I was born and raised in the last, most Northern town in England, on the border to Scotland, Berwick Upon Tweed. I grew up knowing that our town not only had a particular dialect because when going to Edinburgh they thought you were Geordie and when going to Newcastle you were deemed Scottish but also a whole language of our own. There are words that completely originate and are pretty much only used or understood in Berwick. For example - Joogle. A joogle is apparently just a dog! It's not a word I used but it is from the Berwick Language.
My husband, who is from the opposite end of the North East, often greeted me with a puzzled expression during our first year or so together when I'd use particular words. Some really shocked me because apart from the few that I was aware were mainly Berwick words, I assumed that most people in the UK, if not at least the North East would use them too! I decided then to compile them into a blog post and have a little google to find the origin of said words and perhaps find someone else who understands my lingo!
Spelk [Northern English] - A wooden splinter.
Dour (pronounced Doo-ah) [Scots / Northern English] - Glum, sour faced.
Scunnered [Scots] - Something that is disgusting or makes you 'Boke' (see below).
Boke (pronounced ba-wk) [Scots] - To heave, gag, throw up.
Greetin' [Scots] - Crying or can also mean whinging/moaning.
Muckle [Northumbrian/Scots] - Very big. However, often used as a double negative 'Muckle big' for emphasis.
Jag / Jaggy [Scots] - An injection. Jaggy is something jagged or spikey.
Howk (pronounced ha-wk) [Scots] - To pick at, dig up. Can also be used in a threatening way 'Al howk yee' (I'll howk you).
Glaikit [Scots] - Could also be substituted for the also North Easter word 'Doylum'. Someone who is an idiot, brainless.
Deek [Scots] - Look.
Slavva [Berwick?] - To talk. In particular to talk rubbish. You would usually call a person who talked a lot of rubbish a slavva.
Ladged / Ladging [Berwick?] - Embarrassed / Something embarrassing.
Peely-Wally [Scots] - Very pale-skinned. Sometimes said to remark that someone isn't looking well.
Bari (pronounced bar-ee) [North Eastern] - A wide range of definition from good, nice, lovely, cute, good looking, cool etc.
Fettle [Scots] - Your fettle is your mood. Or mainly used to refer to a bad mood. 'Danielle is in some fettle today!'
Up to High Doh [Scots] - Wound up, stressed.
Vennel [Scots] - Another word for an alley way.
Haud Ya Wheesht [Scots] - Hold your tongue. Be quiet. You can also use 'Wheesht' on its own to mean be quiet.
Shabby [Berwick?] - If you are shabby you are unwell or feeling under the weather. Many people would say they were shabby instead of saying hungover.
Lowie [Scots/Scottish Travellers] - Lowie is money.
Covied [Berwick?*] - Died. To covie is to die, though it wouldn't usually be said in a serious or sad situation.
Cannit Mind [?] - To mind is to remember. 'I cannit mind' = ' I cannot remember'.
*Due to a certain virus having a similar name to this word, I cannot find any information about origin, however I am pretty sure it's a Berwick word.
You'll see there's a large portion of words there that have their origins in Scotland. Although Berwick is firmly in England (and has been since the last fight over it in 1482 when it changed hands for the 13th time) it is obviously on the border and technically further North than Ayr on the opposite coast. Talking of Ayrshire, my Nana was from Ayr, my Granda was born and bred Northumbrian and my Grandparents on my paternal side were/are both from Newcastle so I'm sure that mix helped to shape my dialect!
Are there many words on the list that you already knew or used? What do you think is the weirdest one? I'm sure there are more that I use but Mr H is now so used to my lingo that he doesn't bat an eye lid haha!
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