JERSEY WORDS AND PHRASES
WITH THEIR EQUIVALENTS IN ENGLISH OR FRENCH
A bi’tot = a bientot.
Achocre = dolt, ass.
Ah bah! (Difficult to render in English, but meaning much the same as
“Well! well!”)
Ah be! = eh bien.
Alles kedainne = to go quickly, to skedaddle.
Bachouar = a fool.
Ba su! = bien sur.
Bashin = large copper-lined stew-pan.
Batd’lagoule = chatterbox.
Bedgone = shortgown or deep bodice of print.
Beganne = daft fellow.
Biaou = beau.
Bidemme! = exclamation of astonishment.
Bouchi = mouthful.
Bilzard = idiot.
Chelin = shilling.
Ch’est ben = c’est bien.
Cotil = slope of a dale.
Coum est qu’on etes? }
Coum est qu’ou vos portest? } Comment vous portez-vous!
Couzain or couzaine = cousin.
Crasset = metal oil-lamp of classic shape.
Critchett = cricket.
Diantre = diable.
Dreschiaux = dresser.
E’fant = enfant.
E’fin = enfin.
Eh ben = eh bien.
Esmanus = scarecrow.
Es-tu gentiment? = are you well?
Et ben = and now.
Gache-a-penn! = misery me!
Gaderabotin! = deuce take it!
Garche = lass.
Gatd’en’ale! = God be with us!
Grandpethe = grandpere.
Han = kind of grass for the making of ropes, baskets, etc.
Hanap = drinking-cup.
Hardi = very.
Hus = lower half of a door. (Doors of many old Jersey houses were
divided horizontally, for protection against cattle, to let out the
smoke, etc.)
Je me crais; je to crais; je crais ben! = I believe it; true for you; I
well believe it!
Ma fe! }
Ma fistre! }= ma foi!
Ma fuifre! }
Mai grand doux! = but goodness gracious!
Man doux! = my good, oh dear! (Originally man Dieu!)
Man doux d’la vie! = upon my life!
Man gui, mon pethe! = mon Dieu, mon pere!
Man pethe benin! = my good father!
Marchi = marche.
Mogue = drinking-cup.
Nannin; nannin-gia! = no; no indeed!
Ni bouf ni baf } Expression of absolute negation, untranslatable.
Ni fiche ni bran }
Oui-gia! = yes indeed!
Par made = par mon Dieu.
Pardi! }
Pardingue! }= old forms of par Dieul
Pergui! }
Pend’loque = ragamuffin.
Queminzolle = overcoat.
Racllyi = hanging rack from the rafters of a kitchen.
Respe d’la compagnie! = with all respect for present company.
Shale ben = very well.
Simnel = a sort of biscuit, cup-shaped, supposed to represent unleavened
bread, specially eaten at Easter.
Soupe a la graisse = very thin soup, chiefly made of water, with a few
vegetables and some dripping.
Su’ m’n ame = sur mon ame!
Tcheche? = what’s that you say?
Trejous = toujours.
Tres-ba = tres bien.
Veille = a wide low settle. (Probably from lit de fouaille.) Also
applied to evening gatherings, when, sitting cross-legged on the
veille, the neighbours sang, talked, and told stories.
Verges = the land measure of Jersey, equal to forty perches. Two and a
quarter vergees are equivalent to the English acre.
Vier = vieux.
Vraic = a kind of sea-weed.
ETEXT EDITOR’S BOOKMARKS:
A sort of chuckle not entirely pleasant
Adaptability was his greatest weapon in life
Being tired you can sleep, and in sleep you can forget
Cling to beliefs long after conviction has been shattered
Egotism with which all are diseased
Egregious egotism of young love there are only two identities
Follow me; if I retreat, kill me; if I fall, avenge me
Futility of goodness, the futility of all
He felt things, he did not study them
Her voice had the steadiness of despair
If women hadn’t memory, she answered, they wouldn’t have much
It is not the broken heart that kills, but broken pride
It is easy to repent when our pleasures have palled
It’s the people who try to be clever who never are
Joy of a confessional which relieves the sick heart
Kissed her twice on the cheek—the first time in fifteen years
Knew the lie of silence to be as evil as the lie of speech
Lilt of existence lulling to sleep wisdom and tried experience
Lonely we come into the world, and lonely we go out of it
Never to be content with superficial reasons and the obvious
No news—no trouble
Often, we would rather be hurt than hurt
People who are clever never think of trying to be
Queer that things which hurt most can’t be punished by law
Rack of secrecy, the cruelest inquisition of life
Sacrifice to the god of the pin-hole
Sardonic pleasure in the miseries of the world
Sympathy, with curiousness in their eyes and as much inhumanity
Thanked him in her heart for the things he had left unsaid
There was never a grey wind but there’s a greyer
There is something humiliating in even an undeserved injury
Uses up your misery and makes you tired (Work)
War is cruelty, and none can make it gentle
We care so little for real justice
What fools there are in the world