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  • #318136
    Phil Stevenson
    Participant
      @philstevenson54758
      Posted by Bob Rodgerson on 22/09/2017 16:25:29:

      In the North East splinters, be they metal or wooden ones were known Spelks. Is this used in other parts of the UK?

      A splinter is a skelf in Northern Ireland and Scotland. I'm fortunate never to have had a splinter in my life but have had plenty of skelfs, the wee buggers!

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      #318414
      Tim Stevens
      Participant
        @timstevens64731

        Aren't civil engineers caught by the same rule that affects gentlemen farmers?

        They are neither.

        Oh dear, I'm sure that will offend someone …

        Tim

        #318420
        SillyOldDuffer
        Moderator
          @sillyoldduffer

          Ah, the long debated status of the Engineer. Actually it's perfectly clear. If you consult Dod's Peerage you will find that engineers are listed at the very end (One Hundred and Ninety Third) together with 'others not engaged in manual labour, farming of land, or retail trade'. Engineers are 'considered to possess some station in society, although the Law takes no cognizance of their rank inter se'.

          I hope that puts an end to the debate! face 7

          Dave

          #318512
          Dean da Silva
          Participant
            @deandasilva59410

            Cheer up, I have had to completely relearn how to spell thanks to this forum.

            And being from Arizona (USA) doesn't help.

            #318532
            Gordon W
            Participant
              @gordonw

              In the bit of the NE where I come from splinters are spells, never heard spelk, there or in Scotland. My wife , German origin, has trouble still with dialects. She s till can't understand " couple", as in " I'm just going for a couple of pints ".

              #318572
              Mick B1
              Participant
                @mickb1
                Posted by Gordon W on 25/09/2017 09:58:54:

                …She s till can't understand " couple", as in " I'm just going for a couple of pints ".

                She ought to. It's literally the same, and colloquially used with the same imprecision, as the German "ein Paar".

                #318583
                Martin Kyte
                Participant
                  @martinkyte99762

                  Maybe that's because couple means six ?

                  ;0)

                  #318604
                  Mick B1
                  Participant
                    @mickb1
                    Posted by Martin Kyte on 25/09/2017 13:53:40:

                    Maybe that's because couple means six ?

                    ;0)

                    So can 'ein Paar'

                    #318706
                    Danny M2Z
                    Participant
                      @dannym2z

                      In N.Z. sux means six. As in for example, seen on a wall in Dunedin:

                      AUSTRALIA SUX
                      underneath was written
                      NZ NIL

                      Then here in Oz, depending where one comes from, one may be a 'Sand-Groper ( W.A), a 'Banana-Bender (Qld), a 'Crow Eater (S.A.) or a 'Gum Leaf Sucker' (Vic). For more info about why Aussies are sometimes a bit disrespectful then something like this is worth a butchers **LINK**

                      Avagooday * Danny M *

                      #318708
                      Hopper
                      Participant
                        @hopper

                        In Queensland, all that lot from south of the border are generally known as "Mexicans".

                        #318831
                        Bazyle
                        Participant
                          @bazyle
                          Posted by Brian G on 21/09/2017 21:38:08:

                          Dragging this up because my son just had a go at me over a drawing I gave him. Does anybody else still use "shewn" and "shewing" or am I really from the Ark?

                          Brian

                          not quite that old. Reminds me of Keith Wilson's articles in ME.

                          Am I alone in being amused at a schoolboy level when people say they have been dogwalking not walking the dog.
                          It's cold – I'll go cover the horse wink

                          #318849
                          Brian G
                          Participant
                            @briang
                            Posted by Bazyle on 27/09/2017 00:22:09:

                            It's cold – I'll go cover the horse wink

                            What is the point of having more words than any other language when we have so many meanings for each word? How would we explain to a foreigner the difference between "dogging" and "ferreting" * and why neither involve animals?

                            Back on topic, I remember a "rabbit" a something made "off the books" for use or sale over the wall. I wonder what names these were given elsewhere?

                            Brian

                            * As in "dogging his footsteps" and "ferreting around in the cupboard" of course, I wouldn't want to lower the tone…

                            #318871
                            john carruthers
                            Participant
                              @johncarruthers46255

                              In the southern glass trade 'off the books' cash jobs were 'sparies' or 'foreigners'.
                              (Each van carried a spare pile of odd glass to cover breakages).
                              No idea where 'foreigners' came from.

                              Edited By john carruthers on 27/09/2017 12:06:16

                              #318874
                              MW
                              Participant
                                @mw27036
                                Posted by john carruthers on 27/09/2017 12:04:38:

                                No idea where 'foreigners' came from.

                                Maybe as in simply "foreign-to-the-norm" kind of job?

                                #318877
                                Martin Kyte
                                Participant
                                  @martinkyte99762

                                  Anyone know what a pishmire is ?

                                  Answer later on.

                                  Martin

                                  #318888
                                  Georgineer
                                  Participant
                                    @georgineer

                                    I presume it's a bowdlerised form of pismire, which I first came across in this poem that I learned at school:

                                    I saw a Peacock with a fiery tail
                                    I saw a blazing Comet drop down hail
                                    I saw a Cloud with Ivy circled round
                                    I saw a sturdy Oak creep on the ground
                                    I saw a Pismire swallow up a Whale
                                    I saw a raging Sea brim full of Ale
                                    I saw a Venice Glass Sixteen foot deep
                                    I saw a Well full of men's tears that weep
                                    I saw their Eyes all in a flame of fire
                                    I saw a House as big as the Moon and higher
                                    I saw the Sun even in the midst of night
                                    I saw the Man that saw this wondrous sight.

