It is my civic duty to continue your enlightenment in the dark arts of being from Yorkshire. Think of it as a Public Service Broadcast. Think Bear Grylls and Born Survivor. One day you might end in deepest, darkest Barnsley – these help guides may just end of saving your life.

So here goes. Pay attention and digest the following Yorkshire list.

  • Don’t ever get into a discussion with someone from Yorkshire about how tough your childhood was. A true Yorkie will be compelled to outdo you. If you don’t believe me look up the Monty Python and the Four Yorkshiremen Sketch.
  • Queens English is not recognised in Yorkshire. You need to speak Yorkshire. It’s the only dialect which not one single voice recognition system has been able to crack.
  • To say Yorkshire you need to say YARKSHAR…
  • To say Hello you need to say OW DO or EY UP
  • To say Goodbye you need to say SE’THE
  • To say Very you say REET
  • To say ‘Can I Please Borrow’ you say CADGE
  • To say Nothing you say NOWT
  • To say You it’s THA
  • To say Yes it’s AYE
  • To say ‘I would like that one’ then you say BAGSY
  • Be careful with the word CHAMPION. In most part of the worlds it’s a fine shoe and sports clothing brand. In Yorkshire Champion means Excellent
  • Similarly in the rest of the world OK means I’m OK. In Yorkshire to say I’m OK you need to say ‘I’m fair t’ middling’
  • Someone approaching you and asking for a CROGGY is either a term of affection or they are asking for a lift on your bike.
  • If someone shouts ‘tha Chuffing ……’. That could mean you are being physically sworn at or it could be a warning that you are smoking and you need to jump into the nearest river.
  • You need to remember that the first Heavier than Air Manned Flight took place in Yorkshire over 150 years ago. I hear you ask WHY. The answer was that in the same year it became the law that Yorkshire Ferrets had to be kept in trouser pockets. Wouldn’t you be desperate to leave the county….
  • When you speak to someone from Yorkshire then you need to brace yourself. It’s only a matter of time before Yorkshire being the centre of the known universe is brought up. Quickly followed by the following line ‘which over place can claim to have a Captain of the Starship Enterprise, the first ever female Dr Who, the head of the X-Men and a member of the Fellowship of the Ring.
  • Never try to argue with someone from Yorkshire as this will either result in the Yorkshire Terriers being set upon you or you will have to endure the following words – ‘you do know that Wuthering Heights was set here.’
  • If you are offered a Yorkshire Pudding then you need to be on your toes. This could either mean it’s being served as a starter, main course or sweet – or probably ALL three. In inclement weather you might also be offered one as a protective hat.
  • If you spend more than 5 minutes in the presence of someone from Yorkshire then the subject of CRICKET will enter the conversation. Specifically Cricket and Rhubarb. Just nod and smile and let the following local expression rattle around your brain. ‘Me ol mum could ave hit tha’ ball with a stick o’ rhubarb’. Also don’t be shocked if you then here ‘tha’s got more edges than a cracked bedpan’ – *** please note I cleaned that one up considerably***
  • You will hear many references to needing a Yorkshire passport. Currently this is not the case but in certain parts of the county the wearing of string vests and knotted hankies is a requirement.
  • The word ‘Scraps’. Here in Yorkshire it can mean two things. It can mean what happens when people get physical as they fight over the last frozen chicken left n the shop freezer. But it can also mean food heaven. Ask for a ‘bag a scraps’ in a Yorkshire Fish and Chip Shop and you will get a portion of the deep fried batter leftovers which are at the bottom of the fryer. But be careful with how you say ‘scraps’ to the Chipman and don’t ever make eye contact. This might end up with the chipman attacking you with a frying pan.

108 thoughts on “You can’t take the Yorkshire out of Yorkshire”

  3. Some of these words I have forgotten until you broight light on the topic and I can remember hearing them.
    And a few I have, or still do say and as I have mentioned before, I am not from Yorkshire, but certainly said, or heard some of these. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  8. Tha may ‘ave Wuthering Heights, . An tha may we ave Anne of Green Gables. An tha may ave Capt’n Picard, well we ave Capt’n James T Kirk. Doc’tor Oooo, James Bond be bassed on a Canajian. Tha says Ey, we says Eh, eh! We can up ya at ev’ry turn, An ‘member, wee mite be you, only lay, tuotn.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      3. Hope it is as nice as Libau, Manitoba, the town closest to my very first home after leaving the hospital I was born in. My first memories are there. Really!
        The oldest thing I can remember, though I did not have words to describe it, only visuals, was laying in my crib, my mother making supper beside me on the table (there were no such thing as islands in farmhouses in those days) and she got my full attention by screaming bloody murder, was how she put it years later when I brought it up. (It seemed like years later, though she died before I turned 9.) Anyways, I hope I have created enough anticipation to make the reveal. On the table in front of her pieces of dead fish started making like Mexican Jumping Beans. She had been cutting them prior to frying, and they went berserk. As explained to me years later, the fish’s nerves somehow fired, causing dissasociated pieces of protein to jump right off the table into the air. My mother was not prepared for such an experience. She screamed for what seemed like hours. l probably wasn’t even a year old at the time, so I’m sure I was screaming along with my mother, but my attention was not on me.
        I hate dead fish, and have probably hated them since that day. And it’s not like she would have fed those fish to me that day, but the smell of fish makes me react in fear 70 years later.
        What a first living memory! If I had a choice, I would have preferred a different one.
        Libau is now almost a ghost tow, nothing but a group of houses, some ofbthem occupied, with not even a store or a post office anymore. Population less than 50. Time marches on.

        Liked by 1 person

  12. Fab post. Wonder what a conservation between someone from Yorkshire and someone from the Black Country/Birmingham would be like? 🤔 Bostin’ I expect, with both participants thinking the other was a little yampy, no doubt the whole conversation going round the Wrekin until they finish up with “ta ra a bit”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      5. And that is why I needed you as a guide! I just thought that whenever this Corona craziness is over I will hop over to Yorkshire 😄

        Like

  15. The colonists that settled Maine must’ve been from Yorkshire. I recognize a few sayings and words from Stephen King dialogue.
    Thank you for the lesson. I need to use more of these if I’m going to honor my Yorkshire DNA😉😂😂💌

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  17. That was great. I knew a few of them. I have picked up some things in some of my favorite movies set in Yorkshire. Since seeing them I have wanted to travel to and around Yorkshire, but I don’t think that will happen now. Will just have to keep enjoying it in my movies. By the way, are tha rose bushes wick?

    Like

    Reply

  19. Lol … that’s funny … I would be in a constant state of confusion lol… although my New England’ers they have quirky things like that too ❤️ my New England people accents make me feel at home… the minute I hear someone with that accent I just want to hear them all the time cause I miss it and I feel instant connection – those are my people ✌️❤️.

    But I would be really lost in Yorkshire – is there a Yorkshire to American English dictionary ? Lol

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      3. Hey man… you gonna be my English to Yorkshire dictionary lol 😄✌️

        As long as I can understand you I guess lol

        I will love every single time you say “chucking” 😄😄 that still kills me!!

        Liked by 1 person

  21. I am SO grateful to you for the enlightenment that might just save my patootie if I am ever dropped by an alien spaceship into the heart of Yorkshire! (Actually, I’d just call you and say, “Hey, Gary … are you ready for that coffee?”) Your Yorkshire-speak sounds remarkably like our New England dialect, particularly Connecticut and Maine! I think, therefore, I’ll fit in almost unnoticeable! Well, perhaps except the deep, dark crevices ‘neath my eyes and my sloppy appearance!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s