IDIOMS AND THE PECULIAR USE OF CERTAIN WORDS
The folk-speech of our county abounds in idioms, and possesses many
forms of curious phraseology.
It is these and other peculiarities which add much to its forcefulness,
and form one of its main features.
It will be the object of this short chapter to explain some of these
usages and idioms.
In writing such a chapter there is one difficulty presents itself—where
to commence. There is too much material. As a starting-point, let us
take the following remark, which was made to me the other day by an old
dame:—
‘Them lads weean’t deea ez tha’re tell’d; Ah may shoot at ’em ez oft
ez Ah leyke, tha deean’t _mend ther waays_. Ah wadn’t mahnd if tha war
_onny bit leyke_;’ i.e. ‘Those boys will not do as they are told; I
may shout at _’em_ as often as I may, they do not mend their ways. I
would not mind if they were any way reasonable.’
One word with reference to ‘’em.’ Writers on Yorkshire mark ‘them,’ so
written, with an elision point (’em).
Is this correct? I offer an opinion for what it is worth. The
vocabulary of our people dates back to a very remote period; the same
may be said of many of the rules which govern their speech. May not
this ‘em’ be a case in point; and instead of being a contraction of
‘them,’ only the plural form ‘hem,’ which they have retained along with
many other old-time words?
Wicliff, in the parable of the Prodigal Son, translates as
follows:—‘And the younger of hem;’ and a few lines below, we find, ‘and
he departed’ (divided) ‘to hem.’ Although our people have not retained
in their vocabulary the word ‘departed,’ they have held on to another
equally archaic, i.e. parting, ‘partinge,’ to divide. I leave this for
others better able than I to decide.
In the old dame’s statement it was said that the lads would not mend
their ways. ‘To mend our ways’ is equivalent to saying, ‘improve,’ ‘to
grow better’; and to be ‘onny bit leyke’ = being reasonable.
In the sentence ‘Yon’s nowt ti mahn,’ the word ‘yon’ signifies ‘that
or those over there.’ ‘Yon chap’ is ‘that man over there’; or ‘yon
coos,’ ‘those cows over there.’ ‘That chap’ points out a man near at
hand; ‘yon chap,’ one who is a greater or less distance removed from
the speakers. Hence, ‘Yon is nothing to mine’ tells that the thing
spoken of was some distance away. ‘To,’ in the statement ‘to mine,’
is equivalent to ‘compared with,’ i.e. ‘That (one) is nothing when
compared with mine.’
‘To’ also = ‘for,’ e.g. ‘good ti nowt,’ ‘good for nothing.’ Again,
‘to’ = ‘this.’ And although to some it sounds odd to hear a farmer say,
‘Wa s’all ’ev a good crop ti year,’ ‘we shall have a good crop to’
(this) ‘year,’ it only sounds peculiar because it is unfamiliar. The
same individual who would smile at such usage, would perhaps a moment
afterwards ask, ‘what have we _to_ dinner _to_-day?’ i.e. ‘What have
we for dinner this day?’ The usage of the negative in the double,
treble, or quadruple form is not infrequent. ‘Ah nivver at neea tahm
sed nowt aboot nowt ti neeabody neeaways; Ah’d nivver neea call teea,’
literally, reads thus: ‘I never at no time said nothing about nothing
to nobody no way; I had never no reason to;’ or, ‘I never said a
word to any one; I had no reason to.’ ‘Ah’d nivver neea call teea.’
‘Call’ = ‘reason.’ ‘Ah’ll gi’e him a good calling when he cums in; bud
he wants his jacket lacing weel t’ maist ov owt.’ ‘To call’ here = ‘to
scold.’
‘Sha called ma leyke all that; aye! ivverything ’at sha c’u’d lig her
tung teea.’ In this instance, ‘called’ means more than a scolding; it
means, ‘to defame,’ ‘to have said of the person shameful things,’ ‘to
illify[64],’ ‘to speak evil of.’ ‘To lace any one’s jacket,’ is ‘to
administer a sound thrashing’; and to say ‘ivverything ’at one can lay
the tongue to,’ is to heap upon a person all the opprobrious epithets
we can remember or invent. We should not say to a child, ‘What is your
name?’ Possibly did we do so, we should be met with a blank stare of
amazement. The correct form would be, ‘What do they call you?’ and you
would have an answer at once.
