TRY THE DEVONSHIRE LANGUAGE

Dimpsey - twilight or any other time of fading or poor light. 

Tatus - blooming cold!

Tiflin - loose thread on clothing.

“Wobbe (wO-bee) as in “wobbe doun (doo-in) - What are you doing?

“Wobbe bout?” - what are you about? What are you up to?  Both phrases have basically the same meaning. “Ow-be-ee?” - how are you.

“Like chapple a-pegs” - something sticking out like chapel hat pegs.

Buay = BOY.

Maid = girl.

Proper Maid = Nice Girl.

Ee Bee Proper Mazed = He is really daft.  “Proper maized”. Quite stupid.

“Yoom be Mazed” used as a term to indicate that the person addressed was stupid. (You are Mad)

My! (myee) you’m fleating wet (floating)

Chatty = Dirty.

Unclean unyins = onions

Doolahly Tap = mad (with appropriate tapping to temple area).

Doin’s = business. ‘Doin’s’ when talking about possessions.

Me tea’s zimzoiled - left to stew to long!

Dabbry: as in “I feel right dabbry” (droopy or flopped out), or “ They flowers look right dabbry”.

Smitch, (smitching) an acrid smokey atmosphere, like when a fry-up gets a bit out of hand. “ (Smeetch)

Put thikky wood in t’ole. Youm lett’n tha smitch in th’all. (shut the door you are letting all the smoke into the hall).

Dimpsey: The Devon equivalent of ( the Gloaming ) or Twighlight. It were fair Dimpsey.

Daft aepuff (= stupid person) is in fact daft ha’peworth, the second word being a contraction of halfpenny worth. (The old currency halfpenny, which was pronounced familiarily as “haypnee”)

Bag as a ‘Beg’. Quite common in Plymouth even today.

Crams- meaning nonsense or tantrums. eg: stop they ol crams ‘n ate ur tay! stop that nonsense and eat your supper.

Wallage - heap or pile or loads of. eg: us got a gurt wallage of teddies from thikky stook. We got a lot of potatoes from that stalk.

SONG…where be that blackbird be?  i’know where ee be, ee be up yon wurzel tee, n i be affer ee, ee see’s , an i see’s ee, begger’d if i do’n’t get in’ with a gurt big stick, i’ll knock ee down,  blackbird i’ll ave’ ee!

“Belly like a Barnstaple man.” Very fat. 

“Coolth”. The opposite to warmth.  

 “Proper tempesty”, Very stormy weather.

“gwain home” in the sense that it was wearing out, had seen better days; e.g.an old cardigan with holes in the elbows.

Don’t wear them bouts in yer, them is bleddy ummin.

yer room tis like troy town ( your room is in quite a mess) .

Buay you ken help, I’ll lean on ‘ee to do it praper. Meaning, He trusted me to do the job.

yua kin only naw Dem by spakein un buye, yua got tu yere un, tu knaw un. Furiners zay’s,

DEVON, wel fer idin no “V” in un tis “DEMM”

wat’s rit. an fer idin no ACHE’S. SO FER. Ope yua likes me liddle note. I can spake to e any time on tu fone, if yua likes.

What a dimpsy night= what a dull, dreary, night. goosegogs for gooseberries.

I’ve heard “chilliferous” all over the place. black clouds being “black as your hat”!

“It’s a bit black ovv-er Bill’s moth-ers!” when a storm is coming.

Er bay, ini’ bay!! (here boy) (isn’t it boy)   this is Swilly talk. Swilly, now called North Prospect, an estate in Plymouth. Swilly is an ancient word meaning house by the stream by the hill.

Twad’nt (It wasn’t) eg. Twad’nt there. It was not there  Twas (It was) - eg. Twas yesterday.  Twadin it? Wasn’t it

Wazzon? (What’s on) used as a general greeting.
Allo Ma deer,  Hello my dear
Day main it’? meaning (do you mean it?)

Wer be gwain? (Where are you going?), or Ware-Be-Gwain OO?  (same)

and whart be dwain? (what are you doing?).

“drick” before, meaning thick. “You must be a bit drick buay”.

’what be on upon?’ This was a greeting , It was also used to cover all sorts of other situations such as How are you? and What have you been doing?

a lot of learner drivers around here. You’m right about they larner drivers bauy, thats dree gone pass since us bin stood yer. 

chilliferous - very chilly or cold

It was quite a trial, the first pay day parade: What with the smallness of the sum laid out for me and the bigness of the job collecting it.

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