Wor Geordie’s Pitmatic
Aside from the fact that this sounds like some Northern folk band’s debut entry to the charts, or possibly some lung disease suffered by former miners, it’s actually a dictionary of language used in mining communities in the North-East.
As always, I’m somewhat ambivalent about news like this. Firstly, I like it because it is a celebration of my rich cultural heritage as a Geordie. Secondly, I have a feeling that it probably reinforces a lot of stereotypes about the North-East. Some people probably still think we’re mostly covered in coal dust, get bathed in a tin bath in front of the fire and are uneducated, unintelligent, ill-mannered louts.
Well I’ll have you know I’m not covered in coal dust.
Mind you, these are probably the same people who’d say something like:
Don’t they even know how to tawk propah? We shan’t have that sort of language in our haise…
Or maybe that’s just my prejudicial stereotyping…
What’s important to remember is that although many of the words and phrases will be understood by many Geordies, few will use them all with any degree of regularity. We generally know them from Geordie songs and stories: only a few words such as ‘canny’, ‘hinny’ are used regularly.
Also, I’d quibble over some of the spellings: I’ve heard “old” as “aad” (pronounced as ‘add’ but with a slightly longer ‘a’) or “aald” (as previous, but with the “ld” pronounced as is ‘cold’) before, but never “aard”.
Maybe that’s just one of the differences between pit-Geordie and town-Geordie, but I’m not entirely sure “aard” is right. Anyone who’s ever heard a Geordie, with traditional gallows humour, refer to the neurodegenerative condition called Alzheimer’s Disease, which is normally associated with the elderly as ‘Aald Timer’s Disease’ would understand that while ‘Aad Timer’s Disease’ would maybe work, ‘Aard Timer’s Disease’ certainly wouldn’t sound right.
So in my opinion, he’s aal wrang on that one. It’s aad or aald, and that’s aal there is te it.
What was also interesting was seeing this reported on the news and seeing the bemused ex-miners try to understand the presenter who seemed to fail to understand that the word yoursel’ should be pronounced similarly to the word yourself — only without the ‘f’ — particularly when the definition supplied alongside the whole phrase makes the context very clear.
But no: presenter lady seems to think that it should be something like “yow-zel”. Yowzel? Yorzel? Come on, if you can’t get someone who understands Geordie at least get someone with a basic grasp of linguistic concepts…
[For more info, see either the BBC item 'Guide to mining dialect published' or take a look at the Wor Language website; or watch 'presenter lady' struggling over the word yoursel']
mark fairlamb says:
August 6th, 2007 at 9:41 am
whey bugger a hell, worra carry on like
mark fairlamb says:
August 6th, 2007 at 9:44 am
sorry, that should have been “whey bugger a hell, worra clart on”
paul canning says:
August 6th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
I think you’ll find that non-Geordies find the accent – well – phoah :]
http://www.colinfarrellfansite.com/k2news/Print.php?NewsID=442
garment daily business reports says:
July 28th, 2011 at 7:38 pm
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
1234test.com says:
August 31st, 2011 at 3:59 am
Blogging For Fun and Education…
…When you are aware what is your job you can be a lot more successful than when you have no knowledge….[...]…
penny auction news says:
September 20th, 2011 at 9:33 am
How To Deal With Penny Auctions…
[...]We are absolutely sure that right knowledge can be very important when having no experience with some kind of work and even more it if is important to us.[...]…
test says:
September 20th, 2011 at 5:46 pm
What’s Mandatory When Choosing…
[...]It’s a known truth that skills come pretty handy when doing work for the first time and especially if it’s important to us..[...]…
Painting from Photos says:
October 3rd, 2011 at 2:29 pm
How ToLive Happily Blog…
[...]To have many skills you can successfully do at a lot of jobs and doing almost no mistakes…[...]…
plastic surgery internet marketing says:
November 4th, 2011 at 2:08 am
How To Make Plastic Surgery Marketing Work…
[...]To have good skills you can achieve at many more jobs and make less mistakes while doing it.[...]…
New York plastic surgery advertising says:
November 6th, 2011 at 10:51 pm
How To Find Good Plastic Surgeon…
[...]We are absolutely sure that skills come pretty handy when having no experience with some kind of work and even more it if is important to us…[...]…
dining solutions direct says:
November 8th, 2011 at 11:24 pm
How To Find Good Dining Solutions…
[...]When you know when doing your work you will do more than if you are completely without skills..[...]…
Sunset Cove Phangan says:
December 12th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
Sunset Cove…
[...]Awesome data that I’ve been seeking for some time! It really is great to know many people still care about this[...]…
Match says:
December 18th, 2011 at 9:10 pm
How To Find Good Places to Meet Ladies…
[...]I see you recognize lots about what that you are writing about. Interesting study. I got some fascinating strategies from this[...]…
challenge coins says:
January 2nd, 2012 at 6:04 pm
How Many Versions Of Coins Are There…
[...]It’s good that individuals nonetheless know a good deal about factor like that. It’s good to know a number of people nonetheless care about this[...]…
Absolute Wealth says:
January 24th, 2012 at 1:17 pm
Are There More Options In China…
[...]I see you know a lot about what that you are writing about. Exciting study. Certainly not forget you can find other options[...]…
new perfumes says:
February 4th, 2012 at 2:15 am
How To Choose The Right Fragrance…
[...]When you have knowledge, skills and experience these are are crucial to make you happy at everything that you do.[...]…
Tour Packages in India says:
February 8th, 2012 at 12:18 am
Making And Learning From Experiences…
[...]Awesome data that I’ve been looking for for some time! I’ll check your website inside the long term.[...]…
luxus.co.il says:
February 9th, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Go Abroad and Discover World…
[...]It’s great that individuals nonetheless know a good deal about point like that. This definitely includes a lot of men and women agreeing with.[...]…
India Tourism says:
February 17th, 2012 at 6:36 pm
Things You Have To See In India…
[...]Awesome data that I’ve been seeking for some time! Hold up with the superior writing.[...]…
meet and greet says:
March 30th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
Real Ghost Busters…
[...]I’m not sure you happen to be fully proper, but I can agree with nearly all of it. This absolutely features a lot of people agreeing with.[...]…
spring shoes says:
April 11th, 2012 at 9:34 pm
Shoes Are The Most Important Part Of Your Outfit…
[...]Writing about a topic like this can be rather challenging. Maintain up using the great writing.[...]…