bbc voices recordings · 2013-07-19 · paternal/maternal grandmother); nana; granny m partner wor...
TRANSCRIPT
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BBC VOICES RECORDINGS http://sounds.bl.uk
Title:
Longbenton, Tyne & Wear
Shelfmark:
C1190/23/04
Recording date:
2005
Speakers:
Hall, Marshall, b. 1960 Newcastle upon Tyne; male; Editor ‘Newcastle Stuff’
Thompson, Sheila, b. 1939 Newcastle upon Tyne; female
Weaving, John Albert, b. 1938 Cramlington, Northumberland; male
The interviewees are all related and share a strong interest in local dialect. Marshall and his mother,
Sheila, and uncle, John, grew up in mining families.
ELICITED LEXIS
pleased chuffed (“chuffed to heavens”)
tired fagged; fagged out; tired; knackered, exhausted (of extreme tiredness); paggered#
unwell bad fettle (“in a bad fettle”); not too clever; not over [aʊə] clever (“you divvent* look over
[aʊə] clever to me”)
hot het (of self/weather); hot
cold cold ([kaːd] of self, [kaʊɫd] of weather, “I’m very cold [kaːd] today and it’s very cold
[kaʊɫd] outside”)
annoyed angry; aerated
throw thraw (“thraw it over there”); hoy○ (“hoy it over here”)
play truant skive (of school/work); wag off; knock it⌂1
1 OED (online edition) records ‘knock off’ in this sense but not ‘knock it’.
○ see English Dialect Dictionary (1898-1905)
* see Survey of English Dialects Basic Material (1962-1971)
† see Dictionary of the Scots Language (online edition)
►see Romani Rokkeripen To-Divvus (1984)
# see Dictionary of North East Dialect (2011)
∆ see New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2006)
◊ see Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2010)
♦ see Urban Dictionary (online)
⌂ no previous source (with this sense) identified
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sleep kip; nap; ganning○ to me crib
◊ (used by “charvers” of ‘going to bed’, sounds “biblical”)
play a game none supplied
hit hard clout; belt; howk○ (used in past, “you’d get a good howking off your mam or your dad for
being naughty”); good hiding; ploat# (used in past, “I’ll ploat you if you’re naughty”)
clothes claes (“hae○ you got any clean claes?”)
trousers trousers; drawers (“they’re a fancy pair of drawers [dɹaːz] you got on there”, also used for
‘knickers’)
child’s shoe sand-shoes; dappers⌂, sand-daps
2 (used at school in past); training shoes, trainers, gym
shoes (modern)
mother mother (“where’s me mother?” used when younger, thought to be spelt ‘mutha’); me mam
(used when older)
gmother grandma (“grandma Weaving […] grandma Brown” used to distinguish between
paternal/maternal grandmother); nana; granny
m partner wor lad#; old man; our man; me gadgie
∆, me gaujo
► (Romani); me mate; boyfriend;
husband
friend marrow (Pitmatic, not as common now as in past); mate
gfather grandad; grand-da○ (“me grand-da Brown me grand-da Weaving me grand-da so-and-so”
used to distinguish between paternal/maternal grandmother)
forgot name thingummyjig∆; thingabob
◊, thingummybob
∆ (“oh you know, thingummybob you know him,
you know, thingabob” [θɪŋibɒb])
kit of tools tool-bag; tool-kit; tool-box
trendy flash Harry; spiv; charver (commonly used in Tyneside, thought to be Romani for “unruly
youth”); chav (modern, thought to be invented by media); scally (used in Liverpool);
scallywag; ned (used in Glasgow, thought to be “probation service term” for “non-
educated delinquent”)
f partner wor lass
# (of own wife); their lass (of other person’s wife)
baby babby○ (most common); bairn (suggested by interviewer, “bonny bairn”), toddler, kids, kid
(“wor/our kid” also used of brother/sister), nipper (of young child)
rain heavily hoying○ down; hoying
○; pelting; pelting down
1; chucking down
1; chucking it down
1
(“chucking it down with rain”)
toilet toilet; bog (used by boys in past); netty (“good Geordie word” common in past, less
common now)
walkway alley (“we’re ganning○ down the alley”); alley-way; path; ginnel (used in Leeds); the cut
(suggested by interviewer, used)
long seat couch (most common, “get your feet off the couch”); sofa (not used); settee (used
occasionally)
run water dyke; stream; bog
main room sitting room; lounge (used by “posh” speakers); parlour (used in past by “posh” speakers)
rain lightly drizzle (“it’s just drizzling”); spitting on○, spit on
○ (of starting to rain); spitting; “it’s putting
in”⌂, “it’s coming over bad”
○ (of imminent rain)
rich minted; spiv (used in past of rich male); well off
left-handed cowey* (also used locally for ‘rat’, also used by “charvers” for ‘ecstasy tablet’, e.g. “I was
pure cowied off me heid”); cack-handed (heard used)
2 OED (online edition) includes both ‘sand-shoes’ and ‘daps’ in this sense but not ‘sand-daps’.
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unattractive ugly; minging, minger (used by “chav culture”, also used locally for ‘to smell’ e.g. “the
toilet’s minging”)
lack money skint; got nowt; potless
drunk off his head, mortal, mortal drunk, bad with the beer, off his heid○3
, paggered∆ (of extreme
drunkenness)
pregnant up the duff; up the spout (most common); up the stick; in the pudding club; up the pudding
club; expecting; preggers; “she’s gonna have a babby”
attractive bonny (common locally, of male/female, “she’s a right bonny lass, her”, “what’re ye
daeing†, bonny lad?” used locally as term of endearment to males); nice-looking (“nice-
looking lad, him”)
insane mad; off his trolley; off his heid○3
; mental; a nutter
moody moody; bad-tempered (“she’s a bad-tempered so-and-so she’s in a right mood”); in a bad
mood
ELICITED LEXIS
a one* = one (0:14:25 we used to play chucks that’s a thing with I think there was about five things on the
bottom (little square) uh uh bottom and you used to throw them up and get them on your hand and I don’t
know what you did with them after that (then you’d play onesies twosies threesies foursies and fivesies)
again you and you had to catch a one and things and were easily amused; 0:31:27 yes, I’ve got ‘couch’
written there actually ‘couch’ (the ‘couch’, yeah) (‘couch’ ‘couch’) aye, “get off the couch”, like (never
the ‘sofa’ sometimes the ‘settee’ […] “get the dog off the couch”); 0:33:09 so we really came from a one
of these families, you know, and actually I liked it I’m glad I did)
aye = yes (0:51:45 (wh… what would you call a ‘hammer’ there’s there’s there’s a ‘mell’, isn’t there, and
things like that) there’s a mell, aye, or a hammer; 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um
that’s the one everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go
to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) gotta dae all the messages for to
get some money for to for to go)
beetle drive = progressive dice game played for prizes at social and/or fundraising event (0:38:16 well they
didn’t have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives and whist drives)
oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were great)
blooming = euphemism for ‘bloody’ used as intensifier (0:20:49 (‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’
means ‘smelly’ as well) yeah, we would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we? (‘minging’, yeah, “the
toilet’s minging”) (aye, that’s awful what a horrible smell) “pah, blooming it’s mingy, that”)
bonny lad = form of address used to males (0:24:37 i... if outside this region I was to to say, “you all
right, bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of it you’d get a clip round the heid; 0:25:05
“what are ye daeing, bonny lad?” (even if you’re an old person they still say ‘bonny lad’) (‘bonny lad’,
yeah, so you’re not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them attractive in any way [...]
it’s just a platitude, yeah))
canny = nice, good, great (0:56:47 (how would you explain um the meaning of the word ‘canny’ to
someone who wasn’t from round here?) ‘nice’ “they’re nice people they’re right canny, aren’t they?”)
canny# = quite, fairly (0:57:01 something could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no, I don’t know)
which would mean it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’)
what have you never seen a canny good film on the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes you can))
charver = young person characterised by designer clothes and associated with anti-social behaviour
(0:16:58 a ‘lang cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of
3 English Dialect Dictionary (1898-1905) records ‘heid’ in sense of ‘head’; OED (online edition) includes ‘off one’s head’ in
this sense.
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Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and
neither do I of course)
chucks#4
= children’s game similar to ‘jacks’ (0:14:25 we used to play chucks that’s a thing with I think
there was about five things on the bottom (little square) uh uh bottom and you used to throw them up and
get them on your hand and I don’t know what you did with them after that (then you’d play onesies
twosies threesies foursies and fivesies) again you and you had to catch a one and things and were easily
amused)
clarts = thick mud (1:02:57 ‘clarts’ you’ll find that used in Norway (‘clarts’ ‘clarts’, yeah) ‘clart’
meaning ‘mud’ and ‘muck’ (a lot of people down south don’t know what ‘clarts’ mean) no, no idea what
clarts are, no (it’s just thick mud watery mud))
cowie⌂ = rat (0:16:58 a ‘lang-cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the
the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know
that, mam, and neither do I of course)
cowie(d) #
= ecstasy pill, to be under the influence of drugs (0:16:58 a ‘lang-cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat
(is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I
wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course; 0:17:11 if they’ve
had a a particularly heavy Saturday night (will they?) they’ll say, “I was pure cowied off me heid” (yeah,
but I would think that’s more of a modern thing))
crib◊ = bed (0:09:38 there’s a word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer to
their bed as their ‘crib’ (their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to me crib” (oh right […]) or “divvent wake
divvent wake us I’m in me crib”; 0:10:00 the young kids on Tyneside use ‘crib’ as ‘bed’ (do they I think
they just made that up))
cuddy = donkey, pony (0:46:45 (they used to wear these big black blinkers over ’cause the light was too
severe for them) ’cause they were called ‘cuddies’ (yeah, and everybody used to go and pat them)
(‘Gallows’) […] I never heard that one before (yeah, aye, that’s what they called them ‘Gallows’ […] ‘pit
Gallows’))
dae† = to do (0:25:05 “what are ye daeing, bonny lad?” (even if you’re an old person they still say ‘bonny
lad’) (‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them
attractive in any way [...] it’s just a platitude, yeah); 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um
that’s the one everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go
to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) gotta dae all the messages for to
get some money for to for to go)
droopy drawers = untidy, sloppy or miserable woman (0:53:21 ‘drawers’ would be for it would be for
‘knickers’, wouldn’t it, “have you got your drawers on?” (“drop your drawers out”) ‘droopy drawers’
they still say that to me yet)
Gallow(ay) = small, strong breed of horse (0:46:45 (they used to wear these big black blinkers over ’cause
the light was too severe for them) (’cause they were called ‘cuddies’) (yeah, and everybody used to go and
pat them) ‘Gallows’ […] (I never heard that one before) yeah, aye, that’s what they called them ‘gallows’
[…] ‘pit Gallows’)
gan○ = to go (0:09:38 there’s a word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer to
their bed as their ‘crib’ (their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to me crib” (oh right […]) or “divvent wake
divvent wake us I’m in me crib”; 0:34:07 “we’re ganning down the alley” the ‘cut’’s just a short one;
0:34:45 I mean you had to gan to the bog across the road; 0:40:44 they used to say, “are you ganning to
‘The ’Tute’ on Saturday” and I never knew what what ‘The ’Tute’ was until uh just a few years ago and I
was driving past the place where we used to go for our for our disco and it said uh ‘Miners Institute’ (oh,
‘The ’Tute’) and it was known as ‘The ’Tute’ and I’ve never never never twigged at the time why it was
4 Iona & Peter Opie’s Children’s Games with Things (1999, pp. 56-172) includes several regional variants of this game,
including ‘chucks’.
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called ‘the ’Tute’; 1:02:02 if you were to say to a Norwegian person, “I’m ganning hame” he or she’d
know exactly what you meant because they say, “I’m ganning hame”)
Geordie = person from / dialect of Newcastle upon Tyne (0:55:22 people outside the region think that
everyone in the North East is a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles
south of Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have your heid off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems
although I don’t even think they particularly like being called Mackems either; 1:01:56 the Tyneside
Geordie um there’s a lot of Scandinavian words in it)
gord# = hoop for barrel used as toy (0:12:50 we used to play with a gord a round uh metal hoop […] you
called it a ‘gord’ and then you had your hook and (and they used to whip it along and they used to go
along) (were they off barrels originally were they the things that used to) they looked like […] beer
barrels (keg) (yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones they were just round metal (yeah))
grand-da○ = grandfather (0:39:26 me grand-da was smoking his pipe and me uncles were smoking their
tabs and then they’d be sitting there and then they would go and then they would spit at the fire (and it
would sizzle))
hame○ = home (1:02:02 if you were to say to a Norwegian person, “I’m ganning hame” he or she’d know
exactly what you meant because they say, “I’m ganning hame”)
happy as Larry = extremely happy (0:35:45 and they used to traipse off (ti… tights on for nylons) to the
dance happy as Larry and think they were lovely well we thought they were lovely)
heid○ = head (0:17:11 if they’ve had a a particularly heavy Saturday night (will they?) they’ll say, “I was
pure cowied off me heid” (yeah, but I would think that’s more of a modern thing); 0:24:37 i... if outside
this region I was to to say, “you all right, bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of it you’d get
a clip round the heid; 0:55:22 people outside the region think that everyone in the North East is a Geordie
but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles south of Newcastle uh and call them a
Geordie they’ll have your heid off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems although I don’t even think they
particularly like being called Mackems either)
hinny○ = honey as form of address (0:54:43 “howay over here, hinny”)
hotch†5
= to smell (0:20:49 ‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’ means ‘smelly’ as well (yeah, we
would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we?) ‘minging’, yeah, “the toilet’s minging” (aye, that’s
awful what a horrible smell) (“pah, blooming it’s mingy, that”))
housey-housey = bingo (0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had
they had uh beetle drives and whist drives) oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were great)
howay○ = term of encouragement, signal for action (0:54:43 “howay over here, hinny”; 0:55:01 ‘howay
the lads’ is something that they always try and say and they can never get ‘howay’ ‘howay’ quite right)
hoy out6 = custom of throwing coins to public/children following church wedding (0:06:48 where me
nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and groom and all the their bridesmaids used to
have to fill their pockets full of shillings and pennies and halfpennies and stuff and when the the bridal um
cars drove through an estate or whatever they had to hoy money out and the kids would be scratching
scratting around on the ground for sixpences and pennies (they don’t do it now) they don’t seem to do it
now but it was called a ‘hoy out’; 0:07:21 that’s slightly before my time I was very young when I
remember the hoy outs but yous remember it more, don’t you? (we do, yeah) (oh aye))
kep = (to) catch (0:10:40 when you went to throw throw the ball and somebody caught it they kepped it,
you know, “oh why, we’d what a great kep that was”, you know, “oh we did a great kep there”)
lang○ = long (0:16:58 a ‘lang-cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the
the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know
that, mam, and neither do I of course)
5 Dictionary of the Scots Language (online edition) records ‘hotch’ in sense of ‘swarm of vermin, state of dirt and disorder,
mess’ but not in sense of ‘to smell’. 6 See entry for ‘hoy’.