We should not say ‘Shout to John,’ but ‘Call of John’; or ‘Thoo’ll ’a’e
ti shoot on him looder na that, if thoo aims ti mak him hear,’ i.e.
‘you will have to shout to him louder than that, if you intend to make
him hear.’ This word ‘call’ caused considerable bewilderment to one who
had to make a complaint to a mother of her son. Being a stranger, the
mother replied to him in her best English, but although she managed
to divest her speech of much of its usual vocabulary, idiom and the
peculiar use of certain words were not so easily laid on one side. She
began, ‘It’s ti little ewse, bud Ah’ll call on him, an’ Ah’ll call him
well when he cums; bud it’s ti no good my calling him when he does cum,
foor Ah’ve called him many a tahm afoor.’
Now, why the good lady should promise to call for him when he had
come, and to assure the gentleman it was of no use calling him when
he arrived, because she had done so many a time before, didn’t leave
things as clear as they might have been. What she really meant to say
was, ‘I will shout for him, and give him a scolding when he comes; but
really scolding is of little use, as I have done so many a time before.’
A little way back the word ‘aim’ was used—‘if thoo aims ti mak him
hear.’
‘Aim’ = ‘to intend,’ ‘to hope,’ ‘to think,’ ‘to go.’
‘Ah aim ti git deean ti-day’ = I intend to get done to-day; or, I hope
to get done to-day.
‘Ah aim ’at sha’ll git better’ = I think that she will get better.
‘Ah aim ’at he’s a better talker ’an t’ parson’ = I think that he is a
better speaker than the parson.
‘He’s aiming t’ wrang road’ = He’s going in the wrong direction.
‘Ah aim ’at it’s _good_ eneeaf ti deea’ = I think that it is easy
enough to do.
The word ‘good’ = ‘easy,’ also ‘considerable.’
‘Ther war a good lot o’ sheep an’ a goodish few pigs,’ i.e. There were
a considerable number of sheep, and equally so of pigs.
‘Good’ also = ‘well.’
‘Thoo mud ez good cum ti morn ez t’ daay eftther’ = You may as well
come in the morning as the day after.
‘To lap up a thing’ is ‘to conclude,’ ‘finish,’ ‘overcome.’
‘Ah s’all lap it up iv a minit’ = I shall be done in a minute.
‘Ah’ll seean lap yon job up’ = I will soon end that affair.
‘If Ah caan’t lap yon chap up, Ah’ll gi’e ower’ = If I cannot overcome
(thrash) yon man, I will give over; literally, I will admit my
incapacity to do anything.
‘To gi’e ower’ = ‘to cease.’
‘Noo, bairns! gi’e ower potching steeans at t’ ducks; ya’ll be
laamin’ sum on ’em, an’ then sum on ya’ll be gitting ta’en afoor yer
betters’ = Now, children, cease throwing stones at the ducks; you will
be hurting some of them, and then some of you will be getting taken
before your betters.
‘To be taken’ or ‘having to appear before one’s betters’ = ‘appearing
before the justices.’
‘Bunch’ and ‘punch’ are two words over which mistakes are often made.
‘Bunch’ is to kick with the foot or knee, ‘punch’ is to hit with the
hand.
‘He bunched, an’ Ah punched, an’ wa baith toupled inti t’ beck
tigither.’
‘Mrs. Ridge, will ya mak your Sally gi’e ower? sha’s bunching ma.’
‘Nobbut when thoo lugs (my hair), Ah deean’t bunch nobbut when thoo
lugs, an’ ivvery tahm ’at thoo lugs, Ah’ll bunch. If it’s gahin to be
lug foor bunch, it s’all be bunch foor lug,’ shouted Sally.
