Tongue-twisting
Cheshire dialect
Is yer yed all of a missock, or are yer a lommeryed?
Old Cheshire dialect is nothing short of fascinating and to the
uninitiated it must be as decipherable as Chinese, or Double Dutch
! Here are just a few examples of words and phrases which me might
still hear amongst Cheshire diehards:
For instance, how about “Heef a pond o’summat as blurted o’er a
greet” ? This means, simply, half-a-pound (or whatever that is in
metric!) of fresh meat. And then there is ”bullyed” for tadpole,
“cur” for a sharp watchdog, “essole hooning” for sitting by the
fireside, “batters” for the railway embankments, etc etc.
A favourite is some parts is “lommeryed” which refers to someone
who looks a wee bit simple, or “borsun”, for someone with a full,
fat face.
Or when you’re confused or being pressured, the response is either
“mithered”, or “me yed’s all of a missock”.
There’s the story of the old Cheshire woman who, years ago, was
being pushed into having electricity installed in her cottage, like
the rest of the village. She preferred the old oil table-lamp and
steadfastly refused to budge, until one day a religious gentleman
called, about the “New Light”.
The old woman thought he was something to do with electricity and
when he asked her to consider the “New Light”, she quickly put him
in his place: “Hee mon, how dun yer expect an owd wooman fer lommer
up ter ceiling every neet fer put th’damned thing ite?”
An dun yer know thee've fund a wale in Winsfert Flashes?
Ah, a bicoicle wale!!!
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