Discovering the English Language in Yorkshire

Accent-wise, I’m definitely a southern girl. At school I was taught to speak RP English also known as the Queen’s English or Oxford English and I kept this up during my time at uni. I can occasionally lapse into regional dialects, drop my T’s and call a glass a “gless” but when asked how to properly pronounce something I will always revert back to RP.

It's incredibly rewarding to be so comfortable with the grammar of a language that all that remains is to add vocabularies and expressions and learn how to use them properly. For me, that’s when learning English became the most fun! This learning process is pretty much infinite and also applies to my first language. There is an inexhaustible supply of words and phrases I have never heard of before. It's quite exciting!

Living in Hull is great for picking up new words. There are a few terms and expressions I’ve come across since I moved to Yorkshire that were either entirely new to me or that suddenly took on a new meaning. I should add that not all of them are exclusive to Hull or Yorkshire!

1. grim 

Urban Decay Doesn't Have to Be Grim

A wonderful word I came across very often when walking through Hull for the first few times. Whenever you wanted to get somewhere nice you had to go through an area that was “a bit grim”. But a little bit of urban decay makes for some lovely photo opportunities!

2. gozzing 
I find saying the word about as satisfying as it is disgusting witnessing someone do it! For those not familiar with it: goz is nasal or oral mucus. So you might be able to guess what "gozzing in the street" means. The first time I heard this word I was watching An Idiot Abroad and it must have made a big impression on me because I still remember it. Gozzzz...

3. “It’s doing me head in.”
Meaning: to confuse, annoy or make somebody unhappy. A few examples of things that do my head in: having to adjust American recipes to British or German measurements, too many hazelnuts and not enough Brazil nuts in my mixed nuts snack and rocket science. I’ve never heard this being said in the South, which is a shame. It is such a lovely expression that includes so many nuances of British melancholy.

4. ‘Ull 
This is how a truly local person pronounces Hull. For you fellow linguists out there, it’s pronounced /ʊl/. I don’t know why, but Hull folk don’t like the letter H. Sesame Street would not be amused. The lack of H can get confusing. One of my non-Hull friends was on her way to visit me. She was waiting for her train when someone approached her asking if this was the platform where the train to Ull stops. I can’t blame her for saying “No” and only figuring out her mistake a few minutes later.  
5. darling/luv/flower 
But it’s not all grim and goz! The train conductors on my way to work think I’m a darling. The random homeless person asking for some change calls me luv and the shop owner greets me with “Ya alright there, flower?” Giving strangers endearing pet names is a thing I came across more in the North and I quite like it. It might not be heartfelt but it’s welcoming!

6. tenfoot
Apparently, a tenfoot is a Hull word and while I roughly understand what it means I am not entirely sure what the difference between a tenfoot and an ordinary path is. The urban dictionary gives these two definitions:

• A footpath running between houses connecting two roads (orig. East Yorkshire). Also known as a 'cut'.
• A ten foot wide passageway located behind houses for access to garages.

What if it is 8 feet wide? Do cars have to be able to access it or are there pedestrian tenfoots? I have yet to find out...

7. minging
This isn’t a particularly northern expression but I first came across it when I was living in Leeds. I think it was used in regard to my cooking... undeservedly so! But what a beautiful all-round insulting yet inoffensive word it is, I just had to include it. I prefer being lazy and slurring it to "mingin’" rather than using the more clearly pronounced "minging". It has more punch.

8.  “Er ner! Whaaht waahn for me.”

Goat Becomes Gert

This isn’t a word but a sound: the seemingly most popular vowel in the Yorkshire vernacular. Think of the “er” in the word “nerd” and apply it whenever you see an “O”. “Oh no!” becomes “Er ner!”, “goat”” becomes “gert” etc. You get the idea. It is particularly Hull when combined with a word containing an “I”-sound such as “wine”. A person with a strong Hull accent will make “wine” sound like “waahn”. The linguist in me can get quite giddy listening to the Hull accent as I try and find the right linguistic patterns. It’s fascinating and probably every linguist’s heaven! However, aesthetics are debatable...

There are so many more words out there waiting to be discovered. If anyone knows any great ones (hint: I particularly like onomatopoeias) I'd love to hear them!