'Mithering' and other obscure English words

[Albion]

I was writing a response to this post and allowed for my dialect to slip in.
It struck me a bit that words so common around here such as 'mithering' (to moan, whine or nag) just aren't in official dictionaries.
I didn't even know whether my phonetic spelling of 'mithering' was correct until I finally found it listed, it could have been 'mythering' depending on the speaker I suppose.

This posses some problems for one wanting to communicate in the native dialect but being bound by dictionaries which seem to borrow words from everywhere else in the world accept from the country's own North!
Maybe this is linguistic imperialism on part of the South, or maybe they haven't heard the word yet.

And do you ever invent new words? My latest one is 'Negroesque' (In the manner of; resembling a Negro / Sub-Saharan). I don;t think it'll catch on, but if it makes it into slang it'll stand a chance.

So anyway, what other obscure words which don't seem to be in the dictionaries are there?

[Beorn]

Afeard, noggerhead, punkies, bist, etc...

[heathen_son]

Donney's/Danny's - Fingers

[Osweo]

Myther is a favourite of mine. It IS immensely frustrating when it's not listed in dictionaries too. My main gripe with that is that it's not so easy to find out about the history of the word. It actually means a lot to my own sense of identity, as a Manc, and having it a struggle to learn about is annoying. Interesting that mither is found down into Shropshire, by the way. I almost hugged an old woman who used it to me in Cambridgeshire, when i was travelling and hadn't heard it for perhaps a year. She'd left Shropshire some fifty years ago, apparently.

A similar word, as annoyingly lacking in approved orthography, is 't'rah'. When you're hesitant about how to write words you use every day, your language is somewhat alienated from you.

[Albion]

Myther is a favourite of mine. It IS immensely frustrating when it's not listed in dictionaries too. My main gripe with that is that it's not so easy to find out about the history of the word. It actually means a lot to my own sense of identity, as a Manc, and having it a struggle to learn about is annoying. Interesting that mither is found down into Shropshire, by the way. I almost hugged an old woman who used it to me in Cambridgeshire, when i was travelling and hadn't heard it for perhaps a year. She'd left Shropshire some fifty years ago, apparently.

A similar word, as annoyingly lacking in approved orthography, is 't'rah'. When you're hesitant about how to write words you use every day, your language is somewhat alienated from you.

T'rah is another good one we use around here too. It depends on the context, some people will use it to try and sound funny (young people) whereas most of the population over 25 use it fairly often as a replacement for 'bye'.
Plumbers when finishing a job will say 't'rah duck' to a woman for example.

'Duck' is another one, in some places it can be used for men too but in this part of the country it is used for kids and women. When I got called 'duck' in the North Midlands before I was taken aback.
According to the dictionary 'duck' is a type of bird and not a person.

[heathen_son]

My Great-grandmother (Northamptonshire) used to say m'duck. Most of my family (Warwickshire/Northants) say t'dah. In a display of stereotypical Brittery, my Grandfather would say "Toodle-pip". That might have been because he was over-compensating for being German, but he must have been emulating someone in the village (Northants).

I read in an old dictionary of Northamptonshire dialect that in the 18th century we called Moles "Molliwops", or something similar.

My Geography teacher used to shout at kids for "dithering". I have never heard it since.

A few people say "Fair to Middlin" when asked how they are doing. It means "Just about OK". I seem to have picked up "Not too shabby", but I don't know where.

As English people, we don't say "squiffy" (drunk) enough, despite "An Inspector Calls" being required reading when I was at school.

There's still plenty of stuff from the Black Country, but that's been dying out. Still, if you meet an old boy, it's difficult to know what they're saying.

[YOUTUBE]NqIcbLkY2iY[/YOUTUBE]

[Osweo]

T'rah is another good one we use around here too. It depends on the context, some people will use it to try and sound funny (young people)

That's worrying, that the youth feel their own regional identity is something to mock.
I suppose they're emulating the shit off telly and music, unaware that if they were to meet their metropolitan and American idols, they would be considered laughable bumpkins all the same....

'Duck' is another one, in some places it can be used for men too but in this part of the country it is used for kids and women. When I got called 'duck' in the North Midlands before I was taken aback.
According to the dictionary 'duck' is a type of bird and not a person.

You know, I wonder if we're dealing with a fossilised memory of the Old English personal name Ducca here...

Yes...

Moles "Molliwops", or something similar.

Mouldywarp is one recognised version.

My Geography teacher used to shout at kids for "dithering". I have never heard it since.

Odd, as it IS standard English. 'To hesitate or faff about', no?

[heathen_son]

Odd, as it IS standard English. 'To hesitate or faff about', no?

I guess just not our schools standard?

To be fair, I have actually heard it since now that I think about it. It might have been on "The Simpsons"

[heathen_son]

That's worrying, that the youth feel their own regional identity is something to mock.
I suppose they're emulating the shit off telly and music, unaware that if they were to meet their metropolitan and American idols, they would be considered laughable bumpkins all the same....

I consider my bumpkinry as a badge of honour. I remember my sister being embarassed as I shouted "Ay up..." at someone across the other side of the University Halls of Residence. Despite being brought up in the same way, she wanted to sound more like she was from "London" (I still imagine that they ALL talk posh down there ).

[Albion]

You know, I wonder if we're dealing with a fossilised memory of the Old English personal name Ducca here...

Yes...

Could be, was it especially common?

I consider my bumpkinry as a badge of honour. I remember my sister being embarassed as I shouted "Ay up..." at someone across the other side of the University Halls of Residence. Despite being brought up in the same way, she wanted to sound more like she was from "London" (I still imagine that they ALL talk posh down there ).

I use that as well and get called old fashioned. It is common in Yorkshire and North Staffordshire.