Yorkshire Sayings, Slang, Expressions & Phrases - How To Speak Yorkshire (original) (raw)

Nah then, ‘ere’s a guide to chattin’ reight Yorkshire! (Hello, here is a guide to proper Yorkshire dialect)

You’ll learn both funny and old Yorkshire sayings, quotes, and proverbs. Some are broad Yorkshire, and others are more subtle. These Yorkshire dialect phrases come from all over God’s own county. Follow these and you’ll be speaking like a tyke in no time.

Jump to Yorkshire Dictionary

Firstly, ye ‘ave tuh drop yer ‘H’ as in ‘has’ and ‘her’, and yer ‘T’ as in ‘that’ and ‘cat’, replacing the ‘T’ with a slight ‘h’ sound, known as a Glottal Stop (try not to choke!).

Everyone has heard of the phrase “Tin Tin Tin”, usually spoken as if it means something. Actually, it should be written more like: ‘t’in’t in’t tin.. as in “It isn’t in the tin”. See how it works? Lots of dropping of T’s.

Nobody really uses that phrase by the way.

As for H’s at the start of words and G’s after INGs, Yorkshire folk tend not to bother with them if they’re not too important. We’re far too busy.

So we aren’t having a very nice time on holiday staying in a hotel. Instead we would be ‘avin’ a reet good ‘olidee at an ‘otel.

You’ll notice AY sounds tend to be more of an EE sound, as do some I sounds (as in right). So nothing is very nice, it’s reet good.

Other rules of Yorkshire speak

We tend not to say “OUR”, instead we say “US” as in “Where’s us car?”

THE almost always becomes a Glottal Stop. As it AM OFF T’ SHOP (I’m going to the shop).

GOING usually gets replaced with OFF.

I’M sounds more like AM.

TH can be dropped into a Glottal Stop at the end of a word. WITH would become WI’ – as AM ‘ERE WI’ JOHN.

Anyone can be called “LOVE”, “M’LOVE” “PAL” or “FELLA”. it’s one of the things that makes Yorkshire folk seem so friendly.

As mentioned above, Yorkshire dialect rarely uses “VERY”, instead “REET”. We also have some very old-English based words for that, such as “GRADLY” and “GRAND”. Something great would be “REET GRAND” instead of “VERY GOOD”.

And don’t forget to speak to EVERYONE, including strangers. We know some of you southern types will be wincing into your shandies at that thought, but a “MORNIN’ LOVE, GRAND DAY I’N’IT” can really make someone’s day.

If you’ve come this far in learnin’ Yorkshire, yer might as well be friendly wi’ it!

Friendliness and politeness are heavily implied in the way we speak. Any compliment we give you is laced with true and deep feeling – otherwise you wouldn’t get one.

Beware the non-Yorkshire folk speaking Yorkshire

You’ll hear some southern comedians simply trying to add a T onto words to do a Yorkshire accent (Michael McIntyre, we’re looking at you pal. We’ll ‘av yer). Honestly, they look more stupid than they are trying to make us look. The Yorkshire tongue is far more subtle than that.

Yorkshire is more than just an accent and dialect and there isn’t really such a thing as “Yorkshire Slang”. Our dialect has historical roots going back to the Viking Invasion of Britain and is the basis for quite a lot of Modern English.

So forget the Queen’s English, Yorkshire is the basis for the entire English language. We’re reet, you’re not… an’ dunt le’ anyone tell thee utherwise!

Ready to practice some Yorkshire phrasing?

‘er ca’ ‘as a fa’ ra’ stashed in t’coil ‘oyle

TRANSLATION “Her cat has a fat rat stuffed in the coal cellar”.

‘ere, wot’s f’r us tea Mutha?

TRANSLATION “Excuse me Mum, what are we having for dinner?”

eee, tha’s a reet gradly brew tha’

TRANSLATION “oh my goodness, this is a wonderful cup of tea. Thank you from the very bottom of my heart”

Want to learn more about Yorkshire’s language?

Well ‘ere’s a glossary for yer. Tha’ll be giving Sean Bean a run fer ‘is moneh in nor tarme!

Below is a list of common Yorkshire Words, Sayings, Phrases and Expressions, along with their meanings…

The Ultimate Yorkshire Sayings Dictionary

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D

E

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G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

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T

U

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W

Y