‘Noo leeak hard at it, that’s “C,” nut “O”; noo leeak hard, an’ bear it i’ mahnd,’ said an old country schoolmaster.
‘Ho’d on a bit, thoo’s nut gahin’ ti rahd rough-shod ower me.’ ‘Ho’d on a bit,’ spoken in an ordinary tone, means simply ‘wait,’ ‘stay a moment.’ But in case of an argument, its utterance conveys the information that the tongue of one of the disputants is wagging a little too freely, or it may imply, ‘cease speaking altogether.’ E.g. I heard a man say the other day to a fellow workman: ‘Thoo ho’d on a bit, wa’ve ’ed eneaf o’ thi blather,’ i.e. ‘you cease speaking (hold your noise), we have had enough of your silly talk.’ The tone of the ‘thoo’ gave such an emphasis, that there could be no mistaking the command which it implied. On the other hand, ‘Here, Ah saay, ho’d on a bit,’ carries no greater weight than ‘That will do for the present.’
‘To ride rough-shod over any one’=utterly ignoring or treating with contempt their desires and wishes.
‘Wa’ve been tul him, an’ wa’ve tell’t him ez plaan ez wa c’u’d what wa wanted an’ what wa meant ti ’ev, an’ wa didn’t minsh matters nowther; an’ when wa’d deean, he just to’n’d roond, an’ tell’d uz ’at wa mud jump up all t’ lot on uz for owt ’at he cared; he s’u’d gan his awn gate, neea matter what wa sed or did. Ah tell ya what, chaps—it seeams ti me ez if he meant ti rahd rough-shod ower t’ lot on uz.’
- ‘Minsh matters’=not speaking in a straightforward way; another form of the same expression is, ‘nut ti be ower neyce,’ not over-nice, careless as to expressions or the method employed.
- To tell a person he may ‘jump up,’ means he may just do as he likes.
- ‘To gan one’s awn gate’=going our own way, i.e. acting as we think best.
‘Ah deean’t reckon mich on him—he diz ivverything by fits an’ starts, an’ ya caan’t lay onny store byv owt he sez he’s at t’ beck an’ call ov ivverybody; an’ he’s fo’st this road an’ then that, whahl yan caan’t pleeace neea dependence on owt ’at he owther sez or diz.’
- ‘Reckon’=think.
- ‘Fits an’ starts’=erratically and at odd times.
- ‘To lay store by’=to value, to believe in, trust.
- ‘Beck an’ call’=to be the servant of any one who beckons or calls.
- ‘Fo’st this road an’ then that’=first one way and then another, unstable.
The following are also commonly heard:—
- ‘To give oneself airs,’ i.e. to ape manners, &c., above one’s station in life.
- ‘To be despert thrang,’ i.e. being very busy.
- ‘Almost any day’=at any time.
- ‘Might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb,’ i.e. might as well be punished for committing a big fault as a little one.
- ‘As good luck would have it’=as good fortune happened.
- ‘Away’=continue. ‘He may knock away, I shan’t go to the door,’ i.e. he may continue knocking.
- ‘To fancy oneself’ is to be conceited.
- ‘As matters stand’=as things are.
- ‘At all events’=in any case.
- ‘From the bottom of the heart,’ i.e. wholly, absolutely. Ex. ‘I believe what you say from the bottom of my heart.’
- ‘Cut an’ come again’=help yourself; when you have eaten that, have more.
- ‘Dragged by wild horses,’ torture in any form. ‘I wadn’t ‘ tell’d owt; neea, Ah’d ’a’e been dragged aboot wi’ wild hosses fost;’ i.e. I would have been put to torture first.
- ‘To follow like a shadow’ is to keep close to.
- ‘For my own part’=to my way of thinking.
- ‘As far as in one lies’=to the best of one’s ability.
- ‘Not to allow the grass to grow under one’s feet’ is to be very energetic, diligent in business.
- ‘To be hand and glove with any one,’ is to be very intimately associated with them.
- ‘For once in a way’=this time, just once.
- ‘To scrape one’s tongue’=to talk affectedly.
- ‘To be over head and ears in anything’=to be completely so—over head and ears in debt, in love, &c.
- ‘To hang heavy on one’s hands’=to be difficult to dispose of.
- ‘Not to know whether one is on his head or his heels’ is to be absolutely bewildered.
- ‘On that score’=on that account.
- ‘Over and above (ower an’ aboon)’=more than. Ex. ‘An’ ower an’ aboon that he sed——,’ and more than that he said——.
- ‘To pour into one’s ears’=giving information with great unction.
- ‘To quake in one’s shoes (ti quake in yan’s shoon)’=to be in great fear.
- ‘Spoil the ship for a happorth of tar’=penny wise and pound foolish.
- ‘To stir up strife’=making mischief.
- ‘Stir your stumps,’ or ‘cut your sticks’=off you go.
- ‘To the top of one’s bent’=to fully carry out our inclination.
- ‘That’s telling,’ often said after a question has been asked, and implies, ‘You would like to know, but I shall not tell you.’
- ‘Up to Dick’=just as it should be, perfection.
- ‘To be wrang i’ t’ heead’=being out of one’s mind.
- ‘Not to be worth one’s salt’=useless.
- ‘To sleep like a top’=to sleep soundly.
To conclude. It was said of one, who was somewhat inclined to be a fop,