Cornish strange phrases. (a bit of fun)

[elf69]

OK I'm Cornish and so is my parents and theirs so I'm safe here taking the Micky a little.

I thought I'd share some of our strange Cornish phrases with rest of the world, or at least you lot here, lol

1."Dreckly" – The task in question will be completed, however it is unlikely to be done in the immediate future. This is a measure of time between 7 hours and 7 days from the time it is spoken.

2. "Aright, my 'ansum?" – How are you? (Can be used to greet strangers or friends alike)

3. "Wasson me cock?" – Hello my friend, what are your plans at present?

4. "Come on, y'buggers" – Come on, chaps.

5. "Giss on!" – Are you pulling my leg?

6. "Wozelike?!" – Always up to something that little scamp.

7. "Dearovim!" – Oh, pour soul. He never has much luck.

8. "Thasit me lover, geddon me cock!" – We've cracked it, fantastic effort.

9. "Wasson shag?" – Hello, how are you? (although this one is rarely used)

10. "Ibeleebn" – Time for me to leave.

11. "I'm rufazrats" – I'm not feeling my best. (Often uttered the morning after a night on the Spingo at The Blue Anchor).

12. "'E's teasy as'n'adder" – Keep your distance, he's not in a good mood.

13. "Backofforillsmackee" – Continue to aggravate me at your peril.

14. "Wats splann?" – So what are we going to do today then?

15. "Piddledowndidda?" – Did it rain much?

16. "Pizendawn" – I wouldn't venture outside, it's rather wet.

17. "Bleddy 'ansum that is" – That is very good.

18. "Pastydiddy?" – Did you pass them/it on your travels?

19. "Bettergorgitten" – It's ok, I shall go and retrieve the said item.

20. "Costymuchdida?" – How much did you pay for said item?

21. "Diddyabm?" – Did you follow through with the purchase?

22. "Proper job!" – Absolutely fantastic.

23. "Ya gate bleddy tuss!" – Don't be so stupid you absolute fool.

24. "Likun diddy?" – Did you like it?

25. "Fariza?" – How far is it?

26. "'E's gone up north" – He's crossed the Tamar.

27. "Leave it abroad" – Don't shut the door.

28. "Killundiddy?" – Did you kill the person who knocked your pint over?

29. "That was a fair old stank" – That walk was a considerable distance.

30. "Zackly" – Agreed.

31. "I kent membr" – I can't recall that I'm afraid.

32. "Gotunavee?" – Did you remember the item in question?

33. "I'llItellywot" – You're not going to believe this.

34. "Diddynawn?" – Are you familiar with the man in question and what is he like?

35. "Pally widden, wazza?" – Was he a friend of yours?

36. "Owaree pard?" – How are you mate?

37. "Fercrisaeik, ellydoinov?" – What the heck were you thinking of?

38. "Mygar, tizzardlee on!" – My god, this isn't on.

39. "Ullon yaw!" – Just wait a minute.

40. "Cain telly" – I'm afraid I can't share such details.

41. "Awright'n aree?" – Are you alright?

42. "Wossmarrwiddee?" – You seem upset, is there anything I can do to help?

All bit fun but these are actual phrases taken from Cornish site and most them I know and or have used.

Anyone else have regional phrases they want share?
Or if ya wanna take Micky out us Cornish go one then we hard skinned down here, just try not get us teasy as an adder lol

 

[casperes1996]

I had a brillant time playing guess what it means.

I urge anybody else to not read the meaning before making a guess as to what the phrase could be. I got a fair portion of them correct, although I didn't keep score. I think I'll try it out on me girlfriend and see how she fares...

I particularly enjoyed the redden me cock one.


I've always loved the Celtic sounds. Welsh, Cornish, the whole bunch!

 

[D.T.]

