The dialect of the Black Country area remains perhaps one of the last examples of early English still spoken today. The word endings with 'en' are still noticeable in conversation as in 'gooen' (going), callen (calling) and the vowel 'A' is pronounced as 'O' as in sond (sand), hond (hand) and mon (man).Other pronunciations are 'winder' for window, 'fer' for far, and 'loff' for laugh - exactly as Chaucer's English was spoken. This "dictionary" is Black Country in general and not particularly Sedgley in origin. Local dialect was (and probably still is to a lesser degree) quite distinctive between the different towns and villages of the Black Country |
 |
Run by book lovers, for book lovers
See also Book about English Dialects
See also Black Country sayings
© 1998 - 2020 : Compiled from various sources by Ian Beach
| Quick Scroll Buttons, press a button to jump to the corresponding entries... | ||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Ackidock | aqueduct |
| Afower | before possibly from Afore (Thanks to Rex Basterfield for this one) |
| Agen | again |
| Airk | as in belly ache, stomach ache etc. (Thanks to Zoë Miller from Cradley Heath) |
| Ait | eat (Thanks to Zoë Miller from Cradley Heath) |
| Aks(axe) | ask |
| Anunst | against, next to, eg "The housen anunst hisen" |
| Ar | Yes as in "Ar I am" |
| Ay or A | haven't or isn't. "Is it just the way we speak or lazyness which enables us to phase an entire sentence in single letters such as I A A I (I haven't, have I)." Thanks to Stuart Appleby of Bilston for this item. |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Babby | Baby from the Anglo Saxon Babben |
| Backerds (backeds) | Backwards (thanks to Paul Bowdler for this one) |
| Barly | a truce. Sometimes "Arley-Barly" is used. (Possibly a corruption from the French "Parlez" to talk?) |
| the Baggies | West Bromwich Albion Football Club (not a very good one!) |
| Bai or bay | am not, eg "I bay gooin' ter tell yow agen" |
| Bally | Belly, stomach (Thanks to Zoë Miller from Cradley Heath) |
| Bamboozle | puzzle, bemuse |
| Barmpot | A silly person |
| Barmy | Daft, silly |
| Bawk | hinder or confuse. Probably from Balk |
| Bay or Baynt | am not |
| Beezum | a broom of birch, also playfully used to refer to a pert young woman |
| Bibble | A pebble |
| Bin | been, have been, are, have I bin affirmative reply to question |
| Bist | are, eg "how bist yow?" = How are you? |
| Bisn't | aren't, opposite of Bist. eg "Bisn't gooin up the shaps?" for "You're not going up the shops?" (Thanks to Lee Marshall of Darlaston for this one) |
| Blaberen | to talk idly |
| Black Bat | Black Beetle (Thanks to Lyn Corbett) |
| Bladda or Bladder | Balloon (Thanks to Sean Percival of Oldbury) |
| Blart | cry - from "the bleating of sheep" |
| Blether | to talk nonsense or talk incessantly. "Blether yed" blether head = someone who talks nonesense, a fool. |
| Blobmouth | blabbermouth eg "'Ers a right blobmouth. Tell 'er terday, the world knows tomorrer" |
| Blubren | crying, eg "Ar kids blubren agen" |
| Bobhowlers | Any large moth |
| Boffle | hinder |
| Bonce | the head (Thanks to Margaret Hill for this one) |
| Bonk | bank or small hill. Pitbonk = hill made from mine waste |
| Bost | broken or burst, past tense Bosted |
| Boster | something big or possibly something good |
| Bostin | Meaning "very good indeed" eg "We 'ad a bostin time" or "Ers a bostin wench" |
| (on the) box | off work, sick |
| Bowk | A very large recepticle like a skip (Thanks to Sean Percival of Oldbury) |
| Breffus | breakfast |
| Brummagem | Birmingham |
| Bunny-fire | bonfire |
| Buz | Bus |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Cake-hole | Mouth "Shut yer cake-hole" (Thanks to Gordon SMITH of Wollaston) |
| Caggy or caghanded | left-handed - all the best people are! |
| Cag-mag | Bad or rotting meat |
| Camplin/Cankin | talking or gossiping (Thanks to Rex Basterfield for this one) |
| Cant(in) | gossip(ing) |
| Catlick | hasty wash |
| Caw or cor | cannot, eg "I cor goo the'er terday" |
| Chawl | Pork |
| Chops | mouth or cheeks |
| Chimdy or chimly or chimbly | chimney |
| Chuffed | pleased |
| Chuck | Throw |
| Chuky or chooky | chicken, fowl (children's word) also Chooky Egg |
| Chunter | grumble under one's breath |
| Clack | uvula, eg "Just stop yer clack" |
| Clarnet | idiot, fool. "Yo' daft clarnet!" |
| Clane | Clean |
| Clemmed or clammed | starved or hungry |
| Clobber | clothes or possibly to hit someone |
| Clomber | climb |
