Glossary of Dorset dialect words

These are some words which are unique to the Dorset dialect, spoken in Dorset in the West Country of England.

Asker
Archet
Bally-rag
Bee-pots
Biddle in a barken field
Bit 'n' drap
A girt clavy
Clinkers or tinklebobs
Cowlease
Drongway
Dumbledore
Emmet
Faddle of firewood
Gallycrows
Gilcups
Greygoles
Homhle
Hoss-stinger
A mampus in Yetminster
A pisty-poll
Popples
A Reddick
Sives
A smeech
Welshnuts
Wonthills
Yakkers
WordMeaning
A
A-cothedDisease
A-drawenDrawing, for example "He be a-drawen a picture."
A-feardAfraid (Dorset motto, "Who's a-feard?")
AgeanAgainst, for example "'e be runnin' agean thac strong wind."
AggyThe act of collecting eggs[1]
AïghtEight
Ailenillness, ailing (verb or noun)[1]
Air vleesFlies that seldom land for hovering in the air
Aish or AishyAsh tree
Aish-a-twiddickAsh twig
A-lassenLest
Alik'Like
All'sAll this
AmperPustules "I be all out in an amper!"
AllerThe alder tree
AllumAll of them
AnbyAt a near time, by and by
Annan?An interjectional exclamation. "What did you say?"
Anewst, or AnisteAt nearest
AnighNear, close by[1]
AnklyThe ankle[1]
Any-whenAt any time[1]
ArchetOrchard[1]
ArnA contraction of "e'er a one"
Ash candlesThe seed vessels of the ash tree
AskerWater newt
A-stroutStretched out[1]
A-stoodedStood (as a waggon) immovably in the ground
A-stoggdHaving your feet stuck in either clay or dirt
AtTo play at, to have at
AthirtAcross
AuverlookOverlook, bewitch, look on with the evil eye
AvoreBefore[1]
A-vrozeFrozen[1]
AwakedAwake
AxTo ask[1]
AxenAshes[1]
AyerAir[1]
A-zetSet or planted
A-zew1) To be dry of milk; no longer giving suck "The cow's a-zew" 2) To sew a pond, to drain or draw it dry.
B
BackhouseOuthouse[1]
Backsidebackyard or rear of property[1]
BadSynonym for ill
B'aintbe not
BallyragTo scold[1]
BandonAbandonment
BandyA stick used for beating dung out of the way, usually long and sturdy with a bent end[1]
BandylagsCrooked/bowed legs
BankroutBankrupt
BantlingChild
BarkenBarley[2]
BarryBorrow[2]
BatchHillock[2]
BattenbuoardA tool for tamping thatch on a roof[2]
BavenA faggot of untrimmed branches[2]
Beas'Beast, usually refers to cattle[2]
BeatploughA tool used for cutting turf[2]
BecallTo deride
Bedraggled angelsWet sheep
BeensBecause, possible contraction of 'being as'[2]
Bee-potBeehive[2]
BeknownKnown about
BennitsThe bent tips of grasses and similar[2]
Ben'tWasn't
BibberShiver with cold[2]
BideDwell[2]
BiddleBeetle[2]
Bird-kippyTo keep birds from the corn[2]
BissenBist not, Art not
Bit-an'-drapA bite to eat and a drink[2]
Bit-an'-crimpEvery last scrap of something[2]
BiverTo shake or quiver with cold or fear
Black BardsRooks (or 'storytellers')
Black-bobCockroach
BlatchBlack or sooty[2]
BlatherAn uproar[2]
BleareTo cry outload and fretful like a child
BletherTo bleat or blare much; to talk noisily
Blood beadsBerries
Bloody WarriorsWallflowers
BloothBlossom[2]
BottomSteadfast[2]
BraimsMembranes
BrakeA thicket
BremblesBrambles
Brinton or BratonBold, audacious[3]
BrockleBroken[3]
Bruckly or BrickleyBrittle[3]
BrushenHuge/giant
BudgetA leather pouch for a whetstone[3]
Bull-headTadpole
BumbyeBy-and-by[3]
BundleTo bound quickly
BunkerRabbit
Button-crawlerWoodlouse
BwoneyardGraveyard/churchyard
C
CaddieAn uproar or carry-on[3]
CaddleMuddle[3]
CagCloy/clog
Cag-magRotten meat
CammishAwkward
CarCarry or move: to car hay is to stack hay[3]
CarnerCorner
Cas'nCan'st not
CastPrematurely born
Cazelty weatherExtremely bad weather (casualty weather)[3]
ChalkyGhostly
ChammerChamber, bedroom, room
Charken, charkedBurn (to charcoal), burned
ChattermagMagpie
Chawly-whistAshamed
ChawChew[3]