The very common occurrence of changing the past participle passive
into the infinitive active, with ‘be,’ is somewhat curious. Instead of
saying, ‘it will have to be seen to,’ we should say, ‘it’ll be ti leeak
teea’; or, ‘the dog is dead, it will have to be buried,’ would become,
‘t’ dog’s deead, it’ll be ti sahd by.’ ‘To sahd by’ is ‘to bury,’ and
‘to put out of the road’ is ‘to kill.’ ‘Wa’ve ’ed ti put t’ au’d meer
oot o’ t’ road.’
As the following bit of information introduces many of our idioms, I
will give it as uttered.
‘Thoo maunt _let on_ aboot it, bud oor Tom’s _keeping company_ wi’
Hannah, Mary’s lass; _an’ Ah’ll tell tha what_, she diz _git hersen up_
when they gan oot. _Ah nivver thowt foor_ oor Tom ti keep company wi’
her; sha’s _far an’ awaay_ t’ best leeaking ov onny on ’em. Aye! _byv
a lang waay_; bud he’s gitten weel in wi’ _t’ au’d woman_, an’ he can
gan an’ _hing his hat up_ onny tahm he ’ez a mahnd teea. Ah’ve gi’en
him _an inklin’_ ’at he mun allus _mak hissen mensful_, an’ ti _think
on_ nivver ti _let wit_ owt aboot Nancy. They ’ed a _few wo’ds_ t’other
daay aboot her; it war _all alang of_ summat ’at Jack let slip; an’,
mah wo’d, bud Tom did _ramp an’ rahve_ when he gat ti knaw. Sha sed
’at sha wadn’t be played _fast an’ loose_ wi’; bud Ah tell’t him ti
_feeace it oot_, an’ nut git oot o’ heart, an’ _fall oot_ t’ ane wi’ t’
ither ower a _larl matter_ leyke that. Bud he sed ’at sha war _grieved
an’ vexed an’ putten aboot_; an’ _moreover ’an that_, Ah tell’d him nut
ti _tak t’ hig_, bud ti tak neea _‘count on_ what fau’k sed, bud ti
deea his best ti _hit it off_, an’ _gi’e ower_ acting leyke ez if he’d
gitten _a slaate off_, an’ nut ti _fetch things up_, or else sha’d be
gi’ing him t’ _cau’d shou’der_, an’ mebbe _gi’ing him t’ sack_ if he
_gat her back up_; onny road, tha’ve _gitten things straighten’d up_ a
bit noo, seea lang ez it lasts.’
‘To let on’ = to tell, to divulge.
‘Keeping company’ = to be engaged.
‘An’ Ah’ll tell tha what’ = I assure you.
‘To get oneself up’ is to pay great attention to one’s appearance.
‘Ah nivver thowt foor’ = expected.
‘Far an’ awaay’ = much.
‘Byv a lang waay’ = much.
‘T’ au’d woman’ = either wife or mother.
‘To hing one’s hat up’ = to be on very friendly terms.
‘An inklin’ = a hint.
‘To mak oneself mensful’ = to put on one’s best.
‘To think on’ = to bear in mind.
‘To let wit’ = to divulge.
‘Few wo’ds’ = a slight disagreement.
‘All alang of’ = owing to.
‘Ramp an’ rahve’ = a violent passion.
‘Fast an’ loose’ = first one way and then another.
‘Feeace it out’ = to meet an accusation boldly.
‘To fall out with’ = to quarrel with.
‘Larl matter’ = of small moment.
‘Grieved an’ vexed an’ putten aboot’ = to be annoyed.
‘Moreover ’an that’ = besides.
‘Tak t’ hig’ = to take offence.
‘Count on’ = notice.
‘To hit it off’ = to agree.
‘Gi’e ower’ = cease.
‘A slaate off:’ to have a slate off = to be an idiot.
‘Fetch things up’ = to mention bygones.
‘To get the cau’d shou’der’ = to be treated coolly.
‘To give or get the sack’ = to dismiss, to lose a situation.
‘To get one’s back up’ = to be provoked to anger.
‘To get things straightened up’ = to arrange things in proper order, to
settle matters in dispute.
To the above list may be added a few others which are equally common:—
‘Ah’ll mak sewer o’ that, hooivver.’ ‘To make sure’ is to put a thing
in a safe place.
