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derbyshire slang
10 Answers
hi can anyone help , ive just listened to an audiobook
set in derbyshire and there were two phrases i havent heard before
firstly someone was called "nesh" . and the other was "yoof" as in
"hurry up , ive been waiting 20 minutes for a pint, yoof." not sure of the spelling but thats what it sounds like. thanks . bb.
set in derbyshire and there were two phrases i havent heard before
firstly someone was called "nesh" . and the other was "yoof" as in
"hurry up , ive been waiting 20 minutes for a pint, yoof." not sure of the spelling but thats what it sounds like. thanks . bb.
Answers
Best Answer
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.In Sheffield (which, in its dialect, has at least as many links to Derbyshire as it does to the rest of Yorkshire), describing someone as 'nesh' means that they're a 'scaredy-cat' or that they're 'soft'.
e.g. "Why wun't tha wark t't work? It's unly minus ten owtseed! Tha's nesh, tha is!"
or
"Get thissen oop thart ladder. Tha's nart gonna fall. Tha's just nesh!"
As has been suggested, Derbyshire folk (and some Sheffielders) use 'youth' to mean 'boy', even when addressing an adult. Similarly, here in Suffolk, men are addressed as 'bor'. (Many textbooks suggest that it's a contraction of 'neighbour' but, given that women are addressed as 'gal', it seems obvious that it's just a way of saying 'boy').
Chris
e.g. "Why wun't tha wark t't work? It's unly minus ten owtseed! Tha's nesh, tha is!"
or
"Get thissen oop thart ladder. Tha's nart gonna fall. Tha's just nesh!"
As has been suggested, Derbyshire folk (and some Sheffielders) use 'youth' to mean 'boy', even when addressing an adult. Similarly, here in Suffolk, men are addressed as 'bor'. (Many textbooks suggest that it's a contraction of 'neighbour' but, given that women are addressed as 'gal', it seems obvious that it's just a way of saying 'boy').
Chris
Nesh certainly started life far more widespread than Derbyshire/Yorkshire. It even has cognate words in Dutch and Gothic. Its earliest use meant soft or yielding as applied to things. It's easy to see why it took on the more critical meaning it has today in reference to people who are just a little bit "wet"!
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