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lass = girl (0:36:48 I was down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh two weeks ago
and it just started to rain and uh there was these lasses and one of them says, “eh, me legs’ll run”)
liggies#7
= marbles (0:11:06 marbles (aye, marbles muggies) muggies […] (you called them ‘muggies’)
(‘muggies’) ‘muggies’ that’s what they called them (’cause on Tyneside they’re called ‘liggies’) […] no,
definitely was ‘muggies’ in our area (aye) everybody we knew)
Mackem# = person from Sunderland (0:56:00 uh they have a softer vowel in uh Sunderland and there’s uh
“whose keys are these keys” is the the famous one which defines the Mackem accent; 0:55:22 people
outside the region think that everyone in the North East is a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which
is, like, eight or nine miles south of Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have your heid off
’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems although I don’t even think they particularly like being called Mackems
either)
mam = mum (0:15:14 oh, they’ll howk you (aye, they’re howking you) that’s when they’d give you a good
hiding you’d get a good howking off your mam or your dad for being naughty; 0:16:58 a ‘lang-cowie’ uh
is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an
ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course;
0:35:12 what’s that stuff you were telling me, mam, that the girls used to put on their legs?)
mell = hammer (0:51:45 (wh… what would you call a ‘hammer’ there’s there’s there’s a ‘mell’, isn’t
there, and things like that) there’s a mell, aye, or a hammer)
dae† the messages = to do the shopping (0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one
everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the
pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) gotta dae all the messages for to get
some money for to for to go)
ming = to smell (0:20:49 ‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’ means ‘smelly’ as well (yeah, we would’ve
said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we?) ‘minging’, yeah, “the toilet’s minging” (aye, that’s awful what a
horrible smell) (“pah, blooming it’s mingy, that”))
muggies#7
= marbles (0:11:06 marbles (aye, marbles muggies) muggies […] (you called them ‘muggies’)
(‘muggies’) ‘muggies’ that’s what they called them (’cause on Tyneside they’re called ‘liggies’) […] no,
definitely was ‘muggies’ in our area (aye) everybody we knew)
nae body† = nobody (0:58:41 apparently um when they were using the radio as the different units they had
to use code obviously so the Germans wouldn’t be able to understand what was being transmitted but
apparently the Northumberland Fu… Fusiliers8 were waived they didn’t have to use code ’cause nae body
could understand them the English or the uh or the German side)
nana = grandmother (0:2:51 well me nana used to say ‘aerated’ whatever that means; 0:06:48 where me
nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and groom and all the their bridesmaids used to
have to fill their pockets full of shillings and pennies and halfpennies and stuff and when the the bridal um
cars drove through an estate or whatever they had to hoy money out and the kids would be scratching
scratting around on the ground for sixpences and pennies (they don’t do it now) they don’t seem to do it
now but it was called a ‘hoy out’)
nowt = nothing (0:21:09 (‘lacking money’ then?) (‘skint’) (‘skint’) ‘skint’ or ‘got nowt’)
oh aye○ = yes, confirming or contradicting (0:07:21 (that’s slightly before my time I was very young when
I remember the hoy outs but yous remember it more, don’t you?) (we do, yeah) oh aye)
our kid◊/wor kid
♦ = affectionate term used to refer to younger sibling (0:48:29 (yeah, “eh, I’ve seen your
kid the other day you’ll never guess what he was doing”) well you can refer to your brother as ‘wor kid’
(yeah) right up until the end of their life ([…] even your sister ‘wor kid’) […] so ‘wor kid’ ‘our kid’ uh but
whether they were a kid or not)
7 See entry for ‘marbles’ for list of variants, incl. ‘liggies’ and ‘muggies’.
8 Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, infantry regiment of British Army founded in 1674 and integrated in 1968 into Royal
Regiment of Fusiliers.
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over = too, very (0:05:56 (‘not too clever’) (aye) yeah, ‘not too clever’ would be OK (around here
‘clever’’s usually pronounced ‘clever’) aye, ‘not too clever’ (‘not over clever’) ‘not over clever’ aye,
that’s it, “I’m not over clever” (or “you divvent look over clever to me”) aye)
pictures = cinema (0:56:26 “what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to say
all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we? (aye,
when we’d got any money, like) yeah (gotta dae all the messages for to get some money for to for to go))
pit yacker = coal miner (0:58:18 yeah, you get in the pub into Ashington and uh you hear the old pit
yackers on […] (that’s what they used to call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re completely different to us I
mean it’s only a matter of (a few miles) uh ten mile)
pure = completely, utterly (0:17:11 they’ll say if they’ve had a particularly heavy Saturday night they’ll
say “I was pure cowied off me head”)
right = real, utter (0:16:14 yeah, “they’re right spivs, them” you know; 0:24:12 “she’s a bad-tempered so-
and-so she’s in a right mood”)
right = very, really (0:23:26 (‘bonny’ is is is a good uh) “she’s a bonny lass, her” (a good north-eastern
word Scottish as well but it’s uh) “she’s a right bonny lass, her”; 0:56:47 (how would you explain um the
meaning of the word ‘canny’ to someone who wasn’t from round here?) ‘nice’ “they’re nice people
they’re right canny, aren’t they?”)
scrat = to scratch (0:06:48 where me nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and groom
and all the their bridesmaids used to have to fill their pockets full of shillings and pennies and halfpennies
and stuff and when the the bridal um cars drove through an estate or whatever they had to hoy money out
and the kids would be scratching scratting around on the ground for sixpences and pennies (they don’t do
it now) they don’t seem to do it now but it was called a ‘hoy out’)
scullery = back kitchen (0:29:01 yeah, the scullery and the kitchen’s where they mainly (where the the fire
was in the back end, wasn’t it?);
summat = something (0:26:12 (but I think uh a ‘bad mood’ just means, like, if somebody does something
that you don’t like or you don’t agree with puts you in a bad mood) or if you cannot get summat that you
want (yeah) it puts you in a bad mood)
tabs = cigarettes (0:39:26 me grand-da was smoking his pipe and me uncles were smoking their tabs and
then they’d be sitting there and then they would go and then they would spit at the fire (and it would
sizzle))
twig = to understand, realise (0:40:44 they used to say, “are you ganning to ‘The ’Tute’ on Saturday” and
I never knew what what ‘The ’Tute’ was until uh just a few years ago and I was driving past the place
where we used to go for our for our disco and it said uh ‘Miners Institute’ (oh, ‘The ’Tute’) and it was
known as ‘The ’Tute’ and I’ve never never never twigged at the time why it was called ‘the ’Tute’)
whist drive = progressive card game played for prizes at social and/or fundraising event (0:38:16 well they
didn’t have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives and whist drives)
oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were great)
yet = still (0:53:21 ‘drawers’ would be for it would be for ‘knickers’, wouldn’t it, “have you got your
drawers on?” (“drop your drawers out”) ‘droopy drawers’ they still say that to me yet)
PHONOLOGY
KIT [ɪ]
(0:11:09 they didn’t [ ] use to have uh fitted [fɪtəd] carpets like they’ve got now, you see, they used to
have lino with, [wɪθ] like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, clippy [klɪpi] matting thing [θɪŋ]; 0:22:14
I’m not a drinker [dɹɪŋkʔə] uh the last time I I think [θɪŋkʔ] it was on holiday last year, no, not very often
I’m not not a big [bɪg] drinker [dɹɪŋkʔə]; 0:39:52 and my mother (and my aunties had to wash it every day)
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and my aunties every day they had to clean that (yeah) every morning (yeah) and all the fire was all sizzle
[sɪz ] marks where they had spit [spɪtʔ] and missed [mɪst] in the fire)
carpET, ELastic, EState, honEST, imagINE, it, kitchEN, markET, messAGE, offICE, orANGE, pockET,
servICE, unIT (0:06:48 where my nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and
groom and all the their bridesmaids used to have to fill their pockets [pɒkəts] full of shillings and
pennies and halfpennies and stuff and when the the bridal um cars drove through an estate
[ɪsteːtʔ] or whatever they had to hoy money out and the kids would be scratching scratting around
on the ground for sixpences and pennies (they don’t do it now) they don’t seem to do it now but it
was called a ‘hoy out’; 0:08:33 everybody knew the School Board man you ducked behind the
cou… behind the the the three-piece suite if the if he came honestly [ɒnəstli] we feared him, didn’t
we, (aye) nearly as much as the headmaster; 0:09:51 sounds a bit biblical to me a ‘crib’ I can’t
imagine [ɪmaʤən] they’ve got it from the New Testament; 0:11:09 they didn’t use to have uh fitted
carpets [kɑːpəts] like they’ve got now, you see, they used to have lino with, like, a hand-made ru..
uh mat, you know, clippy matting thing; 0:12:44 well I’m only going on what my dad used to tell
me matchboxes and elastic [əlastɪk] bands and stuff like that that you wind up; 0:29:08 the fire
near where the the kitchen [kɪʧən] where your (yeah) where your, like, dining room was (yeah, it
didn’t really have a name, did it?) no; 0:35:45 when they used to have the coal fires in those days
and all the dust used to stick to it, [ət] didn’t it? [ɪt]; 0:36:48 I was down the Bigg Market [bɪg
mɒːkʔət] uh walking through the Bigg Market [bɪg mɒːkʔət] uh two weeks ago and it just started
to rain and uh there was these lasses and one of them says, “eh, my legs’ll run”; 0:37:16 orange
[ɒɹənʒ] faces are very common on Tyneside, aren’t they (yeah, fake tan I think) I don’t not sure
whether it’s, yeah, makes them look like they’ve been in a tandoori oven for an hour; 0:45:59 why,
I mean a lot more people are working in offices [ɒfəsɪz] and that (yeah) where they don’t use
slang words as much as what they did in the shipyards and uh mines and that; 0:50:44 I quite like
the Glasgow equivalent which is a ‘ned’ uh and that word comes from uh it’s a probation service
[səːvəs] term; 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to
say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t
we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) got to do all the messages [mɛsəʤɪz] for to get
some money for to for to go; 0:58:41 apparently um when they were using the radio as the different
units [juːnəts] they had to use code obviously so the Germans wouldn’t be able to understand what
was being transmitted but apparently the Northumberland Fu… Fusiliers8 were waived they didn’t
have to use code ’cause nobody could understand them the English or the uh or the German side)
<ex-> (1:02:02 if you were to say to a Norwegian person, “I’m ganning hame” he or she’d know
exactly [ɛgzakli] what you meant because they say, “I’m ganning hame”)
DRESS [ɛ]
(0:01:09 everybody’s [ɛvɹɪbɒdiz] friendly [fɹɛndli] in the North East and uh it’s getting [ ] a better
[bɛtʔa] place than what it used to be years ago like uh changing the scenery for the down the docks
especially [spɛʃliː]; 0:18:10 we had a headmaster [hɛdmɑːstə] which I will not name I think he’s probably
dead [dɛd] now anyway but he was horrible really a nasty person in those days I mean they really belted
[bɛltəd] you something terrible [tɛɹə ]; 0:57:01 something could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no,
I don’t know) which would mean it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end [ɛnd]
just put ‘canny’) what have you never [nɛva] seen a canny good film on the telly? [tɛliː] (no) (no, why,
sometimes you can))
clever (0:05:56 ‘not too clever’ [klɛva] (aye) (yeah, ‘not too clever’ [klɛvə] would be OK) around
here ‘clever’’s [klɛvaz] usually pronounced ‘clever’ [klɪva] (aye, ‘not too clever’ [klɪva]) ‘not over
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clever’ [klɪva] (‘not over clever’ [klɪva] aye, that’s it, “I’m not over clever” [klɪva]) or “you
divvent look over clever [klɪva] to me” (aye))
head (0:17:11 if they’ve had a a particularly heavy Saturday night (will they?) they’ll say, “I was
pure cowied off my heid” [hiːd] (yeah, but I would think that’s more of a modern thing); 0:18:30
he tried to make me right-handed but I went funny in the head [hɛd] and uh he stopped it
immediately; 0:21:42 ‘off his head’ [hiːd] or I just put ‘mental’ for that; 0:24:37 i... if outside this
region I was to to say, “you all right, bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of it you’d
get a clip round the head [hiːd]; 0:55:22 people outside the region think that everyone in the North
East is a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles south of
Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have your head [hiːd] off ’cause it’s uh they’re
Mackems although I don’t even think they particularly like being called Mackems either)
TRAP [a]
(0:16:58 a ‘long cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat [ɹat] (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the
youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet [tablət] (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t
know that, mam, [mam] and neither do I of course; 0:34:56 (used to put it on a string and hang [haŋ]
hang [haŋ] it up in the toilet) hang [haŋ] it on the toilet and they used to wash the walls with this uh uh
(distemper) distemper and if your bum or any… anything hit the wall it was al… all came off like powder
white all over you; 0:56:00 uh they have a softer vowel in uh Sunderland and there’s uh “whose keys are
these keys” is the the famous one which defines the Mackem [makʔəm] accent [aksɛnt])
have (0:11:09 they didn’t use to have [hav] uh fitted carpets like they’ve got now, you see, they
used to have [hav] lino with, like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, clippy matting thing;
0:56:00 uh they have [hav] a softer vowel in uh Sunderland and there’s uh “whose keys are these
keys” is the the famous one which defines the Mackem accent; 0:52:17 they were things that more
or less didn’t have [hɛv] uh slang names (yeah, they were working things) they were just uh tools)
LOT [ɒ > œ]
(0:08:12 you ‘skive’ from your job [ʤœb] you ‘skive’ from school (you ‘skive’ from work you ‘skive’ from
school; 0:12:04 they were cardboard in those days and little bottle [bɒ ] tops [tɒps] and they had a little
hole in the middle, didn’t they, where you put your finger in; 0:22:14 I’m not [nɒt] a drinker uh the last
time I I think it was on [ɒn] holiday [hɒlədə] last year, no, not [nɒt] very often [ɒfən] I’m not [nɒt] not
[nɒt] a big drinker; 0:34:45 I mean you had to gan to the bog [bœg] across the road)
hot (0:01:56 (and does that apply to the weather as well?) yeah, “it’s hot [hɛt] it’s very hot [hɛt]
today” (yeah, “hot [hɛtʔ] today”) (OK) (I didn’t have anything for that at all but I I would’ve
thought someone in Northumberland might pronounce ‘hot’ [hɒt] ‘hot’ [hœt])
<-ong> (0:16:58 a ‘long [laŋ] cowie’ uh is a long-tailed [lɒŋteːɫd] rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’
amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that)
I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course)
STRUT [ʊ > ə]
(0:12:17 I used to save hundreds [hʊndɹədz] and hundreds [hʊndɹədz] on them up [ʊp] I never got a baby
sister but it didn’t half keep me out of mischief; 0:58:18 yeah, you get in the pub [pʊb] into Ashington and
uh you hear the old pit yackers on […] (that’s what they used to call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re
completely different to us [ʊs] I mean it’s only a matter of (a few miles) uh ten mile; 1:02:57 ‘clarts’ you’ll
find that used in Norway (‘clarts’ ‘clarts’, yeah) ‘clart’ meaning ‘mud’ [mʊd] and ‘muck’ [mʊk] (a lot of
people down south don’t know what ‘clarts’ mean) no, no idea what clarts are, no (it’s just [ʤʊst] thick
mud [məd] watery mud [məd]))
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amongst (0:09:38 there’s a word that I’ve come across amongst [əmʊŋst] uh the charvers and and
they refer to their bed as their ‘crib’ (their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to my crib” (oh right […])
“don’t wake us I’m ganning to my crib”; 0:16:58 a ‘long cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and
also ‘cowie’ amongst [əmɒŋst] charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh
I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course)
ONE (0:12:50 we used to play with a gird a round uh metal hoop […] you called it a ‘gird’ and
then you had your hook and (and they used to whip it along and they used to go along) (were they
off barrels originally were they the things that used to) they looked like […] beer barrels (keg)
(yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones [wɒnz] they were just round metal (yeah); 0:36:48 I was
down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh uh two weeks ago and it just started
to rain and uh there was these lasses and one [wɒn] of them says, “eh, my legs’ll run”; 0:56:00 uh
they have a softer vowel in uh Sunderland and there’s uh “whose keys are these keys” is the the
famous one [wɒn] which defines the Mackem accent)
FOOT [ʊ > ɵ]
(0:13:57 (did you play hopscotch, mam?) yeah, oh yes, hopscotch was a good [gɵd] game and uh (you
never see that drawn on paths any more, do you?); 0:16:58 a ‘long cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?)