Nice, I plan on incorporating these into daily usage

 

[elf69]

anyone got a favourite in the list yet?

lol we are a strange bunch down 'ere

they even started putting some like these on back of local buses!

here is just few:

https://i1.wp.com/cornishstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/zackly-woss-needed.jpg?resize=480,480

and

https://i1.wp.com/cornishstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/back-of-the-bus.jpg?resize=195,259
[doublepost=1517586499][/doublepost]just found this one too:

https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4174/34480145331_5a05c02a96_b.jpg

 

[keysofanxiety]

You forgot the classic “Ooo-ar”, which could mean anything from a nod of agreement, to a display of affection for their battered red tractor. This is normally punctuated by a tip of their farmer’s hat and a jolly good chew on the straw of hay in their mouth.

Mind you, I’m not from Cornwall, so I might be missing the mark a little...

 

[AlliFlowers]

No wonder Americans get confused when they travel. They actually believe they're going to another English speaking country!

 

[A.Goldberg]

That’s like a whole new language right there.

It’s like when I moved to Boston and gave up trying to pronounce names of towns and areas. I eventually gave up. Everything is spelled one way but pronounced entirely different as letters just seem to be ignored.

Worcester - Wuster (or Wustahh)
Leicester - Lester (or Les-tah)
Gloucester - Glawster (Or Glawstah)
Copley- Cop-Lee (not cope-Lee)
Woburn- Woobin
Billerica- Bill Ricca
Peabody - Pea-bud-de
Waltham- Wahl-thum
Leominster - Lem-minster (or leh-minstah)
Haverhill - Have-rill

The best was when I was at a grocery store and asked where I could find matches. The guy told me it was down the isle near the “chahco”, I repeated back “chahco?” Multiple time’s questioning what “chahco” was. The guy started to get angry... it turns out he was saying “charcoal”.

 

[chown33]

One time going thru the airline security checkpoint in Phoenix, a TSA agent asked me if my bag had "Any shops?" (that was literally the entire question). I asked him to repeat the question, so he said, "Any shops in the bag?". I then had to ask what he meant by "shops", to which he replied "Shops. Shop objects. That maht cut me." At that point I'd heard enough context to recognize his accent, and realized he meant "sharps" or "sharp objects". I would at least have been prepared for the accent if I were flying in the Northeast, but in Phoenix it was unexpected.

 

[0002378]

Sounds a bit like Scouse aka Liverpudlian

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-sayings-top-26-things-6463028
[doublepost=1517611980][/doublepost]

One time going thru the airline security checkpoint in Phoenix, a TSA agent asked me if my bag had "Any shops?" (that was literally the entire question). I asked him to repeat the question, so he said, "Any shops in the bag?". I then had to ask what he meant by "shops", to which he replied "Shops. Shop objects. That maht cut me." At that point I'd heard enough context to recognize his accent, and realized he meant "sharps" or "sharp objects". I would at least have been prepared for the accent if I were flying in the Northeast, but in Phoenix it was unexpected.

I was on a SouthWest flight to San Diego. I asked for some tomato juice.

Flight attendant: Would you like some laaaaam with that ?
(Me thinks, "Lamb with tomato juice ?")
Me: I'm sorry ? Lamb ?
Flight attendant: Laaaaam
(Me thinks I don't want lamb with my tomato juice, best to refuse the lamb)
Me: No, thank you.

(Me thinks for a few seconds)

Ohhhhhhh, lime !

(She comes back with my juice)
Me: Where are you from ?
Flight attendant: West Virginia

 

[casperes1996]

(She comes back with my juice)
Me: Where are you from ?
Flight attendant: West Virginia

Actually now that you mention that - I did go to school with someone who consistently said vagina instead of Virginia.....Not as a joke. This was just how this girl said Virginia. She never understood why people giggled

 

[elf69]

Well I found some words that both the Celtic language of "Cornish" use as well as the English language yet both have different meanings:

BALL - In the Oxford English Dictionary is described as: “A solid or hollow spherical or egg-shaped object that is kicked, thrown, or hit in a game.”