Cheese-lateA floor for drying cheese[3]
ChetlensThe entrails of any edible animal
Chilver or Chilver hogA yearling ewe lamb
ChimleyChimney[3]
ChopSell, barter or exchange[3]
ChumpA log of wood[3]
ClavyMantelpiece[3]
ClinkerIcicle[4]
ClittyStringy and sticky, tangled in clods or lumps
ClodgyDumplike, close
ClotLump, clod
ClutchédClutched
CockleTangle[4]
CodglovesHedger's gloves, with a bad for all the fingers together
Comely or ComeTo be ripe. Inviting
Conk-loadNose-full
Conzum-edConsumed
CowheartCoward
CowleaseAn uncut field, meadow[4]
CradlehoodEarly stages of childhood, infancy, still in the cradle[4]
CrateWomb
CreezeySilky
CrewelCowslip
CricketA low stool or chair for a child[4]
CrimsCold-shivers, creeping of flesh
CroodleTo rock, to coo. To make little crowings
CroopyTo sink one's body, bending down the thighs behind the legs
CroustyGrumpy, in a bad mood[4]
CulverWood pigeon
CurdlesHair curls[4]
CutyWren
D
DabsterSomeone who is skilled in something, an expert[4]
DadderTo confuse or bewilder[4]
DanderVex, anger[4]
Darkling birdBlackbird
DawJackdaw
Death-biddleDeathwatch beetle
De-daSimple, foolish, slow-witted
Devil's birdMagpie
DewbitA bite to eat taken first thing in the morning before breakfast[4]
DiddenDid not
DorringMocking
DoughbiakedFeeble-minded[5]
DoutPut out a flame or fire, "Dout the candle" for example[5]
DowndashiousAudacious[5]
DrashelThe strip of wood or concrete at the bottom of a doorway, the threshold[5]
DratyDraught, draughty, full of draughts of air
DrawlatchetenIdle, lazy[5]
DrinkyHaving consumed too much alcohol, inebriated[5]
Dread-fulledFull of dread
Dread gatesSchool gates
DreanTo drawl in speaking
DreeThree
DriskA fine, wind-driven mist
DrownsyDrowned
DrushThrush
DuckishDark, gloomy[5]
DrongSqueeze or compress[5]
DrongwayA narrow passage or alley; Most commonly a narrow footpath between two fenced fields[5]
DumbledoreBumblebee[5]
DummetDusk
DungyDowncast, dull
DunnickSparrow
E
'eHe
EacorAcorn
EetYet[5]
EffetsNewts[5]
Egg-treeOvary
ElebmEleven
EmThem
EmmetsAnts[5]
EnHim
EngripementGrievance
'enselfHimself
'esHis
'e'sHe is
Eth, ethlyEarth, earthly
EthedBuried
Ether-hungerThe hunger for earth, sometimes felt by persons approaching death
EvemenEvening[5]
F
FaddleTo pack or bundle together[6]
FantodFuss[6]
FarterousFather-like
FeasenFaces
FessPleased with, proud[6]
FevrellFebruary
FleecefulAs much as fills a fleece
FleecyFleece; drunk, drunken
FlummocksTo scare or frighten[6]
FootlingSomething worthless, beneath contempt[6]
FootyInsignificant, small, trivial[6]
FowelThe placenta of a cow
FreenFree from
FrithThin twigs that have broken off from trees and bushes, historically used to make brushes; brushwood[6]
Frog-hopperGrasshopper
FurbyFoul or sticky matter, as that on a tongue in sickness
G
GakeTo stare open-mouthed, gawk, gape[6]
GallycrowScarecrow[6]
GannywedgeA wide yawn or to spread apart[6]
GapMouth
GapmouthNightjar
Gawl, GawlyAn opening, an empty place, a bare patch; empty hollow
Gi'eTo give, to yield
Gilcup or GiltcupA small, yellow flower of the family Ranunculaceae, common in meadows and pasture; buttercup[6]
GirdingTaunting
GirtLarge, great[6]
GleneTo joke with[7]
Glory holeVagina
GlowStare or watch with fixed, open eyes
GlutchTo swallow[7]
GnangTo mock by half-clear sounds, wagging the jaw with a grin
God's stinking treeElder
GoocooCuckoo
Goocoo pintWild arum, snakeshead, Arum maculatum
Goocoo's breadWood sorrel
Goocoo spettle or SpumeCuckoo spit, a white froth secreted by insects
GrabCrab apple tree
Gramf'erGrandfather
Gramm'erGrandmother
GraveTo bury
GreygoleA small, blue woodland flower of the hyacinth family; Bluebell[7]
