Now, why the good lady should promise to call for him when he had come, and to assure the gentleman it was of no use calling him when he arrived, because she had done so many a time before, didn’t leave things as clear as they might have been. What she really meant to say was, ‘I will shout for him, and give him a scolding when he comes; but really scolding is of little use, as I have done so many a time before.’
A little way back the word ‘aim’ was used—‘if thoo aims ti mak him hear.’
‘Aim’=‘to intend,’ ‘to hope,’ ‘to think,’ ‘to go.’
- ‘Ah aim ti git deean ti-day’=I intend to get done to-day; or, I hope to get done to-day.
- ‘Ah aim ’at sha’ll git better’=I think that she will get better.
- ‘Ah aim ’at he’s a better talker ’an t’ parson’=I think that he is a better speaker than the parson.
- ‘He’s aiming t’ wrang road’=He’s going in the wrong direction.
- ‘Ah aim ’at it’s good eneeaf ti deea’=I think that it is easy enough to do.
The word ‘good’=‘easy,’ also ‘considerable.’
- ‘Ther war a good lot o’ sheep an’ a goodish few pigs,’ i.e. There were a considerable number of sheep, and equally so of pigs.
‘Good’ also=‘well.’
- ‘Thoo mud ez good cum ti morn ez t’ daay eftther’=You may as well come in the morning as the day after.
‘To lap up a thing’ is ‘to conclude,’ ‘finish,’ ‘overcome.’
- ‘Ah s’all lap it up iv a minit’=I shall be done in a minute.
- ‘Ah’ll seean lap yon job up’=I will soon end that affair.
- ‘If Ah caan’t lap yon chap up, Ah’ll gi’e ower’=If I cannot overcome (thrash) yon man, I will give over; literally, I will admit my incapacity to do anything.