| Cocka/Cocker | mate, friend (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Cockaver | a smack (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Codge | a poor job, eg "He's made a right codge of it" |
| Cog-nogger or Cog-nocker | Thick Sandwich (variation on Noggin) |
| Coddin | joking, kidding, eg "Goo on, yum coddin me" |
| Coost | could you ?, also negative "thee coosnt" |
| Coot | coat |
| Cootin | Courting (Thanks to Rex Basterfield for this one) |
| Cor or cort | can't |
| cork-aiver or cog-winder | a good punch |
| Cost | can you ?, also negative "I cosn't" - I cannot |
| Cotter | have no cotter with 'im (have nothing to do with him) |
| Crack | fun, entertainment |
| Craw | crop of a bird, as in "that sticks in my craw" - I cannot believe it |
| Croddle | huddle together |
| Craunch | crunch |
| Cuckoo | Sweetie (affectionate term) |
| Cuff | a cough (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Cut | canal |
| Cutherin' | to huddle together, Cuddling? |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Dahb | daub, smear |
| Dare-cent | dare not (Thanks to Sean Percival of Oldbury) |
| Day | did not, eg "I day see 'im comin" |
| Desay | dare say, very likely |
| Dishle | cup of tea |
| Ditherin' | meaning to shiver with cold, or to hesitate. |
| Dock | to stop or hold back wages |
| Doe | do not, reply to question "I doe" |
| Dollop | large quantity, usually of food |
| Donny | hand (children's word) Possibly a corruption from the French "Donnez" to give? |
| Dowl | down, soft hair on the face |
| Drap | drop |
| Duck | evade, dodge |
| Dun | Do, as in "What dun yo want?" |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| 'E | he, pronoun used to describe the husband or household head |
| Ess'ole | Fireplace. I think this may be a corruption of 'ash hole' (Thanks to Lyn Corbett) |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Faggots | Black Country dish made from pig's organs, onion, sage, bread crumbs |
| Fairce | face |
| Fai(r)ther | father |
| Fakes/Fairks | Cigarettes (Thanks to Margaret Hill for this one) |
| Fettle | excellent condition |
| Fittle | food, victuals |
| Fizzog | the face |
| Flen | fleas |
| Flics | cinema |
| Flirter | catapult usually made from elastic (rubber) bands |
| Fode | Fold or enclosure. A back yard to a house |
| Foggy | First : When children were playing games the first child to shout out Foggy went first/had first pick, then the next child would have to shout out Secky. (Thanks to Ann Tether of Herefordshire, ex-Wolverhampton for this one) |
| Forid | Forehead (thanks to Paul Bowdler for this one) |
| Franzy | irritable, particularly fretful children |
| Frit | frightened, eg "doe be frit" |
| Frowtsy | dishevelled |
| Fun | found |
| Fust | first |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Gaffer | master, employer, perhaps husband |
| Gain | Useful, As gain as a glass eye |
| Gamgee | Cotton Wool. From its inventor Dr. Samuel Gamgee, who originally called it "gamgee-tissue." Dr. Gamgee was born in Birmingham. |
| Gammitin | playing the fool |
| Gammy | lame |
| Gamp | Umbrella (after a Dickensian character named Mrs Gamp who always carried a large black umbrella) - (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Ganzy | guernsey, jumper, cardigan |
| Garn | Go on |
| Gawby | a simpleton |
| Gawk | an ill dressed person, or to stare, eg "Who am yow gawkin' at ?" |
| Gawp | open mouthed, staring |
| Gleed or Glede | A cinder. |
| Gob | to spit, or the mouth itself, eg "Shut yer gob" or "'Er's got a right gob on 'er" |
| Gobiron | Mouth Organ/Harmonica |
| Goo | go, eg "Am yow gooin' ter the flics?" = Are you going to the Pictures? (Cinema) |
| Graunch | "To suck a boiled sweet and rattle it in ones teeth" for example "...'ark at 'er, 'ers 'avin a grate time with that sweet - graunchin' it." (Many thanks to Steve Pearson for this one) |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Haiver | something big, eg "It's a real haiver" |
| Half Ender | Half a house brick |
| Hoss road | The street. "Get out the hoss road!" = Get out of the way! |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Ivver-ovver | hesitate, eg "Stop yer ivverin' an' ovverin' an' get on wi'it" |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Jack squalin hour | Early morning. “He was out cootin till jack squalin hour†(Thanks to Rex Basterfield for this one) |
| Jeth (jed) | death (dead) |
| Jiffy | brief moment, eg "E woe be a jiffy" |