and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t
[ ] know that) I know you wouldn’t [ ] know that, mam, and neither do I of course; 0:35:12
what’s that stuff you were telling me, mam, that the girls used to put on [pʊɹ ɒn] their legs?)
<-ook> (0:12:50 we used to play with a gird a round uh metal hoop […] you called it a ‘gird’ and
then you had your hook [hʏːk] and (and they used to whip it along and they used to go along)
(were they off barrels originally were they the things that used to) they looked [lʊkʔt] like […] beer
barrels (keg) (yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones they were just round metal (yeah); 0:24:37 i...
if outside this region I was to to say, “you all right, bonny lad?” [...] if you took [tʊkʔ] the literal
translation of it you’d get a clip round the head)
BATH [a]
(0:13:57 did you play hopscotch, mam? (yeah, oh yes, hopscotch was a good game and uh) you never see
that drawn on paths [paθs] any more, do you?; 0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually but um often of I do
partake of a glass [glas] of a Saturday night (oh) so uh, yeah, probably last [last] Saturday; 0:22:14 I’m
not a drinker uh the last [last] time I I think it was on holiday last [last] year, no, not very often I’m not
not a big drinker)
headmaster (0:18:10 we had a headmaster [hɛdmɑːstə] which I will not name I think he’s
probably dead now anyway but he was horrible really a nasty person in those days I mean they
really belted you something terrible)
CLOTH [ɒ]
(0:34:56 (used to put it on a string and hang hang it up in the toilet) hang it on the toilet and they used to
wash [wɒʃ] the walls with this uh uh (distemper) distemper and if your bum or any… anything hit the wall
it was al… all came off [ɒf] like powder white all over you; 0:56:00 uh they have a softer [sɒftə] vowel in
uh Sunderland and there’s uh “whose keys are these keys” is the the famous one which defines the
Mackem accent)
NURSE [əː > øː > ɔː]
(0:09:38 there’s a word [wəːd] that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer [ɹəfəː]
to their bed as their ‘crib’ (their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to my crib” (oh right […]) “don’t wake don’t
us I’m in my crib”; 0:29:43 the old people went in first [føːst] the dirtiest [døːtʔiɪst] from the pit and then
it went right down to the kids and they all stayed in the same water, you know, and you so you must’ve
been dirtier [døːtia] when you went in then when you come out (no, I think it’s the r… the other way
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around) (you were dirtier [dəːtʔiə] when you got out) (you got the clean ones in first [fəːst] and then they
get the dirty [dɔːtʔi] ones in last); 0:35:12 what’s that stuff you were telling me, mam, that the girls [gəːɫz]
used to put on their legs?; 0:50:44 I quite like the Glasgow equivalent which is a ‘ned’ uh and that word
[wəːd] comes from uh it’s a probation service [səːvəs] term [təːm])
gird, her (0:12:50 we used to play with a gird [gɔːd] a round uh metal hoop […] you called it a
‘gird’ [gɔːd] and then you had your hook and (and they used to whip it along and they used to go
along) (were they off barrels originally were they the things that used to) they looked like […] beer
barrels (keg) (yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones they were just round metal (yeah); 0:23:01 I
think we would’ve said ‘up the spout’ (‘going to have a babby’) […] “she’s having another babby,
her, [hɔː] dear me she cannot afford to keep the one she’s got”; 0:23:26 (‘bonny’ is is is a good
uh) “she’s a bonny lass, her” [hɔː] (a good north-eastern word Scottish as well but it’s uh) “she’s
a right bonny lass, her” [hɔː])
were(n’t) (0:12:04 they were [wɒ] cardboard in those days and little bottle tops and they had a
little hole in the middle, didn’t they, where you put your finger in; 0:12:50 we used to play with a
gird a round uh metal hoop […] you called it a ‘gird’ and then you had your hook and (and they
used to whip it along and they used to go along) (were they off barrels originally were they the
things that used to) they looked like […] beer barrels (keg) (yeah) but they weren’t [wɑːntʔ] the
wide ones they were just round metal (yeah); 0:16:18 just had more money than anybody they were
[wɒ] spivs it didn’t matter how they got it from […] (if you were [wɐ] well of you were a [wɐɹ ə]
‘spiv’) you were a [wɒɹ ə] ‘spiv’ we didn’t know many well of people, mind; 0:39:26 my grand-da
was smoking his pipe and my uncles were [wɐ] smoking their tabs and then they’d be sitting there
and then they would go and then they would spit at the fire (and it would sizzle); 0:46:26 there was
the pit ponies in the field next to where she lived (oh yeah) and they were all [wəɹ ɔːɫ] blind,
weren’t they? (yeah, they were [wəː]); 0:52:17 they were [wɐ] things that more or less didn’t have
uh slang names (yeah, they were [wə] working things) they were [wɐ] just uh tools)
FLEECE [iː]
(0:12:17 I used to save hundreds and hundreds on them up I never got a baby sister but it didn’t half keep
[kiːp] me out of mischief [mɪsʧiːf]; 0:57:01 something could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no, I
don’t know) which would mean [miːn] it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end
just put ‘canny’) what have you never seen [siːn] a canny good film on the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes
you can); 0:55:22 people [piː ] outside the region [ɹiːʤən] think that everyone in the North East
[nɔːθiːst] is a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles south of
Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have your head off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems although
I don’t even [iːvən] think they particularly like being [biːɪŋ] called Mackems either [iːðə])
we (0:20:49 (‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’ means ‘smelly’ as well) yeah, we would’ve said
‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we? [wə] (‘minging’, yeah, “the toilet’s minging”) (aye, that’s
awful what a horrible smell) “pah, blooming it’s mingy, that”; 0:38:16 well they didn’t have
housey-housey in those days, did we [wiː] […] (they had they had uh beetle drives and whist
drives) oh we [wə] had beetle drives and whist drives they were great; 0:56:26 “what’s on at the
pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that
was it ’cause that’s all we [wi] did go to the pictures, didn’t we? [wə] (aye, when we’d got any
money, like) yeah (got to do all the messages for to get some money for to for to go))
FACE [eː > ɪə]
(0:08:08 ‘skive’’s just basically [beːsɪkʔli] being lazy [leːzi] in general, isn’t it?; 0:13:57 did you play
[pleː] hopscotch, mam? (yeah, oh yes, hopscotch was a good game [geːm] and uh) you never see that
drawn on paths any more do you?; 0:26:53 ‘drizzle’ is (‘spitting’) rain, [ɹɪən] isn’t it? (yeah, it’s just
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‘drizzling’) ‘spitting on’; 0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey in those days, [deːz] did we […]
(they had they had uh beetle drives and whist drives) oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were
great [gɹeːt]; 1:02:11 I was working in Australia and uh this German lad I was friendly with and he used
to say [seː] to me he used to say, [sɪə] “oh your your uh dialect is more or less the same [seːm] as
German” and he was telling us words what were they more or less the same [seːm] in German like ‘aye’
and ‘now’ and uh things like that, you know like, different words)
always, <-day>, they (0:01:02 yeah, best place to be, yeah, yeah, been everywhere always [ɔːlwəz]
want to come back to the North East; 0:08:20 (so did you ever skive off when you were younger?)
not as much as they [ðə] do now; 0:10:00 (the young kids on Tyneside use ‘crib’ as ‘bed’) do they
[ðə] I think they [ðə] just made that up; 0:12:04 they [ðə] were cardboard in those days and little
bottle tops and they had a little hole in the middle, didn’t they, [ðə] where you put your finger in;
0:17:11 if they’ve [ðəv] had a a particularly heavy Saturday [saʔədə] night (will they?) they’ll say,
“I was pure cowied off my head” (yeah, but I would think that’s more of a modern thing); 0:40:44
they [ðə] used to say, “are you ganning to ‘The ’Tute’ on Saturday” [saʔədeː] and I never knew
what what ‘The ’Tute’ was until uh just a few years ago and I was driving past the place where we
used to go for our for our disco and it said uh ‘Miners Institute’ (oh, ‘The ’Tute’) and it was known
as ‘The ’Tute’ and I’ve never never never twigged at the time why it was called ‘the ’Tute’;
0:46:26 there was the pit ponies in the field next to where she lived (oh yeah) and they [ðə] were
all blind, weren’t they? [ðə] (yeah, they [ðə] were); 0:47:09 uh they [ðə] always [ɔːlwəz] used to
get a lot of injuries uh (pit falls and that) and the and then the the (machinery) and the different
things (crushed) used to crush against them and everything (the wagons that used to carry the
coal); 0:52:17 they [ðeː] were things that more or less didn’t have uh slang names (yeah, they [ðə]
were working things) they [ðə] were just uh tools)
eh (0:36:48 I was down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh two weeks ago
and it just started to rain and uh there was these lasses and one of them says, “eh, [iː] my legs’ll
run”; 0:48:29 yeah, “eh, [iː] I’ve seen your kid the other day you’ll never guess what he was
doing” (well you can refer to your brother as ‘wor kid’ (yeah) right up until the end of their life)
([…] even your sister ‘wor kid’) ([…] so ‘wor kid’ ‘our kid’ uh but whether they were a kid or
not))
hame (1:02:02 if you were to say to a Norwegian person, “I’m ganning hame” [jɛm] he or she’d
know exactly what you meant because they say, “I’m ganning hame” [jɛm])
PALM [ɒː > ɑː]
(0:09:51 sounds a bit biblical to me a ‘crib’ I can’t [kɒːntʔ] imagine they’ve got it from the New
Testament; 0:12:17 I used to save hundreds and hundreds on them up I never got a baby sister but it didn’t
half [hɑːf] keep me out of mischief; 0:21:50 very very drunk, yes, yes, yes, there’s n… there’s no half-
measures [hɒːfmɛʒəz] on Tyneside)
aunty, grandfather (0:37:27 we came from a large family, you know, we had a lot of aunties
[antiːz] and things and they all, didn’t they, regularly get theirselves all dolled up there and we
used to sit and watch them and think they were great, you know; 0:39:15 my grandfather
[gɹandfaðə] used to sit in his rocking chair and my uncles used to sit in their rocking chairs all
around the fire (oh here we go) and uh I telt him the other day (yeah, go on); 0:39:52 and my
mother (and my aunties [antiz] had to wash it every day) and my aunties [antʔiz] every day they had
to clean that (yeah) every morning (yeah) and all the fire was all sizzle marks where they had spit
and missed in the fire)
THOUGHT [ɔː]
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(0:00:35 (how would you describe your accent?) I would say it’s Tyneside there’s a bit of a bit of Geordie
in there but it’s not as broad [bɹɔːd] as some people I know; 0:10:40 when you went to throw throw the
ball [bɔːl] and somebody caught [kɔːt] it they kepped it, you know, “oh why, we’d what a great kep that
was”, you know, “oh we did a great kep there”; 0:15:14 oh, they’ll howk you (aye, they’re howking you)
that’s when they’d give you a good hiding you’d get a good howking off your mam or your dad for being
naughty [nɔːti])
<-all-> (0:10:40 when you went to throw throw the ball [bɔːl] and somebody caught it they kepped
it, you know, “oh why, we’d what a great kep that was”, you know, “oh we did a great kep there”;
0:12:50 we used to play with a gird a round uh metal hoop […] you called [kɑːɫd] it a ‘gird’ and
then you had your hook and (and they used to whip it along and they used to go along) (were they
off barrels originally were they the things that used to) they looked like […] beer barrels (keg)
(yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones they were just round metal (yeah); 0:24:37 i... if outside this
region I was to to say, “you all right, [aːɹiːt] bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of
it you’d get a clip round the head; 0:34:56 (used to put it on a string and hang hang it up in the
toilet) hang it on the toilet and they used to wash the walls [wɔːɫz] with this uh uh (distemper)
distemper and if your bum or any… anything hit the wall [wɔːɫ] it was al… all [ɔːɫ] came off like
powder white all [ɔːɫ] over you; 0:39:52 and my mother (and my aunties had to wash it every day)
and my aunties every day they had to clean that (yeah) every morning (yeah) and all [ɑːɫ] the fire
was all [ɑːɫ] sizzle marks where they had spit and missed in the fire; 0:46:26 there was the pit
ponies in the field next to where she lived (oh yeah) and they were all [ɔːɫ] blind, weren’t they?