‘Ah’ll mak an end on ’t.’ ‘To make an end of’ is to destroy, or
conclude a matter once for all.
‘Recollect’ is generally used instead of ‘remember,’ but ‘beear i’
mahnd’ is most commonly used.
‘Ah nobbut want nobbut yan.’ ‘Nobbut yan’ is ‘only one.’ I only want
one.
‘Hard eneeaf’ = without doubt. ‘He’ll deea ’t hard eneeaf.’
‘Ah put it all waays.’ To put things all ways = explaining a thing in
every conceivable manner.
‘Ah feel _nobbut midlin’_ = only moderately well.
‘Ah’s _neycely_ noo.’ ‘Nicely’ is equal to almost quite well.
‘Ah’s _better_’ does not imply that the patient has recovered, but is
recovering.
‘It’s nowt bud a _misfit_, onny road ya tak ’t’ = it is nothing but a
bad fit (answers badly), or altogether out of place.
‘Ah s’u’d be all reet if ’twarn’t for this _naggin’ pain_’ = toothache.
‘Nighest ov onny’ = nearest of any. ‘Ah gat nighest tiv him ov onny on
’em.’
‘Not suited’ = not pleased. ‘Ah war neean seea suited at what sha sed.’
‘_Naay, what!_ wa s’all be _forced_ ti gan.’ ‘Forced’ is to be
obliged. ‘Naay, what!’ implies either surprise or disappointment.
‘Whya, yan sees him _noos an’ thens_.’ ‘Noos and thens’ = occasionally.
‘It won’t be _lang fo’st_’ = it won’t be long before.
‘Whya, Ah’ll tell tha what; if thoo nobbut _taks_ it this road, tho’ll
mebbe change thi mahnd.’ To take = to consider.
‘Ah _thowt for ti cum_, bud Tommy wadn’t.’ ‘Thowt for ti cum’ = almost
decided to, intended.
‘Ah caan’t say hoo, bud _wa’ve gitten oot wiv_ ’em.’ To get out with,
or fall out with = to be at variance.
‘_Wa’re kind_ agaan noo; Ah’ve _’ed it ower wiv him_.’ To be kind is
to be friendly; and to have it over with is to have given and received
a full explanation.
‘It war that _pick dark_ ’at Ah couldn’t see t’ hoss’s heead.’ ‘Pick
dark’ = absolutely dark.
‘He’s sthrangely _setten up_ wi’ t’ thing.’ ‘Setten up’ = very pleased.
‘Ah mun be gahin’; Ah ’ev ti ride on _shank’s gallowaay ti neet_,’
i.e. to walk.
‘He’ll ’a’e ti mahnd an’ _treead his teeas streight_, or he’ll be
gitting t’ sack.’ To tread one’s toes straight is to be careful to do
right in all things.
‘Ah caan’t gan up Roseberry leyke Ah yance c’u’d, Ah git seea _oot
o’ puff_ noo.’ ‘Oot o’ puff,’ and ‘sho’t o’ puff,’ is to be out of
breath, and short of breath.
‘Whya, Ah thowt ’at ther war nobbut varra _slack deed_,’ i.e. dull,
nothing doing.
‘Ah nivver war oot i’ sike a _steeping rain_ afoor,’ i.e. pouring down.
‘Ah _laid it oot_ tiv him _all roads_,’ i.e. explained. I explained it
to him every way.
‘Thoo can saay what thoo leykes, bud Ah _reckon nowt on_ him,’ i.e.
have a very poor opinion of him.
‘Ah warn’t _satisfied_ aboot it, efter Ah’d seed it,’ i.e. certain.
‘Ah _start_ ti morn; Bob dizn’t want t’ meer whahl t’ daay efter, he’s
nut gahin’ ti _start_ whahl then,’ i.e. begin.
‘Ah’s nut _thruff wi’_ ’t yet’ = finished.
‘Ah’s be _agate_ ti morn.’ ‘Agate’ is ‘to commence.’
‘He nivver did a _hand to’n_ all t’ tahm ’at he war here,’ i.e. a
single thing, or stroke of work.