GribbleA young crab tree or blackthorm
GrottenA sleep-slade, a run or pasture for sheep
GrowedGrew
GurrelGirl
GwainGoing[7]
Gwains-onRowdy behaviour (goings-on)[7]
H
Hag-riddenA nightmare attributed to a supernatural presence of a witch or hag, by whom one is ridden to sleep
HalterpathA path for a horse and rider; Bridleway[7]
HandyThereabouts, an approximation, "Ees 6' or somewhere 'andy" for example[7]
Hangen houseA shed under the continuation of the roof of the house
Han'patNearby, close at hand[7]
HarledTangled
HassenHast not
HatchA small gate[7]
HeabmHeaven
Heal or HealédTo cover over[7]
HedlenHeadlong[7]
HeissenA prediction of evil
HetfulHot
HethHearth
HethcropperA horse or pony bred on a heath[7]
Hidy-buckChildren's game, hide-n-seek[7]
HoTo be anxious or to show caution[8]
Hoar-stoneStanding stone or ancient boundary stone
HobbleA field-shed for cattle
Hobby HorseWoodlouse[8]
HoggetA yearling sheep of either sex, the meat of a hogget
Hogget shearsSheep shears
Hold wi'Side with
HolmHolly
HolrodCowslip
HolwayHollow lane
HomhleA duck[8]
Honey-zuckA climbing plant of the family Caprifoliaceae; honeysuckle[8]
HonkingInhale deeply
HookTo gore with the horns
Hoss-stinger or Ho's adderDragonfly[8]
HummockCow
HustleTo moan, spoken of the wind
HwomeHome
I
Ice-candlesIcicles[8]
InneathBehind, inside
InonOnion[8]
InwardsInnards
J
Joppety-joppetyAnxious, nervous trepidation[8]
K
KeechTo clear a riverbank of weeds[8]
KitFriend or family, kin[8]
KnogKnob
L
LagLeg
LagwoodThe larger cut-off branches and twigs of a tree
LamingerOne who has become lame
LamplooA game of tag in which those caught join hands with the pursuer/s to form a chain[9][10]
LearAn ailing in sheep
LeazeField
LeeryHungry[9]
LerretA traditional, double-ended boat with a flat bottom and high sternposts, which can be launched from a steep bank or beach [9][11]
LetA stopping or interruption
LimberSkinny, slim, slender[9]
LimnerPainter and decorator[9]
LipBasket[9]
LippenWet weather, rainy, sometimes also referred to as lippy[9]
LisomeCheery, happy[9]
LitterConfusion[9]
LittyOf light and easy bodily motion
LoneleftLeft alone
Long tailPheasant
LovesomeLovely, loving
LowsenTo listen
LureA disease of sheep; an ulcer in the cleft of the foot
LwonesomnessLonesomeness
M
MagotAn impulse or whim[9]
MaggotyVery drunk
MainStrength, power[9]
MampusA crowd[9]
MandySaucy
Mare's tailEquisetum arvense (horsetail)
MazzerdyKnotty
MeecesMice
MeshMoss[9]
Midin'Might not, may not
MilchiMilk, milky pale
Milk flowerSnowdrop
MingdomA stinking, dirty or unpleasant kingdom
MommetA guy, an effigy
Moud or MouleField mouse[12]
Mus'nMust not
MwopeBullfinch
N
NammetA light lunch of meat[12]
NearParsimonious, miserly[12]
NearenNearby
Nesh, NeshenTender
NesseltripeThe weakest or last born
Nether-ethedBuried
NetherwiseViewed from below
NickyKindling[12]
NippyPeckish[12]
NirrupDonkey[12]
No-butNothing but
NoowhenAt no time
NotFlowerbed[12]
NuncheonA noon-time meal, luncheon[12]
NutsJoy; testicles
O
OoneOne
OrfA viral form of pustular dermatitis found in sheep, and communicable to humans
Out ov banInstantly, at once[12]
Over-rightOpposite[12]
Over-watchBaby-sit
Owl, owlingTo owl about, to ramble by night
P
PankTo pant
Parlour-skyAttic, loft
ParrickA piece of fenced off land, a paddock[12]
PeartHealthy, vibrant, full of life[13]
PeckerGreen woodpecker
Peck uponDominate[13]
PeltA rage, to feel angry[13]
Peze, peazeTo ooze out
PiavioursFlagstones[13]
Piggyback, a pig a back, a pack a backTo carry a child on one's back with their arms around your neck and their legs around your waist.