                                    George

                                    #318890
                                    Martin Kyte
                                    Participant
                                      @martinkyte99762

                                      I'm just spelling it how I have heard it pronounced so anybodys guess as to whats correct. Meaning you could well be right.

                                      Martin

                                       

                                      Edited By Martin Kyte on 27/09/2017 12:54:44

                                      #318927
                                      Mick B1
                                      Participant
                                        @mickb1
                                        Posted by Michael-w on 27/09/2017 12:10:05:

                                        Posted by john carruthers on 27/09/2017 12:04:38:

                                        No idea where 'foreigners' came from.

                                        Maybe as in simply "foreign-to-the-norm" kind of job?

                                        It's simple – a job you're doing for yourself or family is a 'homer', and a job you're doing for pay or favour by somebody other than the employer whose resources you're using is a 'foreigner', 'cause it came from elsewhere.

                                        #318932
                                        Martin Kyte
                                        Participant
                                          @martinkyte99762

                                          It's an ant.

                                          Martin

                                          #318939
                                          mark costello 1
                                          Participant
                                            @markcostello1

                                            Jobs done on Company time with usually Company materials are called "Government" jobs here. People used to give Me some jabs for doing them at work, so to rub it in I bought red layout dye instead of the Company furnished blue. Needed some at home and made it clear just what I was doing. Just for further aggravation, I set up a long milling cut with power feed, a surface grinder with automatic feed, while I was making a bushing on an engine lathe, all Government work. Foreman just shook His head, that is why I have a home shop now.

                                            #318969
                                            duncan webster 1
                                            Participant
                                              @duncanwebster1

                                              Place I used to work insisted that all jobs had a job number. Foreigners were given the numbers '20C 1GS', and everyone was happy. They really were quite enlightened and encouraged home bodgersby allowing free acess to the scrap bin If you got on well with the foremen they would arrange for what you needed to be in said scrap bin. I bet that doesn't happen often nowadays.

                                              #350237
                                              Ken Humphries 1
                                              Participant
                                                @kenhumphries1

                                                Although the term "on the scunt" has the Black country as it's origins, it seems that like a pebble thrown into a pond, it's ripples have extended far and wide. I served an engineering apprenticeship in South Wales (commencing 1961), and this term was in use back then to mean "lop sided". Another variation on "a very small amount" was "a gnat's knacker", a temporary resolution was a "lash up", a bad resolution a "cock up", and something poorly assembled was "held together with spit and string". The need to make a part from scratch involved "get a bit of tin, and make one up", and of course anything broken or worn out was "knackered". It is interesting, that even my Worcester born and bred wife knows the term "on the scunt" from working in Cadbury's (Worcester) during the 60's.

                                                #350312
                                                Gordon A
                                                Participant
                                                  @gordona

                                                  A Black Country expression I have heard regarding something poorly assembled is "Near enough for a fowl pen" (chicken coop).

                                                  I have only recently seen the Black Country word fode in print. I remember as a young lad constructing a "trolley" ( wooden plank with old pram wheels attached) at a friends house. His father suddenly appeared and said, "Dow ommer theer yowl crack the bl**dy fode!" I understand that it may derive from a Roman word.

                                                  My wife comes from Old Hill in the Black Country where the older generation stiil use words like "thee", "thine" "woost" and "bist" Having grown up only about 3 miles from the place, I found understanding very difficult at first. My son-in-law from Kidderminster has almost had to learn a new language!

                                                  It has been said that the dialects from Upper Gornal and Lower Gornal are different, and the places are only about a mile apart and not separated by a river or anything! Are there other places in the world with such a variety of dialect in such a small area, or are we unique?

                                                  At the moment there is opposition and some hostility to include the region in "Greater Birmingham". Black Country people are known as "Yam-yams" by people from Birmingham. The way to irritate a Black Country person is to call them a "Brummie".

                                                  Gordon.

                                                  #350314
                                                  Hopper
                                                  Participant
                                                    @hopper
                                                    Posted by Gordon A on 15/04/2018 23:07:39:

                                                    A Black Country expression I have heard regarding something poorly assembled is "Near enough for a fowl pen" (chicken coop).

                                                    Which has its translation in Australia as "Close enough for bush work".

                                                    Re earlier discussion of "foreigner", when I was an apprentice "foreign order" applied to any home job being done in the works, which then had to be got out the car factory gate past security to be taken home, ie to a place foreign to the factory. Commonly shortened to "foreigner". For "foreigners" too large to conceal in a pocket, you had to find a sympathetic foreman who would sign a pass-out chit to allow it past the gate security.

                                                    #350316
                                                    Mike Poole
                                                    Participant
                                                      @mikepoole82104

                                                      I worked at the Longbridge car plant for about 10 weeks on secondment from Cowley and during a lunchtime stroll noted that there were virtually no cycle racks around the plant compared to hundreds at Cowley. I enquired why there were no cycle racks and was told the vast majority of workers at Longbridge came from the Black Country which was a bit to far to cycle for he average bloke. Apparently Brummies did not want to work in the car factory even though it was on their doorstep. The story as told by a Brummie who did cycle to the plant but said people would rather work at Cadburys than the car plant.

                                                      Mike

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