‘Ah maad fahve on ’em _hand running_,’ i.e. without interruption, or
without ceasing to work.
‘‘Ez ’t _kessen up_ yet?’ = has it been found?
‘Tho’ll ’a’e ti _knuckle down_,’ i.e. humble oneself.
‘Sha’s a bad un, sha’s allus _setting_ things aboot.’ ‘To set about’
is to spread reports.
‘It gans weel wi’ them ’at weel gans wi’’ = it goes well with those
that well goes with, i.e. nothing succeeds like success.
‘Tha’re gahin’ ti ’ev _grand deed_; sha’s ti be _sahded by_ o’
Tho’sday.’ ‘Grand deed,’ something out of the ordinary; ‘sahded by,’
buried.
‘Ah’ve _wrought hard_ all t’ day, bud Ah’ve _brokken its heart_
noo.’ ‘Wrought hard,’ is to work hard; and ‘to break the heart of an
undertaking,’ is to get the upper hand of it.
‘Neea, Ah’s a bit ta’en in; it _show’d_ ti be a good un, bud it’s
warse ’an _a nahn wi’ t’ taal cut off_.’ ‘To show’ = to appear, and a
nine with its tail cut off stands a cypher.
‘It didn’t _fetch_ what Ah _reckon’d_ it wad.’ ‘Fetch’ = realize,
‘reckoned’ = thought.
‘Ah war _hard an’ fast asleep_ when ‘Liza cam,’ i.e. sound asleep.
‘Martha sez ’at sha’s _cumin’ roond_ neycely,’ i.e. improving.
‘Ah’ll a’e neea mair o’ that; Ah’ll seean _steck t’ yat_ o’ that gam.’
‘To steck the gate’ = to put a stop to, i.e. to close.
‘Ah caan’t forgit what he did ti ma; it’s _stuck i’ mah gizzard_ ivver
sen,’ i.e. taken a thing very much to heart, something which can
neither be forgotten nor forgiven.
‘He’ll be _dropping in_ for ’t yet; bud Ah’ve tell’d him _ower an’
up agaan_, bud it’s _teea neea good_.’ ‘To drop in’ has several
meanings: (1) To look in—‘Ah’ll drop in an’ see tha tineet;’ (2)
punishment—‘Tho’ll drop in for ’t when ta gans yam,’ i.e. you will
either be thrashed, scolded, or punished in some form when you go
home. ‘Ower an’ up agaan’ is a redundancy for ‘many a time’; ‘to neea
good,’ of no use, useless. ‘It’s teea neea good gahin’, ’coz he’s nut
at yam’ = it is useless going, because he is not at home.
‘If it _fairs up_ thoo maay _pop ower_ ti Jane, bud thoo’ll ’a’e ti
_mahnd thisen_ an’ see ’at t’ cau’d dizn’t _sattle o’ thi chist_;
thoo’s a _larl piece better_ ’an what thoo ’ez been, an’ _ther’s nowt
aboot that_; but thoo’ll ‘ ti _hap thisen up_, thoo seeams a bit
_closed up_ ez it is; an’ Ah seear thoo diz _leeak a bad leeak_, bud
thoo’ll _cum on_ neycely if thoo nobbut taks care.’
‘To fair up’ = to cease raining, to become fine.
‘To pop ower’ = to run, to go quickly to.
‘To mahnd thisen’ = to take care of oneself.
‘To sattle o’ thi chist’ i.e. for the cold to attack the lungs.
‘A larl piece better’ = a little better.
‘Ther’s nowt aboot that’ = no doubt of that.
‘To hap up’ = to wrap up.
‘To be closed up’ = difficulty in breathing.
‘To leeak a bad leeak’ = to look ill.
‘To cum on’ = to improve.
‘Sha’s cuming on neycely noo, sha’s gitten a to’n foor t’ better, bud
Ah thowt it war gahin ti be all _owered wiv_ her _yance ower_.’
‘To be owered with’ = to cease, to be the last end of.
‘Yance ower’ = once over, once.
