General words
ah I
ars I am
me my
us me
aye yes
nah no
thew you
areet alright (can be used as a greeting and return, and as per the normal use)
eh (generally used at the end of sentences to indicate that the phrase is a question. It can
be inserted simply by habit and then has no particular meaning. The use of "eh" is more often linked to Carlisle than the
Cumbrian dialect as a whole)
like (generally used as an intensifier midway thorugh or at the end of sentences)
owie, howie come on
wherst where is the
wi, wid with
yous you all, plural of you
Adjectives
aald old
bad sore, painful
badly ill, unwell (a bad 'ed is a headache)
barie good or nice
cack bad, horrible or awful
clarty muddy or messy
gammerstang awkward person
kaylied intoxicated
la'al small
ladgefull embarrassing
radge, radgy mad
reet right
slape slippery or smooth as in slape back colly, a border colly with short wirey hair
wam warm
Adverbs
gey very
kysty squeamish or fussy
owwer over ("ars garn owwer yonder fer a kip" - I'm going over there for a sleep)
vanya almost, nearly
vanear as above, coastal variant
Nouns
biddies fleas/old people
britches trousers
crack news/gossip; can also mean a conversation in the context of "having a crack with" someone
dookers swimming trunks's
Jackal wild dog
keks, kegs underpants or trousers
knock-e-i-do a game played where the aim is to knock on someone's door then retreat without
being caught
lug ear
nowt nothing
owt anything
scran food
scrow a mess
twining whinging or complaining
Verbs
bray beat (as in beat up someone)
chess chase
clarten messing about
deek look
gander look
gar go
garn going
jarn doing
laik play
loan borrow ("can ah loan 2 quid off yer?")
lowp jump
mek make
scower look at
skit make fun of
twat hit someone ("I twatted him in the face"), a woman's genitalia most likely from 'thwaite'
meaning 'fertile valley,' also an insult.
wuk work
People
buwer unattractive girl
gadge person (usually a stranger, or someone whose name is not known)
lad young man
lass young woman
marra friend, companion, mate (mainly used in West Cumbria) mining slang
offcomer a non-native in Cumbria
potter gypsy
yakker a farmer
Places, landscapes, buildings etc
beck stream
crag stone or rock or cliff
fell a large hill or small mountain
ginnel a narrow passage, a back alley
hingins, hangins hinges
jam eater, a miner and common insult around Egremont/Whitehaven; jams like strawberry and raspberry
being the one of the few things that coal dust isn't as noticeable in.
lonnin a lane
sneck door latch
tarn small lake
yam home
yat gate
Farming Terms
boos a division in a shuppon
bowins ragwort
cop the bank of earth on which a hedge grows
coo cow
cuddy horse
dyke a hedge, often on an earth-and-stone wall > dyking means to build a dyke
fodder gang passage for feeding cattle (usually in a shuppon)
gimmer female which has not had a lamb
hogg yearling sheep
hoss horse
liggin' kessin when an animal is lying on its back and can't get up
mowdy mole
mowdiing catching moles
shuppon/shippon a cow shed originally used for milking
stoop a gate post
syke a gutter or ditch between a cop and the road for drainage
tup a ram sheep
yowe ewe sheep (rhymes with cow)
The Weather
glisky when the sky is really bright so you can't see properly
mizzlin misty drizzly rain
syling pouring rain
Phrases
It'll be reet It will be alright
Garn yam Going home
ars garn yam I'm going home
oust fettal How are you
fine fettal Good health
werst thew of te where are you going