| Joobus | suspicious, dubious |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Kay-li | Sherbet powder (confectionary) |
| Kaylied | Drunk |
| Kay | Key |
| Kell | the lining around a faggot |
| Keckle | Kettle |
| Ketch | catch |
| Kissa | the face |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Lamp | to beat or thrash, eg "Ee giv' 'im a right lampin'" |
| Larrupin' or larussin' | Also to beat or thrash, eg "Ee giv' 'im a right larrupin'" |
| Lather | ladder |
| Lather | upset or excited as "In a bit of a lather" (Thanks to Frank Gidlow for this one) |
| Lezzer | a meadow. From the old english Leasowe |
| Lickle | little |
| Lief | as soon as |
| Loff | laugh |
| Lommock (or lummock) | clumsy, lumbering, eg "Yow big lommock" |
| Lover | common term of endearment to children - m'lover |
| Lugole/Lughole | Ear or ear hole (thanks to Pip Taylor of Redditch for this one) |
| Lungeous | play roughly, inclined to horseplay |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Madden | to make wild, annoy |
| Maitrum | matron (of a hospital) |
| Maulers | hands |
| Maunch | to chew carefully (as with no teeth) |
| Maygrums | Faces as in Pullin' maygrums = Pulling faces. |
| Miskin, Midden or Mixen | Rubbish heap or dustbins (garbage bin) From the Anglo-Saxon for dung |
| Moach or mooch | to idle about in a bored fashion or search |
| Mucker | confusion, eg "All of a mucker" can also mean a mate as in "me old mucker" |
| Mun | must |
| Mush | meaning an acquaintance eg What yo looking at mush? |
| Mush | the face (Thanks to Mick Roberts for this one) |
| Myther | to bother, to irritate, or be irritated by |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Nairun | none, not one |
| Naither | neither |
| Natty | tidy, neat |
| Niggle | to find fault in insignificant things |
| Node | known, eg "I've nowd 'im for 'ears" |
| Noggen yedded | stupid |
| Noggin | thick piece of bread or the head |
| Noo | new |
| Nous, Nowse | "Hav yo no nous?" meaning are you dumb or have no intelligence |
| Nuss | nurse, eg Nit Nuss (checked school children for head-lice) |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Ockerd | awkward |
| Ode | old, eg "Th' ode lad" - the devil |
| Odge | push, eg "Odge up" - move up a bit |
| Oliffer | Nail making machine, actually the word is from Oliver (a spring loaded tilt hammer) |
| 'Ommer | hammer |
| 'Ond | hand |
| Ooer | Woman of ill repute, whore (Thanks to Rex Basterfield for this one) |
| Ood | would |
| Ooman | woman |
| Oot | will you |
| Opple | Apple - (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Oss | horse |
| Ote | hold, eg "Ketch ote on it" - take hold of it |
| O'thatnin' | in that way |
| O'thisnin' | in this way |
| Ow | how |
| Owamya? | how're you? (Thanks to Jim Asman of Dudley for this one) |
| Ow bist? | How are you? |
| Owern | my husband, my son, my daughter, often used by women to denote member of family |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Pail | Beat as in I'll give yo' a pailin' |
| Pie-can | Silly, daft as in "Yo' pie-can" |
| Piece | Slice of bread or a sandwich, often spread with jam or dripping |
| Pikelet | Crumpet |
| Pisey | Spitful (Thanks to Lyn Corbett) |
| Podge | to push in when queuing (Thanks to Mick Roberts for this one) |
| Pon | Pan, as in saucepan |
| Poorly | sick, ill. 'Ers proper poorly |
| Puk | pick, as in pick up (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Pus | purse |
| Purler | A fall as in "cum a purler" fall down |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Reasty | Off, as in food gone bad or dirty as in "Your hands are reasty". |
| Rennin | Raining (thanks to Pip Taylor of Redditch for this one) |
| Riffy | Dirty or unclean |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Sad | heavy, as in bread that does not rise. |
| Saft | stupid, soft (in the head) |
| 'Safta | Shortened version of "this afternoon." eg. See ya this safta. |
| Saided | sated, glutted remains left after rendering lard |
| Sailin' | Ceiling as in "up on the sailin" |
| Sate | seat (Thanks to Rex Basterfield for this one) |
| Scrag | To beat up as in fight |
| Scrawmp | To have a good scratch (Thanks to Lee Marshall of Darlaston for this one) |
| Scratchings | Black Country delicacy - pork rind deep fried |
| Scrumpin' | pinching fruit (usually apples) from someone's orchard |
| Shap | Shop (Thanks to Mick Roberts for this one) |
| Sharra | Motor Coach - derived from char-Ã -banc (Drawn wagon) (Thanks to Rex Basterfield for this one) |