‘Ah’s gahin’ ower[65] ti Bessy’s; t’ rest on ya mun stop wheer ya are,
ther’s ower[66] monny on ya ti cum wi’ ma.’
‘Ah war _hard set_ ti git it deean byv t’ tahm.’
‘To be hard set’ = to be much bothered, to find a thing difficult to do.
‘He _sidled aboot_ t’ Squire whahl he gat his rent sattled.’
‘He’s awlus _skewing aboot_ t’ doctor’s; Ah aim ’at he’s efter yan o’
t’ lasses.’
‘To sidle about a person’ = being obsequious.
‘To gan _skewing about_ a place’ = to look or go about slily. ‘To skew
about’ = to walk like a fool.
‘If thoo’s gahin ti _be agate_, Ah’ll _get agate_, an’ _set agate_
Matther.’
‘Be agate’ = to be astir.
‘Get agate’ = to commence work; and ‘to set agate,’ to set another to
work, or to start oneself. ‘If you are going to be astir, I will
commence (the job), and set Matthew to work (also).’
‘_To hang in the bell ropes_’ is either the time occurring between the
first publishing of the banns, or that during which a wedding may be
postponed.
‘_To let oneself down_’ = to perform some action which lowers us in the
estimation of others.
‘He’s gitten neea _heart i’ t’ job_, nivver neeabody ’ez when tha’re
_rahding t’ deead hoss_.’
‘To ride the dead horse’ is to do work for which payment has been made
beforehand; hence, a man shews no energy in such work.
‘It’s a fine daay, ther’s nowt aboot that; bud Ah’s ’fraid it’s nowt
bud a _weather breeder_.’
This is often said specially of fine weather when inappropriate to the
season.
‘To _look hard_ at anything’ is to do so earnestly.
‘Noo _leeak hard at it_, that’s “C,” nut “O”; noo leeak hard, an’ bear
it i’ mahnd,’ said an old country schoolmaster.
‘_Ho’d on a bit_, thoo’s nut gahin’ _ti rahd rough-shod_ ower me.’
‘Ho’d on a bit,’ spoken in an ordinary tone, means simply ‘wait,’
‘stay a moment.’ But in case of an argument, its utterance conveys
the information that the tongue of one of the disputants is wagging a
little too freely, or it may imply, ‘cease speaking altogether.’ E.g. I
heard a man say the other day to a fellow workman: ‘Thoo ho’d on a bit,
wa’ve ’ed eneaf o’ thi blather,’ i.e. ‘you cease speaking (hold your
noise), we have had enough of your silly talk.’ The tone of the ‘thoo’
gave such an emphasis, that there could be no mistaking the command
which it implied. On the other hand, ‘Here, Ah saay, ho’d on a bit,’
carries no greater weight than ‘That will do for the present.’
‘To ride rough-shod over any one’ = utterly ignoring or treating with
contempt their desires and wishes.
‘Wa’ve been tul him, an’ wa’ve tell’t him ez plaan ez wa c’u’d what wa
wanted an’ what wa meant ti ’ev, an’ wa didn’t _minsh matters_ nowther;
an’ when wa’d deean, he just to’n’d roond, an’ tell’d uz ’at wa mud
_jump up_ all t’ lot on uz for owt ’at he cared; he s’u’d _gan his awn
gate_, neea matter what wa sed or did. Ah tell ya what, chaps—it seeams
ti me ez if he meant ti rahd rough-shod ower t’ lot on uz.’
‘Minsh matters’ = not speaking in a straightforward way; another form
of the same expression is, ‘nut ti be ower neyce,’ not over-nice,
careless as to expressions or the method employed.
To tell a person he may ‘jump up,’ means he may just do as he likes.
‘To gan one’s awn gate’ = going our own way, i.e. acting as we think
best.
‘Ah deean’t _reckon_ mich on him—he diz ivverything by _fits an’
starts_, an’ ya caan’t _lay onny store byv_ owt he sez he’s at t’ _beck
an’ call_ ov ivverybody; an’ he’s _fo’st this road an’ then that_,
whahl yan caan’t pleeace neea dependence on owt ’at he owther sez or
diz.’
