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.