Piss-a-bedDandelion
Pisty pollTo carry a child on one's shoulders with their legs around your neck and their arms around your forehead.
PleckA small enclosure
'plexionComplexion
Pock-frettenPock-marked from acne
PollHead
PopplesPebbles[13]
ProgFood[13]
PurlCurl, swirl, frill; or an abbreviation of pur lamb
Pur lambA castrated ram lamb
PuxyA miry or boggy place
PwopeA bunchy thing, an effigy, a doll, a puppet
Q
Quartere'il, QuaterevilA disease of sheep, a corruption of the blood
QuineThe corner of a wall[13]
QuobQuiver, shake[13]
R
RaftyRancid
RakeTo reek
RaleWalk[13]
RammishStrong smelling, rank
RamshacklumUseless[13]
RangleTo reach about like a trailing or climbing plant
RapSwap, barter or exchange[13]
RatheEarly[13]
ReamesThe frame or ligaments of a thing, skeleton
ReanConsume food quickly and greedily[14]
ReaphookA curved blade for cutting grasses; Sickle[14]
ReapyReap
Red-breadVagina
ReddickSmall garden bird with a red breast, commonly known as a robin (Erithacus rubecula)[14]
Red ragTongue
ReeveUnravel[14]
RibletsLittle ribs
Roasting tombStove
RodPenis
RottletrapRickety[14]
RuddleA red earth by which they mark they mark sheep
Rudger or RigAn uncastrated horse
RumQueer
RumstickQueer, a queer man
S
SarTo serve or feed animals
SarchTo search
SatepollA foolish or silly person[14]
ScalyMean, stingy[14]
SclerevilHardened and evil
ScoteTo shoot along very fast
ScramScrewy-grown
Scratch, scratchingTo write, writing; to carve
Screak, screakingTo creak loudly
Scriddick, scridA small scrap or shred
ScripShepherd's coat
ScroffSmall bits of dead wood
Scroop, scroopingThe low sound of one hard body scraping against another
Scrounch, ScrunchTo crunch strongly
Seem an ISeems to me
Shabby mothersEwes
ShadeSpirit, ghost
ShattenShall not
Sheep nutsCoarse mix pellets, sheep food
Shima she/him
ShockleTo shake about lightly
ShooA cry to fray away owls
ShramA screwing up or out of the body and limbs from keen cold
SifyTo catch the breath in sighing; to sob
SivesChives or garlic[14][15]
Skeat, skeatingA looseness of the bowels
Sloey spearsThe sharp spines on the branches of the sloe or blackthorn
Slommock(en)A slatternly, thick-set, stocky, short, dirty woman
SmameTo smear
SmeechA cloud of dust[16]
SmirchédTarnished
SmoorTo smear
SnabbleTo snap up quickly; To eat quickly or greedily[16]
Snake's-headArum maculatum
So'tSoft
Soldier's tearsMullein, a tall, stiff flowered, woolly plant
SomenSomeone
SomewhenAt some time
SoonereGhost
Span-newClean and shiny, like new[16]
Spawl, spawlyA splinter flown off, as from wood or stone; splintered
SprakSpry, lively[16]
SpeareThin, lanky
SpetTo spit
SpilesThe beard of barley
Spotter(Great or lesser) Spotted Woodpecker
SpumeCome, semen
SquittersDiarrhoea in cattle
StareStarling
StiverTo stiffen up much as an angry dogs hairs
StumpyTo walk with short stamoing steps
SweetheartsGoose grass
SwevenA dream
T
TaffleTo tangle, as grass or corn beaten down by weather
TarbleTolerable
TardleTo tangle
Teake toTo reach forth to a man or thing with a ready good will
TeareEager and bold as flies on food
TetTeat
TewlySmall and weakly
TheaveA three-year-old sheep
TheosomThese
Thick as inkle weaversClose in friendship, from inkle, a kind of tape for a very narrow loom at which the weavers sat close side by side
ThievesFairies
ThikThat
ThirtoverPerverse
ThumblesThumbs
Tidd'n'tis not
TiltyGrumpy, irritable, ill-tempered[16]
TinklebobsIcicles[16]
TorrididdleA state of bewilderment or confusion[16]
ToyearThis year; as in today, tomorrow etc.[16]
Trapes, TrapesènA woman who tramps about bodly
Tree-tearsLeaves
TuenTune
TupA ram; (of a ram) to copulate with a ewe
