.” | |
Shruck, shrook | Past tense of shriek: “She shrook out when she saw Old Shuck and took to har bed.” | |
Shuck | An untidy person. Also Old Shuck, the phantom hell-hound that roams the cliffs looking for his dead master. | |
Shud | Shed. | |
Sight | A great (or small) number: “There wunt a sight onnem. “I thort there woulda bin a sight more than that!” | |
Slarver | To drool or dribble; also, to talk rubbish. | |
Slop | A fisherman’s smock worn over his gansey. | |
Sluss, slusspot | Alcoholic drink, one who drinks too much. | |
Smur | Fine rain, drizzle. | |
Snew | Snowed. “That snew an’ snew all day!” | |
Snob | Shoemaker or cobbler. | |
Sorft | Silly: “All the squit yew come out with, yew must be sorft!” | |
Sosh (on the) | Uneven, slanting, out of true: “On the sosh.” | |
Splar, splaar | To spread out: “Dunt she splar her feet out when she walk?” | |
Spuffle | To waffle, speak pompously: “He do spuffle, dunt he?” | |
Squit | Norfolk nonsense: “Tha’s a lot o’ squit.” | |
Stewkey blews | Cockles caught at Stiffkey. | |
Stingy | Mean, cruel, cold: “Ony sixpence pocket money was a bit stingy.” Or: “That wuz stingy ole weather yisterday.” | |
Swimmers | Norfolk dumplings. |
Ta, ter | The, this, that or it: Ter year. | |
Tempest | Thunderstorm. | |
Thack | Thrash or thump: “He wuz rude ter my sister, so I hoolly thacked him aside the lug.” | |
Tidy | Good, fair: “Thass a tidy step to the busstearshun.” | |
Time | While: “I hed a sleep time Maw cooked the dinner.” | |
Titchy | Touchy, irritable. | |
Tittermatorter | See-saw. | |
Titty-totty | Very small. | |
Tizzick | A tickly cough. | |
Tricolate | To spruce up or repair: “He tricolated the shud suffin masterous.” | |
Trosh | To thresh. | |
Troshel, throshel | Doorstep, threshold. | |
Truck | Anything to do: “He ent yar sort – yew dunt watta hev any truck wi him!” | |
Twizzle | To rotate, spin or twist rapidly. |
FOND Archive Fearvruts
Randum Loada Squit
Taken from an 1883 directory of placenames – gives many examples of Norfolk towns and villages that are/were pronounced very differently to their spelling.
A brief history of the Friends of Norfolk Dialect, (FOND), how, when and why we were formed and what we hope to achieve, I 'spose you'd call ut 'About Us'.
A list of recommended Norfolk Dialect reading compiled by Keith Skipper, by no means comprehensive but a useful starting point for any enthusiasts.