Yorkshire Post (21/Feb/1929) - This World of Ours: A Dialect Dictionary

The following is a transcription of a historic newspaper article and may contain occasional errors. If the article was published prior to 1 June 1957, then the text is likely in the Public Domain.

This World of Ours.

A Dialect Dictionary.

Parts of Huddersfield have undoubtedly a dialect of their own, aud much of it has been captured in a dictionary, "Dialect of the Huddersfield District," by Walter E. Haigh, which, incidentally, throws not a few sidelights upon the history and habits of the people. It has a most learned appearance, and traces the history and descent of the words and phrases from the Old Norse, Old Icelandic, Saxon, and Norman tongues. Here and there the meanings of words are illustrated by local stories: "Buis-oil" means, amongst other things, a cow-stall. Thus a fond father in an armchair, opening wide his knees to receive his crying child into the space, exclaims, "Kum into t'buis-oil, little mutti-kof (bleating calf)." In a note on Spare-rib of Pork we get this: Once, when a boy, I asked my father what we were having for dinner that day. He replied: "Lean wife roasted an' t'ruin o' man fer sauce." That is, roasted spare-rib, with applesauce.

There are two queer Huddersfield words in "Tlunter" which means to crowd together, and "Thokki" or "Thokkish," meaning heavy or dull. A "Thibbl" (with a long i), is a smooth stick for stirring porridge ; from which comes the expression, "To have to lick a lean thibbl," meaning to have to live on very little.