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derbyshire slang

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bluebirdino | 17:13 Fri 16th Dec 2011 | Phrases & Sayings
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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.
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yoof (youth)
nesh in my part of england anyway means your afraid of getting cold as in "don't be nesh"
Question Author
thanks deggers316 , so derby folk use "youth" ike some would say
"our kid" ?
Urban dictionary entry for nesh

http://www.urbandicti.../define.php?term=nesh
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
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"!
Question Author
thanks for replies .
Nesh usually means you can't take the cold.
Yoof means a young one., or young'un.
in stoke on trent whre i originally came from nesh meant you cannot take the cold. e.g. I am cold, the answer would be given as a reply don't be nesh.
yes i forgot to mention that it was another word for don't be soft.
yes, same here for nesh, someone who can't stand the cold...(originally from Notts, now in Derbys).

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