A long article in my local paper tonight lists hundreds of sayings in Black Country dialect. There are far too many of them to put here right now but I'll keep the pages and when I come back from Harrow start educating you all in "spakin' proper".

For now here are a few choice phrases. I'll leave the translations into standard English to the rest of you, all except Richard who can translate into Basic English. (Hint, that's Bersick Inglish.)

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Get tha darn y'neck.

On eny on yer eny on it on yer?

Put the wood in th'ole.

Arm gooin um. Yo con playz yerself.

I ay gooin. Nor I ay.

Ar bist yer ar kid? Weer yo bin comin' from?

Yo cor av summat t'ate coz it ay tay time.


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Translations (for those who need them) first thing Saturday morning before I head South for the Summer.

Good grief, Bob! I'm completely flummoxed! I think I might understand a bit . . . but are you sure this is based on English? LOL

The second one is particularly confusing to me!

As I said, translations will be forthcoming on Saturday.

Or/

Like ar tode ya, arl teller worrit means on Sad-dee.

I will however confess that seeing them written down gave me some problems. Only by saying them out loud could I work out what some of the ones in the article meant.

#4... I'm goin' in. You can please yourself.

Am I even close?

I interpreted #4 as something Cartman would on South Park, for those who don't get the reference, "Screw you guys, I'm going home".

#4 I'm going home, you can please yourself.

#1... Get the tar out of your neck. ?

What fun!

quote:

Only by saying them out loud could I work out what some of the ones in the article meant.

Me too . Although I'd put 'yo' as 'yow', at least in some parts of the Black Country.

I'll give the answers now. I might not get time tomorrow.

Get tha darn y'neck.
Literal: Get that down your neck.
Actual: Here drink (or sometimes "eat") this. (often used to persuade someone to accept a drink.)

On eny on yer eny on it on yer?
Literal: Have any of you any of it on you?
Actual: Do any of you have any of it (whatever it is) in your possession?

Put the wood in th'ole.
Literal: Put the wood in the hole.
Actual: Close the door.

Arm gooin um. Yo con playz yerself.
Literal: I am going home. You may please yourself .
Actual: same as above but with the kind of emphasis Seanahan noted above.

I ay gooin. Nor I ay.
Literal: I am not going.
Neither am I.
Actual:same

Ar bist yer ar kid? Weer yo bin comin' from?
Literal: How are you our kid? Where have you been coming from.
:Actual:How are you, friend. Where have you recently arrived from. (Note "ar kid" often, but not always refers to close family members. It can be used to refer to friends.)

Yo cor av summat t'ate coz it ay tay time.
Literal: You cannot have anything to eat because it is not tea time.
Actual:same

And for your further amusement here's a new selection. Answers in about a month.

Shove it up th'esshole. (And no, it's not rude! That's just your dirty minds)

Thee wust if the cust but thee cusn't cust thee bisn't mon enough.

Weejam oos

Er's gorra voice like a gleed under a doo-er.

Bin yer comin' or bin yer bay?
Ar bay, ar bay arf bin bad ar bin.

Ar drapped me puss. As aira wonna yow puck it up?

Goon look artside, see if ahm odin oss.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,

Thank you, BobHale... this is priceless. Have a good time in Harrow.

Fabulous. Now, can I call you on the phone so you can demonstrate exactly how it sounds? I love it!

You should be able to listen to a Black Country accent (as well as many others) here. http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personalisation/object.cfm

Richard,

I could not connect with your link, but I was able to find it by going to collectbritain.co.uk.... Thank you so much for this... I had a swell time listening...

It's a fascinating site and one of the really interesting things that I spotted was just how many of the voices are those of old farmworkers.

Until the industrial revolution, around 80% of Britain's population lived and worked on the land, and there has been s steady shift away from the country to the cities ever since. I believe the balance is now reversed.

Certainly the present Government, townies to a man, have little or no idea of Country ways and the importance of the countryside to the well-being of Britain.

ok - Now could you please find a selection that would demonstrate this Black Country accent? I'm afraid I don't know English geography well enough to know which specific towns you mean.

The four Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton make up the area known as the 'Black Country'. So anyone that hails from one of those areas should have a Black Country accent - although just how broad it is will depend on how careful the speaker was when making the recording.

I suspect that most of them, like most of us would, tried to speak carefully when being recorded and thus the really braod accents and local slang might not always be present.

You can find out all about The Black Country here http://www.blackcountrytourism.co.uk/

Thank you!

I'm back!
And here are the translations.

quote:

Shove it up th'esshole.

Throw it into the fire-grate. (esshole = ash hole)

quote:

Thee wust if the cust but thee cusn't cust thee bisn't mon enough.

You would if you could, but you can't because you aren't man enough.

quote:

Weejam oos?

Which ones belong to whom?

quote:

Er's gorra voice like a gleed under a doo-er.

She speaks shrilly.
(Lit. She has a voice like a piece of partially combusted coal trapped under a door.)

quote:

Bin yer comin' or bin yer bay?
Ar bay, ar bay arf bin bad ar bin.

Are you coming or not?
I'm not, I've been feeling very ill.(Lit. I haven't half been ill, I have.)

quote:

Ar drapped me puss. As aira wonna yow puck it up?

I have dropped my purse. Has any one of you picked it up?

quote:

Goon look artside, see if ahm odin oss.

Go and look outside and see if I'm holding a horse. - Roughly speaking, "What kind of fool do you take me for?" or "I'm no fool, even if you are."

Interested in any more?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,

P.S.
Here's one of my recent limericks from the OEDILF

barmpot by BobHale

When yo look at the mess tha' 'es' med,
An 'ear 'arf the saft things tha' 'e's said;
Tho' 'e might p'r'aps be willin',
'E ay the full shillin'.
'E's a barmpot, 'e's saft in the yed.

This limerick is written in Black Country dialect. An approximate translation follows.

When you look at the mess that he's made,
And hear half of the stupid things that he's said;
Although he may be willing
He isn't very bright.
He's an idiot, he's soft in the head.

No further comments?
I felt sure at least a couple of those would bewilder the US audience.

Sorry I missed them earlier. I've just been a little out of things. Very funny, Bob!

Translation only requires replacing the pre GVS vowels with RP vowels:
"wum" became "home"
"weer" became "where"
"tay" became "tea"
"gooin" became "going"

I think "put wood in th'ole" is probably Yorkshire, though we do use it in the Black Country.
Ed Conduit, author of "The Black Country Dialect"

"Tay" sounds French." Probably coincidence.

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff:
"Tay" sounds French." Probably coincidence.

Probably not. I'm not sure, but I think the original English pronunciation of the word was "tay", after the French thé.

I'm a bit surprised. I thought the British East India Company had the monopoly on tea after it had it on coffee, which is why the Brits switched. I thought the French took to tea after the English.
I recently read two books on the old world trade monopolies, but none of it stuck in my head!

Welcome to our board, Ed! Where are you from?