But in Cornish, it means ‘pest’.

BAY - Being surrounded by the sea, ‘bay’ is not an uncommon word in Cornwall.

But in Cornish bay doesn’t mean an ocean inlet, it means ‘kiss’.

BELL - The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘bell’ as: “A hollow metal object, typically in the shape of a deep inverted cup widening at the lip, that sounds a clear musical note when struck, especially by means of a clapper inside.”

In Cornish it has a very different meaning, as it is actually used as the word for ‘war’.

BEN - OK, it’s not necessarily an everyday word in the English language, but it is a popular name.

However in Cornish, ‘ben’ actually means ‘foot’ or ‘woman’.

BEST - Best in the Oxford Dictionary is described as: “Of the most excellent or desirable type or quality.”

In Cornish, it means ‘animal’.

BLEW - In English, ‘blew’ is the past tense word for ‘blow’, but in Cornish it actually means ‘hair’.

BONK - In English ‘bonk’ is used to describe something being hit by, or hitting, something or to describe a sexual encounter.

In Cornish, it means ‘bang’.

BREW - ‘Brew’ is used in English to describe making beer, or tea or coffee, but in Cornish it actually means ‘broken’.

BRO - A slang term used for ‘brother’; in Cornish, ‘bro’ means ‘county’ or ‘land’.

BROWS - ‘Brows’ in English is a shortened form of the word ‘eyebrows’.

In Cornish, ‘brows’ takes on the completely different meaning ‘crumbled material’.

BUSH - The Oxford Dictionary describes ‘bush’ as, “a shrub or clump of shrubs with stems of moderate length”.

In Cornish, ‘bush’ means ‘crowd’.

DUMBLEDORE - A well-known character in the Harry Potter series, ‘Dumbledore’ reportedly used to mean ‘thorn’ or ‘bramble’ in Old Cornish.

FALL - The Oxford Dictionary’s defines ‘fall’ as: "Move from a higher to a lower level, typically rapidly and without control.”

In Cornish, it actually means ‘failure’, which is slightly relative, because if you do fall you have become a failure at doing whatever you intended to do instead of falling.

HELL - In English, ‘hell’ is used as a term to describe an evil place that some believe those who have not lived their lives as they should have, will be sent to after death.

In Cornish ‘hell’ means ‘reluctant’ – which is ironic as you would probably be reluctant to go to hell.

HI - A pleasant form of greeting in English, ‘hi’ actually means ‘she’ in Cornish.

LAW - The Oxford Dictionary says that ‘law’ is: “The system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.”

In Cornish it means ‘miserable’.

LUCK - ‘Luck’ is described in the Oxford Dictionary as: “Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions.”

In Cornish the word ‘luck’ means ‘enough’.

MOON - The English word given to describe the celestial object that orbits the Earth every 29.5 days, ‘moon’ in Cornish means ‘thin’ or ‘mineral’.

POKEMON - It might be a well-known Japanese TV series and game, but in the 19 century, long before the anime classic even existed, ‘pokemon’ was Cornish for ‘clumsy’. I actually googled this one, dates back to 19th century.

RUST - ‘Rust’ is used in English is the word used to describe what happens to iron or steel when it oxidises over time.

In Cornish, ‘rust’ means ‘rough’.

SORT - The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘sort’ as: “A category of things or people with a common feature; a type.”

In Cornish it means ‘kind’.

STAG - In English ‘stag’ is the name given to a male deer, but in Cornish, it means ‘attached’.

SLIM - The next time you think about paying someone the compliment of looking ‘slim’ you might want to consider that in Cornish it actually means ‘slime’.

 

[casperes1996]

Your posts about Cornish are brillant, mate. The Dumbledore one was hilarious
@elf69

 

[Tinmania]

Quick question. What the heck is up with the tiny chickens? Gotunavee?

 

[elf69]

Quick question. What the heck is up with the tiny chickens? Gotunavee?

not sure what you mean by chickens?