(yeah, they were); 0:46:45 (they used to wear these big black blinkers over ’cause the light was too
severe for them) (’cause they were called [kɔːɫd] ‘cuddies’) (yeah, and everybody used to go and
pat them) ‘Gallows’ […] (I never heard that one before) yeah, aye, that’s what they called [kaːɫd]
them ‘gallows’ […] ‘pit Gallows’)
draw(er) (0:13:57 did you play hopscotch, mam? (yeah, oh yes, hopscotch was a good game and
uh) you never see that drawn [dɹɔːn] on paths any more do you?; 0:53:12 (‘trousers’) ‘trousers’ or
‘drawers’ [dɹaːz] (‘drawers’ [dɹɔːz]) “they’re they’re a fancy pair of drawers [dɹaːz] you’ve got
on there”; 0:53:21 ‘drawers’ [dɹaːz] would be for it would be for ‘knickers’, wouldn’t it, “have
you got your drawers [dɹaːz] on?” (“drop your drawers [dɹaːz] out”) ‘droopy drawers’
[dɹʏːpʔidɹɔːz] they still say that to me yet)
GOAT [oː > ɵː]
(0:04:13 it’s so [soː] long ago [əgoː] that Newcastle United9 won anything so [soː] long time ago [əgoː];
0:11:09 they didn’t use to have uh fitted carpets like they’ve got now, you see, they used to have lino
[lainoː] with, like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, [noː] clippy matting thing; 0:12:04 they were
cardboard in those [ðoːz] days and little bottle tops and they had a little hole [hoːl] in the middle, didn’t
they, where you put your finger in; 0:58:41 apparently um when they were using the radio [ɹeːdioː] as the
different units they had to use code [koːd] obviously so the Germans wouldn’t be able to understand what
was being transmitted but apparently the Northumberland Fu… Fusiliers8 were waived they didn’t have to
use code [koːd]’cause nobody could understand them the English or the uh or the German side; 0:59:37
I’ve I’ve heard our our Albert do it before actually when when uh he’ll instead of saying ‘cola’ [koːlə]
you’ll say ‘cola’ [kɵːla])
don’t (0:05:56 ‘not too clever’ (aye) (yeah, ‘not too clever’ would be OK) around here ‘clever’’s
usually pronounced ‘clever’ (aye, ‘not too clever’) ‘not over clever’ (‘not over clever’ aye, that’s
it, “I’m not over clever”) or “you don’t [dɪvənʔ] look over clever to me” (aye); 0:09:38 there’s a
9 Professional football club formed in 1892.
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word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer to their bed as their ‘crib’
(their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to my crib” (oh right […]) “don’t [dɪvənʔ] wake us I’m ganning
to my crib”; 0:34:01 you you more or less say, “down the alley”, don’t [dɪvənʔ] you? (yes) (aye);
going to (0:23:01 (I think we would’ve said ‘up the spout’) ‘going to [gʊnə] have a babby’ […]
(“she’s having another babby, her, dear me she cannot afford to keep the one she’s got”))
know, no, throw (0:06:34 “hoy it over here” or “throw [θɹaː] it over there”; 0:16:58 a ‘long
cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside
also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know [noː] that) I know [noː] you wouldn’t know [noː]
that, mam, and neither do I of course; 0:28:11 why, I know [naː] it’s posh, like, when you say
‘lounge’ but uh we used to say ‘sitting room’ (‘parlour’) (‘parlour’ that wa..., yeah, but that was
the posh people said the ‘parlour’); 0:29:08 the fire near where the the kitchen where your (yeah)
where your, like, dining room was (yeah, it didn’t really have a name, did it?) no [naː])
<-old> (0:02:17 (‘cold’ then?) ‘cold’ [kaːd] (‘cold’ [kɔʊɫd]) ‘cold’ [kaːd] “it’s very c… I’m very
cold [kaːd] today” and “it’s very cold [kaʊɫd] outside” (it’s a ‘cold’ [kɔʊɫd] day) (‘cold’
[kaʊəɫd] yeah) “it’s a cold [kaʊɫd] day and I’m very cold” [kaːd]; 0:25:05 (“what are ye doing,
bonny lad?”) even if you’re an old [oːɫd] person they still say ‘bonny lad’ (‘bonny lad’, yeah, so
you’re not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them attractive in any way [...]
it’s just a platitude, yeah); 0:31:35 “get the old [aːd] man off the couch”; 0:58:18 yeah, you get in
the pub into Ashington and uh you hear the old [ɔʊɫd] pit yackers on […] (that’s what they used to
call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re completely different to us I mean it’s only a matter of (a few
miles) uh ten mile)
over (0:05:56 ‘not too clever’ (aye) (yeah, ‘not too clever’ would be OK) around here ‘clever’’s
usually pronounced ‘clever’ (aye, ‘not too clever’) ‘not over [aʊə] clever’ (‘not over [aʊa] clever’
aye, that’s it, “I’m not over [aʊa] clever”) or “you don’t look over [aʊə] clever to me” (aye);
0:06:34 “hoy it over [oːvə] here” or “throw it over [aʊa] there”)
<-ow> (0:07:14 you had to have lots of change to hoy out the window [wɪndə]; 0:44:35 and a
‘marrow’ [maɹə] was someone you worked alongside with on a on a pit seam you’re your ‘pit
marrow’ [maɹə]; 0:46:45 (they used to wear these big black blinkers over ’cause the light was too
severe for them) (’cause they were called ‘cuddies’) (yeah, and everybody used to go and pat
them) ‘Gallows’ [galəz] […] (I never heard that one before) yeah, aye, that’s what they called
them ‘gallows’ [galəz] […] ‘pit Gallows’ [galəz])
nobody (0:58:41 apparently um when they were using the radio as the different units they had to
use code obviously so the Germans wouldn’t be able to understand what was being transmitted but
apparently the Northumberland Fu… Fusiliers8 were waived they didn’t have to use code ’cause
nobody [niːbədi] could understand them the English or the uh or the German side)
GOOSE [uː > ʏː]
(0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting room [sɪtʔ ] they used [juːst] to have the holes in where
where the lads used [juːst] to play mar… play marbles with their marbles indoor games ’cause we used
[juːst] to have to amuse [mjuːz] ourselves when we were kids ; 0:16:58 a ‘long cowie’ uh is a long-tailed
rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth [juːθ] of Tyneside also means an ecstasy
tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course; 0:40:44
they used [juːst] to say, “are you ganning to ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt] on Saturday” and I never knew [njuː] what
what ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt] was until uh just a few [fjuː] years ago and I was driving past the place where we
used [juːst] to go for our for our disco and it said uh ‘Miners Institute’ [ɪnstɪʧʏːt] (oh, ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt])
and it was known as ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt] and I’ve never never never twigged at the time why it was called
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‘the ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt]; 0:52:17 they were things that more or less didn’t have uh slang names (yeah, they were
working things) they were just uh tools [tuːɫz]; 0:53:21 ‘drawers’ would be for it would be for ‘knickers’,
wouldn’t it, “have you got your drawers on?” (“drop your drawers out”) ‘droopy drawers’ [dɹʏːpʔidɹɔːz]
they still say that to me yet)
blooming (0:20:49 (‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’ means ‘smelly’ as well) yeah, we
would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we? (‘minging’, yeah, “the toilet’s minging”) (aye,
that’s awful what a horrible smell) “pah, blooming [blʊmən] it’s mingy, that”)
do, who(se) (0:05:17 doing [duːɪn] anything strenuous I think you’re ‘knackered’; 0:10:00 (the
young kids on Tyneside use ‘crib’ as ‘bed’) do [də] they I think they just made that up; 0:13:57 did
you play hopscotch, mam? (yeah, oh yes, hopscotch was a good game and uh) you never see that
drawn on paths any more, do [də] you?; 0:25:05 “what are ye doing, [diːɪn] bonny lad?” (even if
you’re an old person they still say ‘bonny lad’) (‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re not actually hinting
that you fancy the person or you find them attractive in any way [...] it’s just a platitude, yeah);
0:56:00 uh they have a softer vowel in uh Sunderland and there’s uh “whose [wiːz] keys are these
keys” is the the famous one which defines the Mackem accent ; 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures
the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that was it
’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah)
got to do [diː] all the messages for to get some money for to for to go)
PRICE [ai]
(0:11:33 you called them ‘muggies’ (‘muggies’) (‘muggies’ that’s what they called them) ’cause on
Tyneside [tainsaid] they’re called ‘liggies’; 0:36:26 (that was before they had nylons [nailɒnz] or wh...
when there was no nylons [nailɒnz] for in the war) well they couldn’t afford nylons, [nailɒnz] you see, in
the in the wartime [wɔːtaim]; 0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they
had they had uh beetle drives [dɹaivz] and whist drives [dɹaivz]) oh we had beetle drives [dɹaivz] and
whist drives [dɹaivz] they were great)
fire (0:39:15 my grandfather used to sit in his rocking chair and my uncles used to sit in their
rocking chairs all around the fire [faia] (oh here we go) and uh I telt him the other day (yeah, go
on); 0:39:52 and my mother (and my aunties had to wash it every day) and my aunties every day
they had to clean that (yeah) every morning (yeah) and all the fire [faiə] was all sizzle marks
where they had spit and missed in the fire [faia])
<-ight> (0:09:38 (there’s a word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer
to their bed as their ‘crib’) their crib? (yeah, “I’m ganning to my crib”) oh right [ɹait] ([…] “don’t
wake don’t wake us I’m in my crib”); 0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually but um often of I do
partake of a glass of a Saturday night [nait] (oh) so uh, yeah, probably last Saturday; 0:24:37 i... if
outside this region I was to to say, “you all right, [aːɹiːt] bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal
translation of it you’d get a clip round the head)
my (0:2:51 well my [mi] nana used to say ‘aerated’ whatever that means; 0:09:38 there’s a word
that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer to their bed as their ‘crib’ (their
crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to my [mi] crib” (oh right […]) “don’t wake don’t wake us I’m in my
[mi] crib”; 0:12:44 well I’m only going on what my [mi] dad used to tell me matchboxes and
elastic bands and stuff like that that you wind up; 0:39:15 my [mi] grandfather used to sit in his
rocking chair and my [mi] uncles used to sit in their rocking chairs all around the fire (oh here we
go) and uh I telt him the other day (yeah, go on); 0:39:26 my [mi] grand-da was smoking his pipe
and my [mi] uncles were smoking their tabs and then they’d be sitting there and then they would go
and then they would spit at the fire (and it would sizzle); 0:39:52 and my [mi] mother (and my [mi]
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aunties had to wash it every day) and my [mi] aunties every day they had to clean that (yeah) every
morning (yeah) and all the fire was all sizzle marks where they had spit and missed in the fire)
CHOICE [ɒɪ ~ ɔɪ]
(0:04:51 yeah, if I say I’m ‘knackered’ people get annoyed [ənɒɪd] ’cause they think it’s rude, “you
shouldn’t say ‘knackered’” but I do so I never put it down; 0:20:49 ‘minging’ and ‘hotching’ ‘hotching’
means ‘smelly’ as well (yeah, we would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we?) ‘minging’, yeah, “the
toilet’s [tɔɪləts] minging” (aye, that’s awful what a horrible smell) (“pah, blooming it’s mingy, that”))
MOUTH [aʊ > æʊ]
(0:15:03 if you’d been naughty you’d get a clout [klæʊt] across the ears; 00:21:09 (‘lacking money’
then?) (‘skint’) (‘skint’) ‘skint’ or ‘got nowt’ [naʊt]; 0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey
[haʊsihaʊsi] in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives and whist drives) oh we had
beetle drives and whist drives they were great; 1:02:57 (‘clarts’ you’ll find that used in Norway) ‘clarts’
‘clarts’, yeah (‘clart’ meaning ‘mud’ and ‘muck’) a lot of people down [daʊn] south [saʊθ] don’t know
what ‘clarts’ mean (no, no idea what clarts are, no) it’s just thick mud watery mud)
(a)round, couch, out, thou, trousers (0:02:17 (‘cold’ then?) ‘cold’ (‘cold’) ‘cold’ “it’s very c…
I’m very cold today” and “it’s very cold outside” [uːtsaid] (it’s a ‘cold’ day) (‘cold’ yeah) “it’s a
cold day and I’m very cold”; 0:04:51 yeah, if I say I’m ‘knackered’ people get annoyed ’cause they
think it’s rude, “you shouldn’t say ‘knackered’” but I do so I never put it down [daʊn]; 0:06:48
where my nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and groom and all the their
bridesmaids used to have to fill their pockets full of shillings and pennies and halfpennies and stuff
and when the the bridal um cars drove through an estate or whatever they had to hoy money out
[aʊt] and the kids would be scratching scratting around [əɹaʊnd] on the ground for sixpences and
pennies (they don’t do it now) they don’t seem to do it now but it was called a ‘hoy out’ [uːt];
0:12:50 we used to play with a gird a round [ɹəʊnd] uh metal hoop […] you called it a ‘gird’ and
then you had your hook and (and they used to whip it along and they used to go along) (were they
off barrels originally were they the things that used to) they looked like […] beer barrels (keg)
(yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones they were just round [ɹəʊnd] metal (yeah); 0:27:41 ‘pelting
down’ [duːn] or ‘hoying down’ [duːn] (yeah) or ‘chucking down’ [duːn] (‘chucking down’ [duːn]
yes); 0:29:43 (the old people went in first the dirtiest from the pit and then it went right down to the
kids and they all stayed in the same water, you know, and you so you must’ve been dirtier when
you went in then when you come out [aʊt]) no, I think it’s the r… the other way around [əɹuːnd]
(you were dirtier when you got out [aʊt]) you got the clean ones in first and then they get the dirty
ones in last; 0:31:27 yes, I’ve got ‘couch’ [kuːʧ] written there actually ‘couch’ [kuːʧ] (the
‘couch’, [kaʊʧ] yeah) (‘couch’ [kəʊʧ] ‘couch’ [kuːʧ]) aye, “get off the couch”, [kuːʧ] like (never
the ‘sofa’ sometimes the ‘settee’ […] “get the dog off the couch” [kuːʧ]); 0:31:35 “get the old
man off the couch” [kuːʧ]; 0:34:01 you you more or less say, “down [duːn] the alley”, don’t you?
