Ok, Paul, a literal-ish translation from Hindi/Urdu would be
"My three children are" - Mere tiin bachche hai
"To me a headache is" - Mujhe sardard hai
"Near-to-me a car is" - Mere paas kaar hai - this construction is only used of possessions.
"Hai" is pronounced as in "hen" without the n except when it's plural when it's pronounced er... like a French person saying "hen". You need to hear it to appreciate the difference.
Come on you Asians, back me up - it sounds like I'm making this up as I go along!
Ref. traipsing.....Brummie word?
I've always used that, and no-one understands me down here!Oh yes, lol lol, when it's raining I say
"have you been singing in the bath?"
I just get blanks looks, and a reply
"Errr, no, why?"
Cracks me up everytime.
the somerset thing....
"where you get that to?"....where did you get that?
"borrow me a fiver?"....lend me a fiver
"you're lush you are"....you are lovely
I very much like Worcestershire/Black Country grammar. My sister married into that tribe, and I've heard:
You am, we am, they am.
In Cornwall you get:
You'm, we'm, they'm
but only further north (to my knowledge) do they separate the forms out into two words.
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Talking of "mardy", the Cornish have the word "teasy" for the same thing, but I expect that spreads further than Cornwall. I'm nervous of using it in a story in case it appears to mean "teasing".
I like "proper", or "proper job", used almost the way the Italians use "prego".
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What I meant about "emmets" being an ignorant expression is that it is not nice, in my opinion, to use derogatory words for visitors - it comes out of the same bag as racism - particularly when they bring so much business and life to the county. (You should see it in winter.)
Attitudes to visitors vary from town to town. In Camelford, where I live, there is little hostility to visitors, because it isn't a tourist town, as such, and visitors add welcome spice. (If there's anyone in the town who hasn't shagged a holidaymaker I'd be surprised.) Five miles away in Tintagel, which teems with visitors like an anthill, the attitude is different and the prices higher, so maybe the word "emmets" is used more often over there. Savvy holidaymakers often come inland for their evening booze up.
The word "strangers" is used throughout Cornwall, which always sounds slightly nineteenth century to me, but it is usually said without a negative implication.
d.beswetherick.
Ah, actually that sort of makes sense.
In German, "I am" is often "ich bin" - although sometimes they use "to me is": "Mir ist". It's as well not to get them confused.
Mir ist heiss - I am hot (temperature-wise)
Ich bin heiss - I am hot (as in, HOT TO TROT, baby!)
Mir ist kalt - I am cold
Ich bin kalt - I am frigid
Mir ist warm - I am warm
Ich bin warm - I am gay
Where was I?
a man once ended an email "take care and don't be such a stranger" I didn't reply to him again as I thought he meant I was weird and freaked him out. A year later when someone said it to me again I realised it is meant in a friendly way meaning 'don't leave it so long next time' or whatever!
OOps - should really read the whole thread before I posted.
Ginnel = alley/side street.
Somewhen = another time.
(northern)
No-one knows what I'm talking about when I use that expression. I moved from Leeds to Bath when I was a child and I seriously thought I spoke a diferent language. I didn't understand 'alroight?' was a friendly greeting.
'I'm mint' =I'm fine/great etc.
When asking the whereabouts of something; 'where to?'
Didn't get that for ages, used to say 'where to what? Not going anywhere.'
Made a right plonker of myself for years. Still do now ocassionally. I'm in London now so there's a whole new set of phrases to learn.
"Namastee" - Hello.
"aap sab se mil ke khushi huie" - Its nice to meet you all
"ayeeae batein karein" - come, let us chat.
"buddhe" - oldy
"takla" - baldy
Some Hindi for you all.
Tony enjoy some Hindi words.
"phir milangay" - see you soon.
Gouri :-)
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