"Gotunavee" (got-un-av-ee) translates to "got it have you?"

some times it said "aveegotun" (av-ee-got-un).

I love our odd dialect here.

 

[casperes1996]

some times it said "aveegotun" (av-ee-got-un).

I actually find this super easy to parse. It's just like "Have you got one" said with a thick accent.

 

[Tinmania]

not sure what you mean by chickens?

Apologies. I assumed the Cornish Game Hens I see at the supermarket here in the US originated in Cornwall. Alas that seems to be mostly a US marketing name for a hybrid. My "reply first, google later" technique has failed again.



Mike

 

[elf69]

here is few more place names to amuse you.

the very last one is fun...

https://www.visitcornwall.com/about...what-weird-and-wonderful-place-names-cornwall
[doublepost=1517929951][/doublepost]A bit of background to a lot of our place names down 'ere:

'By Tre, Pol and Pen shall ye know Cornishmen,' goes the rhyme recorded by Richard Carew in his Survey of Cornwall in 1602.

They're an integral part of many of our Cornish place names, from Penzance to Polzeath, Trewellard to Tresillian.

But do you know what they mean?

Tre means a homestead and you'll find these homesteads across Cornwall, from Trebah to Trelissick, Tremough to Tregony.

Pol means a pool. The most popular towns using this prefix include Polzeath, Polruan, Polperro and Polkerris.

Pen is the Cornish for head. Penzance, Penryn, Pentire and Penrice all feature this prefix.

Perran is another popular Cornish prefix, deriving from St Piran, the patron saint of tin miners and Cornwall. Perranporth, Perranarworthal and Perranuthonoe use this word.

Porth means a bay, port or harbour, as in Porthleven, Porthtowan, Porthmeor, Porthgwidden and Porthcurno.

Ros means moor, heath or common and can be found in the Roseland, Roskear and Roseworthy.

 

[NeilHD]

No wonder Americans get confused when they travel. They actually believe they're going to another English speaking country!

What you really mean is "they actually believe they are from an English speaking country".

English is spoken in England. Whatever bastardisation they speak in the USA is not English

 

[casperes1996]

What you really mean is "they actually believe they are from an English speaking country".

English is spoken in England. Whatever bastardisation they speak in the USA is not English

The lot of you seem to have confused dialects and languages. Though granted, the lines can get blurry

 

[Falhófnir]

And I thought it was going to be phrases in actual Cornish tbh most of those wouldn't seem that out of place here in Dorset - though alas RP seems to be slowly taking over here

 

[NeilHD]

The lot of you seem to have confused dialects and languages. Though granted, the lines can get blurry

There are indeed dialects all over England... no confusion here

 

[jerwin]

not sure what you mean by chickens?

In the United States, there's a variety of poultry known as the "Cornish Game Hen". (Agricultural brand names can have a tenuous connection with reality)/

 

[elf69]

In the United States, there's a variety of poultry known as the "Cornish Game Hen". (Agricultural brand names can have a tenuous connection with reality)/

Yeah same here a big chain was sued here in UK as it used a fictitious farm name to promote its sausages.
Turns out there was a sausage maker with that name so they sued the big chain, or at least tried to.
I lost track of the case and how it ended.

 

[casperes1996]

There are indeed dialects all over England... no confusion here

Australian English, US English, Canadian English, etc. Remarkable how all those "languages" then share common words and grammar to such a degree that they can be understood and intercommunication possible without as much as a hitch in most cases

 

[AlliFlowers]

I shared the original post in this thread with my mother. She then told me the story of going with my dad to visit friends in Cornwall, and how they spent a lovely evening dining and drinking...and nodding their heads because they didn't understand a single word of the conversation.

Which then reminded me of a drunken new year's eve phone call from a friend of mine in Scotland. He was from Argyle and had a very thick accent to start with. The drunker he got, the thicker the brogue.