‘Reckon’ = think.
‘Fits an’ starts’ = erratically and at odd times.
‘To lay store by’ = to value, to believe in, trust.
‘Beck an’ call’ = to be the servant of any one who beckons or calls.
‘Fo’st this road an’ then that’ = first one way and then another,
unstable.
The following are also commonly heard:—
‘To give oneself airs,’ i.e. to ape manners, &c., above one’s station
in life.
‘To be despert thrang,’ i.e. being very busy.
‘Almost any day’ = at any time.
‘Might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb,’ i.e. might as well be
punished for committing a big fault as a little one.
‘As good luck would have it’ = as good fortune happened.
‘Away’ = continue. ‘He may knock away, I shan’t go to the door,’ i.e.
he may continue knocking.
‘To fancy oneself’ is to be conceited.
‘As matters stand’ = as things are.
‘At all events’ = in any case.
‘From the bottom of the heart,’ i.e. wholly, absolutely. Ex. ‘I
believe what you say from the bottom of my heart.’
‘Cut an’ come again’ = help yourself; when you have eaten that, have
more.
‘Dragged by wild horses,’ torture in any form. ‘I wadn’t ‘ tell’d owt;
neea, Ah’d ’a’e been dragged aboot wi’ wild hosses fost;’ i.e. I would
have been put to torture first.
‘To follow like a shadow’ is to keep close to.
‘For my own part’ = to my way of thinking.
‘As far as in one lies’ = to the best of one’s ability.
‘Not to allow the grass to grow under one’s feet’ is to be very
energetic, diligent in business.
‘To be hand and glove with any one,’ is to be very intimately
associated with them.
‘For once in a way’ = this time, just once.
‘To scrape one’s tongue’ = to talk affectedly.
‘To be over head and ears in anything’ = to be completely so—over head
and ears in debt, in love, &c.
‘To hang heavy on one’s hands’ = to be difficult to dispose of.
‘Not to know whether one is on his head or his heels’ is to be
absolutely bewildered.
‘On that score’ = on that account.
‘Over and above (ower an’ aboon)’ = more than. Ex. ‘An’ ower an’ aboon
that he sed——,’ and more than that he said——.
‘To pour into one’s ears’ = giving information with great unction.
‘To quake in one’s shoes (ti quake in yan’s shoon)’ = to be in great
fear.
‘Spoil the ship for a happorth of tar’ = penny wise and pound foolish.
‘To stir up strife’ = making mischief.
‘Stir your stumps,’ or ‘cut your sticks’ = off you go.
‘To the top of one’s bent’ = to fully carry out our inclination.
‘That’s telling,’ often said after a question has been asked, and
implies, ‘You would like to know, but I shall not tell you.’
‘Up to Dick’ = just as it should be, perfection.
‘To be wrang i’ t’ heead’ = being out of one’s mind.
‘Not to be worth one’s salt’ = useless.
‘To sleep like a top’ = to sleep soundly.
To conclude. It was said of one, who was somewhat inclined to be a fop,
‘He puts on airs, scrapes his tongue, skews aboot, an’ fancies hissel’
that mich, whahl he’s mair leyke yan ’at’s nicked i’ t’ heead, an’
clean daft, ’an owt else; he maay aim ’at he’s up ti Dick, bud Ah aim
’at he’s nut wo’th his sau’t, an’ Ah’s reet.’
I am certain of one thing—a Yorkshireman, no matter what his position
may be, never quite leaves his Yorkshire behind him. I was standing one
day waiting for the steamer which was to bring me once again to old
England, when a gentleman quite close to me said to his lady companion,
‘It’s a beautiful sight, is the sea[67].’ I turned to him, and raising
my hat, remarked, ‘Ah’s a Yorkshireman an’ all.’ That was enough, we
were friends the whole of the voyage. No, we Yorkshire people cannot,
if we would, leave our county behind us. And thank the gods for that.
* * * * *
When cultured speech in tones refined
Lead us to dream all others blind,
‘Tis well that we should bear in mind,
Though we may leave all else behind,
Our idiom goes with us.