(yes) (aye); 0:36:48 I was down [daʊn] the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh
two weeks ago and it just started to rain and uh there was these lasses and one of them says, “eh,
my legs’ll run”; 0:39:15 my grandfather used to sit in his rocking chair and my uncles used to sit
in their rocking chairs all around [əɹuːnd] the fire (oh here we go) and uh I telt him the other day
(yeah, go on); 0:53:12 (‘trousers’ [tɹuːzaz]) ‘trousers’ [tɹuːzaz] or ‘drawers’ (‘drawers’) “they’re
they’re a fancy pair of drawers you’ve got on there”; 1:01:40 but if you go down south as well,
like, if you go to Tow Law and North Durham which again pit communities and I’ve been over
there and they still say ‘thou’ [ðuː] and ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ there so it’s very common and that’s that’s
medieval, that, which says something for the isolation of the area I think;)
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hour, our (0:11:06 marbles (aye, marbles muggies) muggies […] (you called them ‘muggies’)
(‘muggies’) ‘muggies’ that’s what they called them (’cause on Tyneside they’re called ‘liggies’)
[…] no, definitely was ‘muggies’ in our area [aʊəɹ ɛːɹiə] (aye) everybody we knew; 0:11:21 every
corner uh of the sitting room they used to have the holes in where where the lads used to play
mar… play marbles with their marbles indoor games ’cause we used to have to amuse ourselves
[aʊəsɛlvz] when we were kids; 0:37:16 orange faces are very common on Tyneside, aren’t they
(yeah, fake tan I think) I don’t not sure whether it’s, yeah, , makes them look like they’ve been in a
tandoori oven for an hour [aʊə]; 0:38:37 we used to all go there for our [wə] tea when we finally
moved away; 0:40:44 they used to say, “are you ganning to ‘The ’Tute’ on Saturday” and I never
knew what what ‘The ’Tute’ was until uh just a few years ago and I was driving past the place
where we used to go for our [aʊə] for our [aʊə] disco and it said uh ‘Miners Institute’ (oh, ‘The
’Tute’) and it was known as ‘The ’Tute’ and I’ve never never never twigged at the time why it was
called ‘the ’Tute’; 0:48:29 (yeah, yeah, “I’ve seen your kid the other day you’ll never guess what
he was doing”) well you can refer to your brother as ‘our [wɔː] kid’ (yeah) right up until the end
of their life ([…] even your sister ‘our [wɔː] kid’) […] so ‘our [wɔː] kid’ ‘our [aʊə] kid’ uh but
whether they were a kid or not; 0:49:02 (‘female partner’?) ‘our [wɔː] lass’ (‘our [wɔː] lass’) just
‘our [wɔː] lass’ really)
NEAR [iə > ia] (0:08:33 everybody knew the School Board man you ducked behind the cou… behind the the the three-
piece suite if the if he came honestly we feared [fiəd] him, didn’t we, (aye) nearly as much as the
headmaster; 0:19:22 (it was considered to be evil in in in the olden days I’m talking medieval times) ([…]
anyway I’m c… one hundred per cent left-handed and I’ve never changed and I can’t change) so we’ve
got three evil people here [hia]; 0:23:01 I think we would’ve said ‘up the spout’ (‘going to have a babby’)
[…] “she’s having another babby, her, dear [dia] me she cannot afford to keep the one she’s got”;
0:32:38 we just all lived there and the uncles all were miners in there as well and so we were all together
in, like, this mining little atmosphere, [atməsfiə] weren’t we, so we were growing growing up as a unit
and and my poor grandmother used they used to do all the work; 0:46:45 they used to wear these big
black blinkers over ’cause the light was too severe [səviə] for them (’cause they were called ‘cuddies’)
yeah, and everybody used to go and pat them (‘Gallows’) […] (I never heard that one before) (yeah, aye,
that’s what they called them ‘gallows’ […] ‘pit Gallows’))
nearly, year (0:08:33 everybody knew the School Board man you ducked behind the cou… behind
the the the three-piece suite if the if he came honestly we feared him, didn’t we, (aye) nearly [nɛːli]
as much as the headmaster; 0:22:14 I’m not a drinker uh the last time I I think it was on holiday
last year, [jia] no, not very often I’m not not a big drinker; 0:40:44 they used to say, “are you
ganning to ‘The ’Tute’ on Saturday” and I never knew what what ‘The ’Tute’ was until uh just a
few years [jɛːz] ago and I was driving past the place where we used to go for our for our disco and
it said uh ‘Miners Institute’ (oh, ‘The ’Tute’) and it was known as ‘The ’Tute’ and I’ve never never
never twigged at the time why it was called ‘the ’Tute’)
SQUARE [ɛː > ɛa]
(0:2:51 well my nana used to say ‘aerated’ [ɛːɹieːʔəd] whatever that means; 0:39:15 my grandfather used
to sit in his rocking chair [ʧɛa] and my uncles used to sit in their rocking chairs [ʧɛaz] all around the fire
(oh here we go) and uh I telt him the other day (yeah, go on); 0:46:45 they used to wear [wɛː] these big
black blinkers over ’cause the light was too severe for them (’cause they were called ‘cuddies’) yeah, and
everybody used to go and pat them (‘Gallows’) […] (I never heard that one before) (yeah, aye, that’s what
they called them ‘gallows’ […] ‘pit Gallows’))
START [ɒː > ɑː]
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(0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting room they used to have the holes in where where the lads used to
play mar… play marbles [ ] with their marbles [ ] indoor games ’cause we used to have to
amuse ourselves when we were kids; 0:12:04 they were cardboard [kɒːdbɔːd] in those days and little
bottle tops and they had a little hole in the middle, didn’t they, where you put your finger in; 0:45:59 why,
I mean a lot more people are working in offices and that (yeah) where they don’t use slang words as much
as what they did in the shipyards [ʃɪpʔjɒːdz] and uh mines and that)
NORTH [ɔː]
(0:11:21 every corner [kɔːna] uh of the sitting room they used to have the holes in where where the lads
used to play mar… play marbles with their marbles indoor games ’cause we used to have to amuse
ourselves when we were kids ; 0:36:26 (that was before they had nylons or wh... when there was no nylons
for in the war [wɔː]) well they couldn’t afford nylons, you see, in the in the wartime [wɔːtaim])
for (0:15:54 (somebody or something that’s rich) (uh) I just put ‘minted’ for [fɒ] that)
FORCE [ɔː]
(0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting room they used to have the holes in where where the lads used to
play mar… play marbles with their marbles indoor [ɪndɔː] games ’cause we used to have to amuse
ourselves when we were kids ; 0:36:26 (that was before they had nylons or wh... when there was no nylons
for in the war) well they couldn’t afford [əfɔːd] nylons, you see, in the in the wartime)
CURE [uə > ua]
(0:17:11 if they’ve had a a particularly heavy Saturday night (will they?) they’ll say, “I was pure [pjua]
cowied off my head” (yeah, but I would think that’s more of a modern thing); 0:32:38 we just all lived
there and the uncles all were miners in there as well and so we were all together in, like, this mining little
atmosphere, weren’t we, so we were growing growing up as a unit and and my poor [puə] grandmother
used they used to do all the work; 0:47:31 you didn’t get paid while you were off work either, you know, I
don’t think so anyway because they were always poor [puə])
tandoori (0:37:16 orange faces are very common on Tyneside, aren’t they (yeah, fake tan I think) I
don’t not sure whether it’s, yeah, makes them look like they’ve been in a tandoori [tanduːɹi] oven
for an hour)
happY [i(ː)]
(0:08:08 ‘skive’’s just basically [beːsɪkʔli] being lazy [leːzi] in general, isn’t it?; 0:11:33 you called them
‘muggies’ [mʊgiˑz] (‘muggies’ [mʊgiz]) (‘muggies’ [mʊgiz] that’s what they called them) ’cause on
Tyneside they’re called ‘liggies’ [lɪgiːz]; 0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually [akʧəliː] but um often of I
do partake of a glass of a Saturday night (oh) so uh, yeah, probably [pɹɒbli] last Saturday; 0:37:27 we
came from a large family, [famli] you know, we had a lot of aunties [antiːz] and things and they all, didn’t
they, regularly [ɹɛgjələli] get theirselves all dolled up there and we used to sit and watch them and think
they were great, you know)
lettER [ə ~ a]
(0:16:58 a ‘long cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers [ʧɑːvaz] the the
youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that,
mam, and neither [niːðə] do I of course; 0:48:29 yeah, “eh, I’ve seen your kid the other [ʊðə] day you’ll
never guess what he was doing” (well you can refer to your brother [bɹʊðə] as ‘wor kid’ (yeah) right up
until the end of their life ([…] even your sister [sɪsta] ‘wor kid’) […] so ‘wor kid’ ‘our kid’ uh but whether
[wɛðə] they were a kid or not)
commA [ə]
(0:11:06 marbles (aye, marbles muggies) muggies […] (you called them ‘muggies’) (‘muggies’) ‘muggies’
that’s what they called them (’cause on Tyneside they’re called ‘liggies’) […] no, definitely was ‘muggies’
in our area [ɛːɹiə] (aye) everybody we knew; 0:31:27 (yes, I’ve got ‘couch’ written there actually ‘couch’)
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the ‘couch’, yeah (‘couch’ ‘couch’) (aye, “get off the couch”, like) never the ‘sofa’ [soːfə] sometimes the
‘settee’ […] “get the dog off the couch”)
horsES [ə > ɪ]
(0:12:44 well I’m only going on what my dad used to tell me matchboxes [maʧbɒksəz] and elastic bands
and stuff like that that you wind up; 0:17:29 ‘cowie’ seems to be a word that sort of fits and fixes [fɪksəz]
all; 0:35:58 when they used to go to the dances [dansɪz] (there wasn’t any tights there wasn’t any tights in
those days); 0:36:48 I was down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh two weeks ago
and it just started to rain and uh there was these lasses [lasəz] and one of them says, “eh, my legs’ll run”;
0:45:59 why, I mean a lot more people are working in offices [ɒfəsɪz] and that (yeah) where they don’t
use slang words as much as what they did in the shipyards and uh mines and that)
startED [ə > ɪ]
(0:11:09 they didn’t use to have uh fitted [fɪtəd] carpets like they’ve got now, you see, they used to have
lino with, like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, clippy matting thing; 0:15:54 (somebody or something
that’s rich) (uh) I just put ‘minted’ [mɪntʔɪd] for that; 0:58:41 apparently um when they were using the
radio as the different units they had to use code obviously so the Germans wouldn’t be able to understand
what was being transmitted [tɹanzmɪtʔəd] but apparently the Northumberland Fu… Fusiliers8 were
waived they didn’t have to use code ’cause nobody could understand them the English or the uh or the
German side)
mornING [ə ~ > ɪ]
(0:15:14 oh, they’ll howk you (aye, they’re howking [haʊkən] you) that’s when they’d give you a good
hiding [ ] you’d get a good howking [haʊkən] off your mam or your dad for being [biən] naughty;
0:26:53 ‘drizzle’ is (‘spitting’ [spɪʔən]) rain, isn’t it? (yeah, it’s just ‘drizzling’ [dɹɪzlən]) ‘spitting on’
[spɪ ] on; 0:25:05 (“what are ye doing, [diːɪn] bonny lad?”) (even if you’re an old person they still say
‘bonny lad’) ‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re not actually hinting [hɪntʔ ] that you fancy the person or you
find them attractive in any way [...] it’s just a platitude, yeah; 1:02:57 ‘clarts’ you’ll find that used in
Norway (‘clarts’ ‘clarts’, yeah) ‘clart’ meaning [miːnɪn] ‘mud’ and ‘muck’ (a lot of people down south
don’t know what ‘clarts’ mean) no, no idea what clarts are, no (it’s just thick mud watery mud))
ZERO RHOTICITY
PLOSIVES
T
word final T-glottaling (0:00:35 (how would you describe your accent?) I would say it’s Tyneside there’s
a bit of a bit of Geordie in there but it’s not [nɒʔ] as broad as some people I know; 0:21:59 I’ve had a
quiet [kwaiəʔ] week actually but um often of I do partake of a glass of a Saturday night (oh) so uh, yeah,
probably last Saturday; 0:55:22 people outside the region think that everyone in the North East is a
Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight [eːʔ] or nine miles south of Newcastle uh and
call them a Geordie they’ll have your head off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems although I don’t even think
they particularly like being called Mackems either)
frequent word medial & syllable initial T-glottaling (e.g. 0:2:51 well my nana used to say ‘aerated’
[ɛːɹieːʔəd] whatever that means; 0:12:04 they were cardboard in those days and little [ ] bottle [ ]
tops and they had a little [ ] hole in the middle, didn’t they, where you put your finger in; 0:12:50 we
used to play with a gird a round uh metal [ ] hoop […] you called it a ‘gird’ and then you had your
hook and (and they used to whip it along and they used to go along) (were they off barrels originally were
they the things that used to) they looked like […] beer barrels (keg) (yeah) but they weren’t the wide ones
they were just round metal [ ] (yeah); 0:17:11 if they’ve had a a particularly heavy Saturday [saʔədə]
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night (will they?) they’ll say, “I was pure cowied off my head” (yeah, but I would think that’s more of a
modern thing); 0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually but um often of I do partake of a glass of a Saturday
[saʔədeː] night (oh) so uh, yeah, probably last Saturday [saʔədeː])
frequent T-voicing (e.g. 0:00:35 (how would you describe your accent?) I would say it’s Tyneside there’s
a bit [bɪd] of a bit [bɪd] of Geordie in there but it’s not as broad as some people I know; 0:01:12 it’s
getting a better [bɛdɐ] place than what it used to be years ago; 0:09:51 sounds a bit biblical to me a ‘crib’
I can’t imagine they’ve got [gɒd] it from the New Testament; 0:15:14 oh, they’ll howk you (aye, they’re
howking you) that’s when they’d give you a good hiding you’d get [gɛd] a good howking off your mam or
your dad for being naughty; 0:31:27 yes, I’ve got ‘couch’ written there actually ‘couch’ (the ‘couch’,
yeah) (‘couch’ ‘couch’) aye, “get [gɛd] off the couch”, like (never the ‘sofa’ sometimes the ‘settee’ […]
“get the dog off the couch”); 0:49:52 the w... word you’d use on Tyneside is ‘charver’ but [bʊd] it’s
definitely not to be confused with ‘chav’ which is a completely different thing altogether; 1:01:56 the
Tyneside Geordie um there’s a lot [lɒd] of Scandinavian words in it)
T to R (0:08:20 (so did you ever skive off when you were younger?) not as [nɒɹ əz] much as they do now;
0:35:12 what’s that stuff you were telling me, mam, that the girls used to put on [pʊɹ ɒn] their legs?)