TwanketenSad, melancholic[16]
T'wardsTowards
'twereIt were
TwiddickA small twig
TwinkChaffinch
TwoadToad
Twoad's meatToadstools
U
UndercreepenDevious, sly, underhand[17]
UnhealTo uncover
UnrayTo undress
UpsmittenDust or liquid sprayed or blown upawrds
UpsydownUpside down, overturned[17]
V
VallTo fall
VangTo earn[17]
VeagWrath, a high heat of anger (Anglo-Saxon faegth)
VeäreWeasel
VeäryFairy
Veäry ringFairy ring, a ring of fungi
Veäry taleFairy tale
Vess'yTo versey, to read verses by turns
VilthyFilthy
VinnyVeiny or mouldy, like the Dorset cheese, Blue-vinny[17]
VittyNeat and proper[17]
ViveFive
VleeFly
Vlesh vleeA blowfly, a flesh fly
VlitFlit
VlittermouseBat
VloatFloat
VlutterbieButterfly
VogFog
VokketTo go about here and there
VoleyVole
VomVomit
VorehearingPremonition, forewarning
Vore-rightGoing forward without regard to consequences or seemliness
VoretoldForetold
VorewarnForewarned
VoulFoul
Vower, vowr, vow'rFour
VuzzenFir trees
W
WagwantonQuaking grass
WantMole
Want-heaveMole hill
Want-heave slaveA mole
WarePond[17]
Waxen crundelsSwollen tonsils
WeaveTo rock backwards and forwards in pain
WelshnutWalnut[17]
WerretTo concern or worry[18]
WetherA castrated male lamb
WevvetCobweb
Wevvet queensSpiders
Wheel-birdNightjar
WhinnickTo whine softly or slightly
WhiverTo hover, to quiver
WinkerEyeball
WoakOak
WoodculverWood pigeon or ringdove
WooneOne
WontMole, small burrowing mammal of the family Talpidae[18]
WoppenBig, heavy[18]
Wopsy or WopsWasp[18]
WordleWorld[18]
WurseDevil, arch-fiend
Y
YakkerAcorn[18]
YerYour
Yer tizHere it is, yes it is
YisEarthworm[18]
YollerYellow
YollerheadsDaffodils
Yoller rosesPrimroses
YopSpeak rapidly, jabber[18]
Z
Zeale or ZackSack[18]
ZebmSeven
ZedgemocksTufts of sedge grass
Zet upTo anger, infuriate[18]
ZingSing
ZiveScythe
ZixSix
ZoundsSounds
ZummatSomething[18]
ZwailSwagger[18]
ZwealTo scorch
ZweatSweat
Zween, zweemyA feeling of swinging around in the head

See also

edit

Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Newton (2014), p. 7.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Newton (2014), p. 8.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Newton (2014), p. 9.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Newton (2014), p. 10.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Newton (2014), p. 11.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Newton (2014), p. 12.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Newton (2014), p. 13.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Newton (2014), p. 14.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Newton (2014), p. 15.
  10. ^ Bertha Gomme, Alice (2009). The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes and Methods of Playing etc. (Complete). Library of Alexandria Publishing. ISBN 9781465572899.
  11. ^ "Lerrets and Fishing Off Chesil Beach". Dorset Ancestors. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Newton (2014), p. 16.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Newton (2014), p. 17.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h Newton (2014), p. 18.
  15. ^ Barnes (1863), p. 84.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i Newton (2014), p. 19.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g Newton (2014), p. 20.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Newton (2014), p. 21.

References

edit
  • Barnes, William (1863), A Grammar and Glossary of the Dorset Dialect, Berlin: A. Asher and Co.
  • Newton, Gill (2014), Dorset Dialect, Sheffield: Bradwell Books, ISBN 9781910551011

Harvey, PJ (2022), Orlam, London: Picador, pp. 283–297, ISBN 978-1-5290-6311-0