| Sharrap | Shut up, be quiet. (Thanks to Mick Roberts for this one) |
| Shed | spilled/spilt (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Sheed | to spill a liquid (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Shek, Shekin | Shake, shaking - (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Siden | Out of perpendicular, crooked. See photo of the Glynne Arms, aka The Crooked House, aka The Siden House |
| Siken | to sigh (from the Old English 'Sican' ) |
| Skraze | graze, scratch |
| Skrobble or scromble | a tangle of wool, string, and the like |
| Smosh | Smash. (Thanks to Mick Roberts for this one) |
| Snap | Food, commonly lunch taken by a working man |
| Snidge/Snitch | Nose (Thanks to Rex Basterfield for this one) |
| Spajacks or Spuggies | Sparrows (Thanks to Richard Clark for this one) |
| Spake | speak |
| Splod | flat-footed |
| Spockle | to cover with drops of moisture |
| Spottle | splash |
| Soople | to soften, make supple |
| Steen | stew jar or earthenware pot |
| Suff | sewer or drain, eg "Down the suff" - down the drain |
| Suck | Sweets, (candy to the Yanks, lollies to the Aussies) |
| Sup | to sip, a sip, drink |
| Sustifikut | certificate |
| Swaits | sweets (Thanks to Zoë Miller from Cradley Heath) |
| Swelth | swelling |
| Swilker | to spill or splash |
| Swole | swollen |
| Swopson | a heavily built woman, used in a semi-humorous sense |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Tack up | improvement in the weather, eg "It'll tack up tonight" |
| Tacky-bonk or Tocky-bonk | a pit mound |
| Tararabit | Bye for now |
| Taters | potatoes |
| Tai(tay) | tea, also "it isn't" |
| Tek | take |
| Tek after | to resemble, look like physically, mentally, or emotionally |
| Tewthree | a few, two or three, always used as a noun preceded by "a" |
| Thaten | that one |
| Thissen | this one |
| Thrial | group of three, used only in the card game of Cribbage |
| Thrape | thrash. Give 'im a good thrapin' |
| Tiswas | Confused, "getting in a tiswas" |
| Tizzicky | having an irritating dry cough |
| Tittle | tickle |
| To it | Sandwich filling, “Bread and to it†(Thanks to Rex Basterfield for this one) |
| Tranklements | small possessions, bits and pieces, paraphernalia, precious possessions. |
| Trapes | walking aimlessly about, eg "Trapesin' in an' ott like a dog at a fair" |
| Trussen | to trust |
| Tummy | a snack, especially a collier's mid-morning snack |
| Tunky | a fat pig, eg "As fat as a tunky" |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Unitick | Uniform (Thanks to Rex Basterfield for this one) |
| Unkyoothe | uncouth |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Volve | valve |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Waggin | Playing truant from School (Thanks to Lee Marshall of Darlaston for this one) |
| Wag Mon | The council official employed to round up errant children who were "Waggin" (Thanks to Lee Marshall of Darlaston for this one) |
| Wammel | A mongrel dog, comes from the Anglo-Saxon/Old English "hwaemelec" |
| Wassin | Throat. "Get it down yer wassin" From the Old English "wasend" meaning gullet. |
| Weege | which (thanks to Syd Goring for this one) |
| Weem | We are. Eg. "Weem gooin out tonight" - We're going out tonight. (Thanks to Dave Woodward of Sacramento, California for this one) |
| Welly | nearly, eg "Welly clemmed to jeth" |
| Wench | girl, still commonly used by parents towards daughters. From the Anglo-Saxon "Wencel" meaning child |
| Wenching | One of the most enjoyable pastimes of young men. The act of flirting, charming and pursuing wenches. |
| Werrit | worry |
| Whimsey | pit head winding gear |
| Wick | Nerves - as in 'Yow'm gerrin' on me wick.' (Thanks to Ben Armfield for this one) |
| Wik | week or weak |
| Woa | won't, eg Yow woa |
| Wooly | whole, often of a brick : "A wooly 'un" |
| Wool | will, eg Yow wool |
| Wommuck | to eat fast "He wommucked that up like he was starvin!" (Thanks to Rex Basterfield for this one) |
| Wurse or Wuss | worse |
| Wum | home. "I'm gooin' wum" |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Yamp(e)y | Useless, hopeless (as in "He's a yampy player)
See Martin Reeves' Yampy Gornal website for the latest news etc from Gornal |
| Yawle or Yaup | bawl, shout or cry loudly |
| Yed | head |
| Yo(w) | you |
| Yoewer | your |
| Dialect word | Meaning |
| Zowk | yelp, cry out |
| Zad | the letter Z |
| Search the whole Sedgley site |
 |