P, T, K
frequent glottal reinforcement of P, T, K (e.g. 0:04:13 it’s so long ago that Newcastle United9 won
anything so long time [tʔaim] ago; 0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting room [sɪtʔ ] they used to
have the holes in where where the lads used to play mar… play marbles with their marbles indoor games
’cause we used to have to amuse ourselves when we were kids ; 0:22:14 I’m not a drinker [dɹɪŋkʔə] uh the
last time I I think [θɪŋkʔ] it was on holiday last year, no, not very often I’m not not a big drinker [dɹɪŋkʔə];
0:29:43 the old people [piːpʔ ] went in first the dirtiest [døːtʔiɪst] from the pit and then it went right down
to the kids and they all stayed in the same water, you know, and you so you must’ve been dirtier when you
went in then when you come out (no, I think it’s the r… the other way around) (you were dirtier [dəːtʔiə]
when you got out) (you got the clean ones in first and then they get the dirty [dɔːtʔi] ones in last); 0:31:27
(yes, I’ve got ‘couch’ written there actually ‘couch’) the ‘couch’, yeah (‘couch’ ‘couch’) (aye, “get off the
couch”, like) never the ‘sofa’ sometimes [sʊmtʔaimz] the ‘settee’ [sɛtʔiː] […] “get the dog off the couch”;
0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle
[biːtʔ ] drives and whist drives) oh we had beetle [biːtʔ ] drives and whist drives they were great; 0:53:21
‘drawers’ would be for it would be for ‘knickers’, wouldn’t it, “have you got your drawers on?” (“drop
your drawers out”) ‘droopy drawers’ [dɹʏːpʔidɹɔːz] they still say that to me yet; 0:55:22 people [piːpʔ ]
outside the region think that [ðəːtʔ] everyone in the North East is a Geordie but um if you go to [tʔə]
Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles south of Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have
your head off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems [makʔəmz] although I don’t even think [θɪŋkʔ] they
particularly like being called Mackems either)
NASALS
NG
frequent NG-fronting (e.g. 0:15:14 oh, they’ll howk you (aye, they’re howking [haʊkən] you) that’s when
they’d give you a good hiding [ ] you’d get a good howking [haʊkən] off your mam or your dad for
being [biən] naughty; 0:20:49 ‘minging’ [mɪŋən] and ‘hotching’ [hɒʧən] ‘hotching’ [hɒʧən] means
‘smelly’ as well (yeah, we would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we?) ‘minging’, [mɪŋən] yeah,
“the toilet’s minging” [mɪŋən] (aye, that’s awful what a horrible smell) (“pah, blooming [blʊmən] it’s
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mingy, that”); 0:45:59 why, I mean a lot more people are working [wøː ] in offices and that (yeah)
where they don’t use slang words as much as what they did in the shipyards and uh mines and that)
<-thing> with NK (0:01:56 (and does that apply to the weather as well?) (yeah, “it’s hot it’s very hot
today”) (yeah, “hot today”) (OK) I didn’t have anything [ɛnəθɪŋk] for that at all but I I would’ve thought
someone in Northumberland might pronounce ‘hot’ ‘hot’)
N
frequent syllabic N with nasal release (e.g. 0:04:51 yeah, if I say I’m ‘knackered’ people get annoyed
’cause they think it’s rude, “you shouldn’t [ ] say ‘knackered’” but I do so I never put it down;
0:08:33 everybody knew the School Board man you ducked behind the cou… behind the the the three-
piece suite if the if he came honestly we feared him, didn’t [ ] we, (aye) nearly as much as the
headmaster; 0:11:09 they didn’t [ ] use to have uh fitted carpets like they’ve got now, you see, they
used to have lino with, like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, clippy matting thing; 0:16:58 a ‘long
cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also
means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t [ ] know that) I know you wouldn’t [ ] know that, mam,
and neither do I of course; 0:17:11 (if they’ve had a a particularly heavy Saturday night (will they?)
they’ll say, “I was pure cowied off my head”) yeah, but I would think that’s more of a modern [ ]
thing; 0:19:22 it was considered to be evil in in in the olden [ ] days I’m talking medieval times […]
(anyway I’m c… one hundred per cent left-handed and I’ve never changed and I can’t change) (so we’ve
got three evil people here); 0:27:08 if the weather’s getting bad I’d I just people often [ ] will say it’s
‘putting in’, “the weather’s putting in”; 0:36:26 (that was before they had nylons or wh... when there was
no nylons for in the war) well they couldn’t [ ] afford nylons, you see, in the in the wartime; 0:38:16
well they didn’t [ ] have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives
and whist drives) oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were great; 0:57:01 something could be
‘canny good’ though, couldn’t [ ] it, (no, I don’t know) which would mean it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny
good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’) what have you never seen a canny good film on
the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes you can))
FRICATIVES
TH
TH-stopping (0:57:01 something [ ] could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no, I don’t know)
which would mean it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’)
what have you never seen a canny good film on the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes you can))
LIQUIDS
R
approximant R (0:2:51 well my nana used to say ‘aerated’ [ɛːɹieːʔəd] whatever that means; 0:09:38
there’s a word that I’ve come across [əkɹɒs] amongst uh the charvers and and they refer [ɹəfəː] to their
bed as their ‘crib’ [kɹɪb] (their crib? [kɹɪb]) yeah, “I’m ganning to my crib” [kɹɪb] (oh right [ɹait] […])
“don’t wake don’t wake us I’m in my crib” [kɹɪb]; 0:38:16 well they didn’t have housey-housey in those
days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives [dɹaivz] and whist drives [dɹaivz]) oh we had beetle
drives [dɹaivz] and whist drives [dɹaivz] they were great [gɹeːt])
uvular R10
(1:00:26 when you get, like, to north Northumberland or even just as far as Rothbury
[ʁɒθbəʁiː] (why, you’re getting more into Scottish there) where you’ve got the guttural ‘R’ [ɒː] (that’s
10
This pronunciation is consciously ‘performed’ in imitation of speakers from Rothbury.
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right on the border) which is but you used to get the ‘R’ [ʁə] i... on Tyneside people used to say that but
that’s more or less died out now)
L
clear onset L (0:16:58 a ‘long [laŋ] cowie’ uh is a long-tailed [lɒŋteːɫd] rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’
amongst charvers the the youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet [tablət] (oh I wouldn’t know that)
I know you wouldn’t know that, mam, and neither do I of course; 0:18:10 we had a headmaster which I
will not name I think he’s probably [pɹɒbli] dead now anyway but he was horrible really [ɹiəli] a nasty
person in those days I mean they really [ɹiːli] belted you something terrible; 0:46:45 they used to wear
these big black [blak] blinkers [blɪŋkəz] over ’cause the light [lait] was too severe for them (’cause they
were called ‘cuddies’) yeah, and everybody used to go and pat them (‘Gallows’ [galəz]) […] (I never
heard that one before) (yeah, aye, that’s what they called them ‘Gallows’ [galəz] […] ‘pit Gallows’
[galəz]))
clear coda L (0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting room they used to have the holes [hoːlz] in where
where the lads used to play mar… play marbles [ ] with their marbles [ ] indoor games
’cause we used to have to amuse ourselves [aʊəsɛlvz] when we were kids; 0:18:10 we had a headmaster
which I will [wɪl] not name I think he’s probably dead now anyway but he was horrible [ ] really a
nasty person in those days I mean they really belted [bɛltəd] you something terrible [ ]; 0:27:41
‘pelting [ ] down’ or ‘hoying down’ (yeah) or ‘chucking down’ (‘chucking down’ yes))
dark coda L (0:02:17 (‘cold’ then?) ‘cold’ (‘cold’ [kɔʊɫd]) ‘cold’ “it’s very c… I’m very cold today” and
“it’s very cold [kaʊɫd] outside” (it’s a ‘cold’ [kɔʊɫd] day) (‘cold’ [kaʊəɫd] yeah) “it’s a cold [kaʊɫd]
day and I’m very cold”; 0:39:52 and my mother (and my aunties had to wash it every day) and my aunties
every day they had to clean that (yeah) every morning (yeah) and all [ɑːɫ] the fire was all [ɑːɫ] sizzle
[ ] marks where they had spit and missed in the fire)
syllabic L with lateral release (0:12:04 they were cardboard in those days and little bottle tops and they
had a little hole in the middle, [ ] didn’t they, where you put your finger in; 0:21:42 ‘off his head’ or I
just put ‘mental’ [mɛntʔ ] for that)
GLIDES
J
yod coalescence (0:25:05 (“what are ye doing, bonny lad?”) (even if you’re an old person they still say
‘bonny lad’) ‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them
attractive in any way [...] it’s just a platitude, [platʔɪʧuːd] yeah; 0:40:44 they used to say, “are you
ganning to ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt] on Saturday” and I never knew what what ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt] was until uh
just a few years ago and I was driving past the place where we used to go for our for our disco and it said
uh ‘Miners Institute’ [ɪnstɪʧʏːt] (oh, ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt]) and it was known as ‘The ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt] and I’ve
never never never twigged at the time why it was called ‘the ’Tute’ [ʧʏːt])
ELISION
prepositions
frequent of reduction (e.g. 0:00:35 (how would you describe your accent?) I would say it’s Tyneside
there’s a bit of [ə] a bit of [ə] Geordie in there but it’s not as broad as some people I know; 0:06:48 where
my nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and groom and all the their bridesmaids used
to have to fill their pockets full of [ə] shillings and pennies and halfpennies and stuff and when the the
bridal um cars drove through an estate or whatever they had to hoy money out and the kids would be
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scratching scratting around on the ground for sixpences and pennies (they don’t do it now) they don’t
seem to do it now but it was called a ‘hoy out’; 0:09:05 but everybody still skived off, mind, it didn’t
matter even if you were frightened you still had a go to knock out of [ə] school; 0:12:17 I used to save
hundreds and hundreds on them up I never got a baby sister but it didn’t half keep me out of [ə] mischief;
0:20:27 well well ‘minging’’s become quite a uh sort of [ə] media-friendly word now, hasn’t it?; 0:35:21
they used to paint it on the walls and the ceiling it was like the equivalent of [ə] paint now; 0:36:48 I was
down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh two weeks ago and it just started to rain
and uh there was these lasses and one of [ə] them says, “eh, my legs’ll run”; 0:55:22 people outside the
region think that everyone in the North East is a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like,
eight or nine miles south of [ə] Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have your head off ’cause
it’s uh they’re Mackems although I don’t even think they particularly like being called Mackems either;
0:59:37 I’ve I’ve heard our our Albert do it before actually when when uh he’ll instead of [ə] saying ‘cola’
you’ll say ‘cola’; 1:01:56 the Tyneside Geordie um there’s a lot of [ə] Scandinavian words in it)
with reduction (0:14:12 (we just used to draw them on) with [wə] chalk (with [wə] chalk, yeah) we used to
pinch the chalk from school; 0:37:02 and I’ve honestly seen uh I’ve seen girls walking round with [wə]
one leg done)
negation
secondary contraction (0:01:56 (and does that apply to the weather as well?) (yeah, “it’s hot it’s very
hot today”) (yeah, “hot today”) (OK) I didn’t [dɪn] have anything for that at all but I I would’ve thought
someone in Northumberland might pronounce ‘hot’ ‘hot’)
simplification
frequent word final consonant cluster reduction (e.g. 0:01:02 yeah, best place to be, yeah, yeah, been
everywhere always want to [wɒnə] come back to the North East; 0:01:56 (and does that apply to the
weather as well?) (yeah, “it’s hot it’s very hot today”) (yeah, “hot today”) (OK) I didn’t [dɪn] have
anything for that at all but I I would’ve thought someone in Northumberland might pronounce ‘hot’ ‘hot’;
0:08:33 everybody knew the School Board man you ducked behind the cou… behind the the the three-
piece suite if the if he came honestly we feared him, didn’t [ ] we, (aye) nearly as much as the
headmaster; 0:20:27 well well ‘minging’’s become quite a uh sort of media-friendly word now, hasn’t
[ ] it?; 0:35:58 (when they used to go to the dances) there wasn’t [wɒ ] any tights there wasn’t
[wɒ ] any tights in those days; 0:36:26 (that was before they had nylons or wh... when there was no
nylons for in the war) well they couldn’t [ ] afford nylons, you see, in the in the wartime; 0:38:16 well
they [ ] have housey-housey in those days, did we […] (they had they had uh beetle drives and whist
drives) oh we had beetle drives and whist drives they were great; 0:55:22 people outside the region think
that everyone in the North East is a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine
miles south of Newcastle uh and call them a Geordie they’ll have your head off ’cause it’s uh they’re
Mackems although I don’t [doːn] even think they particularly like being called Mackems either; 0:57:01
something could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t [ ] it, (no, I don’t know) which would mean it was
‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’) what have you never seen a
canny good film on the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes you can))
word medial consonant cluster reduction (0:16:43 I put ‘cack-handed’ (yeah, ‘cack-handed’) uh it’s
something [sʊmɪŋ] I’ve heard but I’ve never been called it before)
word initial syllable reduction (0:01:09 everybody’s friendly in the North East and uh it’s getting a
better place than what it used to be years ago like uh changing the scenery for the down the docks
especially [spɛʃliː]; 0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting room they used to have the holes in where where
the lads used to play mar… play marbles with their marbles indoor games ’cause we used to have to
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amuse [tə mjuːz] ourselves when we were kids; 0:35:21 they used to paint it on the walls and the ceiling it
was like the equivalent [ðə kwɪvələnt] of paint now)
syllable deletion (0:01:09 everybody’s friendly in the North East and uh it’s getting a better place than
what it used to be years ago like uh changing the scenery [siːnɹiː] for the down the docks especially
[spɛʃliː]; 0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually [akʧəliː] but um often of I do partake of a glass of a
Saturday night (oh) so uh, yeah, probably [pɹɒbli] last Saturday; 0:29:01 yeah, the scullery [skʊɫɹi] and
the kitchen’s where they mainly (where the the fire was in the back end, wasn’t it?); 0:31:27 yes, I’ve got
‘couch’ written there actually [akʃliː] ‘couch’ (the ‘couch’, yeah) (‘couch’ ‘couch’) aye, “get off the
couch”, like (never the ‘sofa’ sometimes the ‘settee’ […] “get the dog off the couch”); 0:37:27 we came
from a large family, [famli] you know, we had a lot of aunties and things and they all, didn’t they,
regularly get theirselves all dolled up there and we used to sit and watch them and think they were great,
you know; 0:46:11 but all that’s gone but they’re now moving to, like, offices and factories [faktɹiz] and
there’s less slang)
definite article reduction (0:29:43 (the old people went in first the dirtiest from the pit and then it went
right down to the kids and they all stayed in the same water, you know, and you so you must’ve been
dirtier when you went in then when you come out) no, I think it’s the r… the other [ðʊða] way around (you
were dirtier when you got out) you got the clean ones in first and then they get the dirty ones in last)
L-deletion (0:12:44 well I’m only [oːni] going on what my dad used to tell me matchboxes and elastic
bands and stuff like that that you wind up; 0:24:37 i... if outside this region I was to to say, “you all right,
[aːɹiːt] bonny lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of it you’d get a clip round the head; 0:58:18
yeah, you get in the pub into Ashington and uh you hear the old pit yackers on […] (that’s what they used
to call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re completely different to us I mean it’s only [oːni] a matter of (a
few miles) uh ten mile)
V-deletion (0:01:56 (and does that apply to the weather as well?) (yeah, “it’s hot it’s very hot today”)
(yeah, “hot today”) (OK) I didn’t have anything for that at all but I I would’ve [wʊdə] thought someone in
Northumberland might pronounce ‘hot’ ‘hot’; 0:05:56 ‘not too clever’ (aye) (yeah, ‘not too clever’ would
be OK) around here ‘clever’’s usually pronounced ‘clever’ (aye, ‘not too clever’) ‘not over [aʊə] clever’
(‘not over [aʊa] clever’ aye, that’s it, “I’m not over [aʊa] clever”) or “you don’t look over [aʊə] clever to
me” (aye); 0:29:43 the old people went in first the dirtiest from the pit and then it went right down to the
kids and they all stayed in the same water, you know, and you so you must’ve [mʊstə] been dirtier when
you went in then when you come out (no, I think it’s the r… the other way around) (you were dirtier when
you got out) (you got the clean ones in first and then they get the dirty ones in last); 0:57:01 something
could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no, I don’t know) which would mean it was ‘quite good’
‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’) what have [ə] you never seen a canny
good film on the telly? (no) (no, why, sometimes you can))
LIAISON
frequent linking R (e.g. 0:11:06 marbles (aye, marbles muggies) muggies […] (you called them
‘muggies’) (‘muggies’) ‘muggies’ that’s what they called them (’cause on Tyneside they’re called
‘liggies’) […] no, definitely was ‘muggies’ in our area [aʊəɹ ɛːɹiə] (aye) everybody we knew ; 0:12:04 they
were cardboard in those days and little bottle tops and they had a little hole in the middle, didn’t they,
where you put your finger in [fɪŋgəɹ ɪn]; 0:16:18 just had more money than anybody they were spivs it
didn’t matter how they got it from […] (if you were well of you were a [wɐɹ ə] ‘spiv’) you were a [wɒɹ ə]
‘spiv’ we didn’t know many well of people, mind); 0:46:26 there was the pit ponies in the field next to
where she lived (oh yeah) and they were all [wəɹ ɔːɫ] blind, weren’t they? (yeah, they were))
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intrusive R (1:01:40 but if you go down south as well, like, if you go to Tow Law and North Durham
which again pit communities and I’ve been over there and they still say ‘thou’ and ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ there
so it’s very common and that’s that’s medieval, that, which says something for the isolation of the area I
[ɛːɹiəɹ a] think)
EPENTHESIS
J-onglide (1:02:02 if you were to say to a Norwegian person, “I’m ganning hame” [jɛm] he or she’d know
exactly what you meant because they say, “I’m ganning hame” [jɛm])
schwa epenthesis (0:57:01 something could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it, (no, I don’t know) which
would mean it was ‘quite good’ ‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’) what
have you never seen a canny good film [fɪlem] (no) (no, why, sometimes you can))
+/- VOICE
Glasgow with S (0:50:44 I quite like the Glasgow [glasgoː] equivalent which is a ‘ned’ uh and that word
comes from uh it’s a probation service term)
with with TH (0:11:09 they didn’t use to have uh fitted carpets like they’ve got now, you see, they used to
have lino with, [wɪθ] like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, clippy matting thing; 0:26:12 but I think uh
a ‘bad mood’ just means, like, if somebody does something that you don’t like or you don’t agree with
[wɪθ] puts you in a bad mood (or if you cannot get summat that you want) yeah (it puts you in a bad
mood); 0:44:35 and a ‘marrow’ was someone you worked alongside with [wɪθ] on a on a pit seam you’re
your ‘pit marrow’; 1:02:11 I was working in Australia and uh this German lad I was friendly with [wɪθ]
and he used to say to me he used to say, “oh your your uh dialect is more or less the same as German”
and he was telling us words what were they more or less the same in German like ‘aye’ and ‘now’ and uh
things like that, you know like, different words)
WEAK-STRONG CONTRAST
vowel reduction
weak definite article + vowel (0:15:03 if you’d been naughty you’d get a clout across the ears [ðə iəz];
0:32:38 we just all lived there and the uncles [ðə ʊŋkʔ ] all were miners in there as well and so we were
all together in, like, this mining little atmosphere, weren’t we, so we were growing growing up as a unit
and and my poor grandmother used they used to do all the work; 0:34:01 you you more or less say, “down
the alley”, [ðə ali] don’t you? (yes) (aye); 0:58:18 yeah, you get in the pub into Ashington and uh you hear
the old [ðə ɔʊɫd] pit yackers on […] (that’s what they used to call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re
completely different to us I mean it’s only a matter of (a few miles) uh ten mile; 1:01:01 in this in the area
[ðə ɛːɹiə] in the North East or what up here there’s lots of different dialects)
cannot (0:23:01 I think we would’ve said ‘up the spout’ (‘going to have a babby’) […] “she’s having
another babby, her, dear me she cannot [kanət] afford to keep the one she’s got”; 0:26:12 (but I think uh a
‘bad mood’ just means, like, if somebody does something that you don’t like or you don’t agree with puts
you in a bad mood) or if you cannot [kanət] get summat that you want (yeah) it puts you in a bad mood)
vowel strengthening
word initial vowel strengthening (0:19:22 it was considered [kɒnsɪdəd] to be evil in in in the olden days
I’m talking medieval times […] (anyway I’m c… one hundred per cent left-handed and I’ve never changed
and I can’t change) (so we’ve got three evil people here); 0:49:52 the w... word you’d use on Tyneside is
‘charver’ but it’s definitely not to be confused [kənfjuːzd] with ‘chav’ which is a completely [kɒmpliːtʔli]
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different thing altogether; 0:58:18 yeah, you get in the pub into Ashington and uh you hear the old pit
yackers on […] (that’s what they used to call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re completely [kɒmpliːtli]
different to us I mean it’s only a matter of (a few miles) uh ten mile)
word final vowel strengthening (0:47:09 (uh they always used to get a lot of injuries uh) (pit falls and
that) (and the and then the the) (machinery) (and the different things) (crushed) (used to crush against
them and everything) the wagons [wagɪnz] that used to carry the coal)
LEXICALLY SPECIFIC VARIATION
again(st) 0:47:09 uh they always used to get a lot of injuries uh (pit falls and that) and the and then the
the (machinery) and the different things (crushed) used to crush against [əgɛnst] them and everything (the
wagons that used to carry the coal); 1:01:40 but if you go down south as well, like, if you go to Tow Law
and North Durham which again [əgeːn] pit communities and I’ve been over there and they still say ‘thou’
and ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ there so it’s very common and that’s that’s medieval, that, which says something for
the isolation of the area I think)
aerated (0:2:51 well my nana used to say ‘aerated’ [ɛːɹieːʔəd] whatever that means)
ate (0:38:58 but as a unit we all played together and we all we all ate [eːt] together even then but I mean
they don’t do that now)
(be)cause (0:04:51 yeah, if I say I’m ‘knackered’ people get annoyed ’cause [kɒs] they think it’s rude,
“you shouldn’t say ‘knackered’” but I do so I never put it down; 0:11:21 every corner uh of the sitting
room they used to have the holes in where where the lads used to play mar… play marbles with their
marbles indoor games ’cause [kɒs] we used to have to amuse ourselves when we were kids ; 0:58:41
apparently um when they were using the radio as the different units they had to use code obviously so the
Germans wouldn’t be able to understand what was being transmitted but apparently the Northumberland
Fu… Fusiliers8 were waived they didn’t have to use code ’cause [kɒz] nobody could understand them the
English or the uh or the German side)
halfpennies (0:06:48 where my nana used to live if there was uh a wedding uh the bride and groom and
all the their bridesmaids used to have to fill their pockets full of shillings and pennies and halfpennies
[hapʔnɪz] and stuff and when the the bridal um cars drove through an estate or whatever they had to hoy
money out and the kids would be scratching scratting around on the ground for sixpences and pennies
(they don’t do it now) they don’t seem to do it now but it was called a ‘hoy out’; 0:38:37 same game every
time (for money?) (Newmarket11
, aye) Newmarket (for money?) penny halfpennies [heːpnɪz] and things
(aye, for halfpennies [heːpnɪz]))
(n)either (0:16:58 a ‘long cowie’ uh is a long-tailed rat (is it?) and also ‘cowie’ amongst charvers the the
youth of Tyneside also means an ecstasy tablet (oh I wouldn’t know that) I know you wouldn’t know that,
mam, and neither [niːðə] do I of course; 0:34:32 you wouldn’t use either [iːðə] word in polite society;
0:47:31 you didn’t get paid while you were off work either, [aiða] you know, I don’t think so anyway
because they were always poor; 0:55:22 people outside the region think that everyone in the North East is
a Geordie but um if you go to Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles south of Newcastle uh and call
them a Geordie they’ll have your head off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems although I don’t even think they
particularly like being called Mackems either [iːðə])
Newcastle (0:04:13 it’s so long ago that Newcastle [ ] United9 won anything so long time ago;
0:55:22 people outside the region think that everyone in the North East is a Geordie but um if you go to
Sunderland which is, like, eight or nine miles south of Newcastle [nju ] uh and call them a Geordie
11
Type of card game.
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they’ll have your head off ’cause it’s uh they’re Mackems although I don’t even think they particularly like
being called Mackems either)
often (0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually but um often [ɒfən] of I do partake of a glass of a Saturday
night (oh) so uh, yeah, probably last Saturday; 0:22:14 I’m not a drinker uh the last time I I think it was
on holiday last year, no, not very often [ɒfən] I’m not not a big drinker; 0:27:08 if the weather’s getting
bad I’d I just people often [ɒft ] will say it’s ‘putting in’, “the weather’s putting in”)
says (0:36:48 I was down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh two weeks ago and it
just started to rain and uh there was these lasses and one of them says, [sɛz] “eh, my legs’ll run”; 1:01:40
but if you go down south as well, like, if you go to Tow Law and North Durham which again pit
communities and I’ve been over there and they still say ‘thou’ and ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ there so it’s very
common and that’s that’s medieval, that, which says [seːz] something for the isolation of the area I think)
GRAMMAR
DETERMINERS
definite article reduction (0:29:43 (the old people went in first the dirtiest from the pit and then it went
right down to the kids and they all stayed in the same water, you know, and you so you must’ve been
dirtier when you went in then when you come out) no, I think it’s the r… th’ other way around (you were
dirtier when you got out) you got the clean ones in first and then they get the dirty ones in last)
the pre-modification (0:56:26 “what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to
say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we? (aye,
when we’d got any money, like) yeah (gotta dae all the messages for to get some money for to for to go))
NOUNS
zero plural (0:58:18 yeah, you get in the pub into Ashington and uh you hear the old pit yackers on […]
(that’s what they used to call them the ‘pit yackers’) uh they’re completely different to us I mean it’s only
a matter of (a few miles) uh ten mile)
PRONOUNS
singular object us (0:09:38 there’s a word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they
refer to their bed as their ‘crib’ (their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to me crib” (oh right […]) or “divvent
wake divvent wake us I’m in me crib”; 1:02:11 I was working in Australia and uh this German lad I was
friendly with and he used to say to me he used to say, “oh your your uh dialect is more or less the same as
German” and he was telling us words what were they more or less the same in German like ‘aye’ and
‘now’ and uh things like that, you know like, different words)
2nd person plural (0:07:21 that’s slightly before my time I was very young when I remember the hoy outs
but yous remember it more, don’t you? (we do, yeah) (oh aye); 0:45:33 (it just really goes in with the
Geordie dialect now, you know, just just the dialect we’ve got now) well well yous two would probably
know more about that dialect coming from a mining)
ye (0:25:05 “what are ye daeing, bonny lad?” (even if you’re an old person they still say ‘bonny lad’)
(‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them attractive in
any way [...] it’s just a platitude, yeah))
thou (1:01:40 but if you go down south as well, like, if you go to Tow Law and North Durham which again
pit communities and I’ve been over there and they still say ‘thou’ and ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ there so it’s very
common and that’s that’s medieval, that, which says something for the isolation of the area I think)
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frequent possessive me (e.g. 0:2:51 well me nana used to say ‘aerated’ whatever that means; 0:09:38
there’s a word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer to their bed as their
‘crib’ (their crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to me crib” (oh right […]) “divvent wake divvent wake us I’m in
me crib”; 0:12:44 well I’m only going on what me dad used to tell me matchboxes and elastic bands and
stuff like that that you wind up; 0:39:15 me grandfather used to sit in his rocking chair and me uncles used
to sit in their rocking chairs all around the fire (oh here we go) and uh I telt him the other day (yeah, go
on); 0:39:26 me grand-da was smoking his pipe and me uncles were smoking their tabs and then they’d be
sitting there and then they would go and then they would spit at the fire (and it would sizzle); 0:39:52 and
me mother (and me aunties had to wash it every day) and me aunties every day they had to clean that
(yeah) every morning (yeah) and all the fire was all sizzle marks where they had spit and missed in the
fire)
regularised reflexive (0:37:27 we came from a large family, you know, we had a lot of aunties and things
and they all, didn’t they, regularly get theirselves all dolled up there and we used to sit and watch them
and think they were great, you know)
alternative reflexive with <-sell> (0:03:11 yes, that’s true, that, she did say that (aye, divvent get yoursell
aerated”) “I’m very aerated today”)
relative which (0:18:10 we had a headmaster which I will not name I think he’s probably dead now
anyway but he was horrible really a nasty person in those days I mean they really belted you something
terrible)
zero relative (0:28:11 (why, I know it’s posh, like, when you say ‘lounge’ but uh we used to say ‘sitting
room’) (‘parlour’) ‘parlour’ that wa..., yeah, but that was the posh people _ said the ‘parlour’; 1:02:11 I
was working in Australia and uh this German lad _ I was friendly with and he used to say to me he used to
say, “oh your your uh dialect is more or less the same as German” and he was telling us words what were
they more or less the same in German like ‘aye’ and ‘now’ and uh things like that, you know like, different
words)
VERBS
present
generalisation of 3rd psg. <-s> (0:26:09 I think the elections puts you in a bad mood)
past zero past (0:39:52 and me mother (and me aunties had to wash it every day) and me aunties every day
they had to clean that (yeah) every morning (yeah) and all the fire was all sizzle marks where they had
spit and missed in the fire)
alternative past (0:39:15 me grandfather used to sit in his rocking chair and me uncles used to sit in their
rocking chairs all around the fire (oh here we go) and uh I telt○ him the other day (yeah, go on))
compounds
zero auxiliary be (0:24:37 i... if outside this region I was to to say, “_ you all right, bonny lad?” [...] if
you took the literal translation of it you’d get a clip round the heid)
zero auxiliary have (0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to
say all the time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye,
when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) _ gotta dae all the messages for to get some money for to for to go)
frequent invariant there is~was (e.g. 0:17:54 everyone had to be right-handed without a shadow, you
know, there wasn’t any left-handed people you had to be right-handed; 0:21:50 very very drunk, yes, yes,
yes, there’s n… there’s no half-measures on Tyneside; 0:35:58 (when they used to go to the dances) there
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wasn’t any tights there wasn’t any tights in those days; 0:36:26 that was before they had nylons or wh...
when there was no nylons for in the war (well they couldn’t afford nylons, you see, in the in the wartime);
0:46:26 there was the pit ponies in the field next to where she lived (oh yeah) and they were all blind,
weren’t they? (yeah, they were); 1:01:01 in this in the area in the North East or what up here there’s lots
of different dialects; 1:01:56 the Tyneside Geordie um there’s a lot of Scandinavian words in it)
historic present (0:36:48 I was down the Bigg Market uh walking through the Bigg Market uh two weeks
ago and it just started to rain and uh there was these lasses and one of them says, “eh, me legs’ll run”)
historic perfect (0:48:29 yeah, “eh, I’ve seen your kid the other day you’ll never guess what he was
doing” (well you can refer to your brother as ‘wor kid’ (yeah) right up until the end of their life) ([…]
even your sister ‘wor kid’) ([…] so ‘wor kid’ ‘our kid’ uh but whether they were a kid or not))
for to infinitive (0:11:49 and we used to play uh save the the tops off the milk bottles and we used to, like,
flick them stand a-one up against the wall and flick them for to (yeah, in those days they were cardboard)
for to knock them down and you you used to win if you knocked it down; 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the
pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to say all the time instead of that was that was it
’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d got any money, like, (yeah) gotta
dae all the messages for to get some money for to for to go)
NEGATION
never as sentential negator (0:04:51 yeah, if I say I’m ‘knackered’ people get annoyed ’cause they think
it’s rude, “you shouldn’t say ‘knackered’” but I do so I never put it down)
divvent* for negative do (0:03:11 yes, that’s true, that, she did say that (aye, divvent get yoursell
aerated”) “I’m very aerated today”; 0:05:56 (‘not too clever’) (aye) yeah, ‘not too clever’ would be OK
(around here ‘clever’’s usually pronounced ‘clever’) aye, ‘not too clever’ (‘not over clever’) ‘not over
clever’ aye, that’s it, “I’m not over clever” (or “you divvent look over clever to me”) aye; 0:09:38 there’s
a word that I’ve come across amongst uh the charvers and and they refer to their bed as their ‘crib’ (their
crib?) yeah, “I’m ganning to me crib” (oh right […]) or “divvent wake divvent wake us I’m in me crib”;
0:34:01 you you more or less say, “down the alley”, divvent you? (yes) (aye))
cannot (0:23:01 I think we would’ve said ‘up the spout’ (‘gonna have a babby’) […] “she’s having
another babby, her, dear me she cannot afford to keep the one she’s got”; 0:26:12 (but I think uh a ‘bad
mood’ just means, like, if somebody does something that you don’t like or you don’t agree with puts you in
a bad mood) or if you cannot get summat that you want (yeah) it puts you in a bad mood)
PREPOSITIONS
deletion zero of (0:09:00 he used to live at the bottom _ our street)
substitution at + place name (0:00:22 John Albert Weaving I was born at Cramlington)
of + time phrase (0:21:59 I’ve had a quiet week actually but um often of I do partake of a glass of a
Saturday night (oh) so uh, yeah, probably last Saturday)
off [= from] (0:15:14 oh, they’ll howk you (aye, they’re howking you) that’s when they’d give you a good
hiding you’d get a good howking off your mam or your dad for being naughty)
on [= of + pronoun] (0:12:17 I used to save hundreds and hundreds on them up I never got a baby sister
but it didn’t half keep me out of mischief)
ADVERBS
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something + unmarked manner adverb (0:18:10 we had a headmaster which I will not name I think he’s
probably dead now anyway but he was horrible really a nasty person in those days I mean they really
belted you something terrible)
DISCOURSE
frequent utterance initial why (e.g. 0:28:11 why, I know it’s posh, like, when you say ‘lounge’ but uh we
used to say ‘sitting room’ (‘parlour’) (‘parlour’ that wa..., yeah, but that was the posh people said the
‘parlour’); 0:45:59 why, I mean a lot more people are working in offices and that (yeah) where they don’t
use slang words as much as what they did in the shipyards and uh mines and that; 0:57:01 (something
could be ‘canny good’ though, couldn’t it) (no, I don’t know) (which would mean it was ‘quite good’
‘canny good’ (no, without the ‘good’ on the end just put ‘canny’) (what have you never seen a canny good
film on the telly?) (no) no, why, sometimes you can)
utterance final and that (0:32:22 and we all went to live in the main house where me grandmother and
grandfather used to live and, like, me mam and dad me brother and uh we all went and lived down there
all through the war ’cause me dad went went to the war and that; 0:45:59 why, I mean a lot more people
are working in offices and that (yeah) where they don’t use slang words as much as what they did in the
shipyards and uh mines and that)
frequent utterance final like (e.g. 0:28:11 why, I know it’s posh, like, when you say ‘lounge’ but uh we
used to say ‘sitting room’ (‘parlour’) (‘parlour’ that wa..., yeah, but that was the posh people said the
‘parlour’); 0:31:27 yes, I’ve got ‘couch’ written there actually ‘couch’ (the ‘couch’, yeah) (‘couch’
‘couch’) aye, “get off the couch”, like (never the ‘sofa’ sometimes the ‘settee’ […] “get the dog off the
couch”); 0:56:26 (“what’s on at the pictures the night?” um that’s the one everybody used to say all the
time instead of that was that was it ’cause that’s all we did go to the pictures, didn’t we?) aye, when we’d
got any money, like, (yeah) gotta dae all the messages for to get some money for to for to go; 1:02:11 I
was working in Australia and uh this German lad I was friendly with and he used to say to me he used to
say, “oh your your uh dialect is more or less the same as German” and he was telling us words what were
they more or less the same in German like ‘aye’ and ‘now’ and uh things like that, you know like, different
words)
utterance final mind (0:09:05 but everybody still skived off, mind, it didn’t matter even if you were
frightened you still had a go to knock out of school; 0:16:18 just had more money than anybody they were
spivs it didn’t matter how they got it from […] (if you were well of you were a ‘spiv’) you were a ‘spiv’ we
didn’t know many well of people, mind)
frequent utterance internal like (e.g. 0:11:09 they didn’t use to have uh fitted carpets like they’ve got
now, you see, they used to have lino with, like, a hand-made ru.. uh mat, you know, clippy matting thing;
0:11:49 and we used to play uh save the the tops off the milk bottles and we used to, like, flick them stand
a-one up against the wall and flick them for to (yeah, in those days they were cardboard) for to knock
them down and you you used to win if you knocked it down; 0:29:08 the fire near where the the kitchen
where your (yeah) where your, like, dining room was (yeah, it didn’t really have a name, did it?) no;
0:32:22 and we all went to live in the main house where me grandmother and grandfather used to live
and, like, me mam and dad me brother and uh we all went and lived down there all through the war
’cause me dad went went to the war and that)
intensifier right (0:56:47 (how would you explain um the meaning of the word ‘canny’ to someone who
wasn’t from round here?) ‘nice’ “they’re nice people they’re right canny, aren’t they?”)
emphatic tag (0:03:11 yes, that’s true, that, she did say that (aye, divvent get yoursell aerated”) “I’m
very aerated today”; 0:16:14 yeah, “they’re right spivs, them” you know; 0:20:49 (‘minging’ and
‘hotching’ ‘hotching’ means ‘smelly’ as well) yeah, we would’ve said ‘mingy’ for ‘smelly’, wouldn’t we?
(‘minging’, yeah, “the toilet’s minging”) (aye, that’s awful what a horrible smell) “pah, blooming it’s
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mingy, that”; 0:23:01 I think we would’ve said ‘up the spout’ (‘gonna have a babby’) […] “she’s having
another babby, her, dear me she cannot afford to keep the one she’s got”; 0:23:26 (‘bonny’ is is is a good
uh) “she’s a bonny lass, her” (a good north-eastern word Scottish as well but it’s uh) “she’s a right
bonny lass, her”; 0:23:52 (you’d just say the same for both) (‘bonny’) (aye, ‘bonny’) yeah, “nice looking
lad, him”; 1:01:40 but if you go down south as well, like, if you go to Tow Law and North Durham which
again pit communities and I’ve been over there and they still say ‘thou’ and ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ there so it’s
very common and that’s that’s medieval, that, which says something for the isolation of the area I think)
form of address bonny lad, hinny (0:24:37 i... if outside this region I was to to say, “you all right, bonny
lad?” [...] if you took the literal translation of it you’d get a clip round the heid; 0:25:05 “what are ye
daeing, bonny lad?” (even if you’re an old person they still say ‘bonny lad’) (‘bonny lad’, yeah, so you’re
not actually hinting that you fancy the person or you find them attractive in any way [...] it’s just a
platitude, yeah); 0:54:43 “howay over here, hinny”)
otiose what (0:45:59 why, I mean a lot more people are working in offices and that (yeah) where they
don’t use slang words as much as what they did in the shipyards and uh mines and that)
© Robinson, Herring, Gilbert
Voices of the UK, 2009-2012
A British Library project funded by The Leverhulme Trust