The dialect of the Black Country area remains perhaps one of the last examples of early English still spoken today.
The word endings with 'en' are still noticeable in conversation as in 'gooen' (going), callen (calling) and the vowel 'A' is pronounced as 'O' as in sond (sand), hond (hand) and mon (man).Other pronunciations are 'winder' for window, 'fer' for far, and 'loff' for laugh - exactly as Chaucer's English was spoken.
This "dictionary" is Black Country in general and not particularly Sedgley in origin.
Local dialect was (and probably still is to a lesser degree) quite distinctive between the different towns and villages of the Black Country
. 
Sarah YATES (nee MILLARD)
1886-1970
My Maternal Grandmother, see photograph above - to whom this page is dedicated - reckoned that she could tell which Black Country village a person came from
by the way they spoke. This has probably changed today due to the greater mobility of people.
| Dialect word |
Meaning |
| Babby |
Baby |
| Backerds (backeds) |
Backwards (thanks to Paul Bowdler for this one) |
| Barly |
a truce. Sometimes "Arley-Barly" is used. (Possibly a corruption from the French "Parlez" to talk?) |
| the Baggies |
West Bromwich Albion Football Club (not a very good one!) |
| Bai or bay |
am not, eg "I bay gooin' ter tell yow agen" |
| Bally |
Belly, stomach (Thanks to Zoë Miller from Cradley Heath) |
| Bamboozle |
puzzle, bemuse |
| Barmpot |
A silly person |
| Barmy |
Daft, silly |
| Bawk |
hinder or confuse. Probably from Balk |
| Bay or Baynt |
am not |
| Beezum |
a broom of birch, also playfully used to refer to a pert young woman |
| Bibble |
A pebble |
| Bin |
been, have been, are, have I bin affirmative reply to question |
| Bist |
are, eg "how bist yow?" = How are you? |
| Bisn't |
aren't, opposite of Bist. eg "Bisn't gooin up the shaps?" for "You're not going up the shops?" (Thanks to Lee Marshall of Darlaston for this one) |
| Blaberen |
to talk idly |
| Black Bat |
Black Beetle (Thanks to Lyn Corbett) |
| Bladda or Bladder |
Balloon (Thanks to Sean Percival of Oldbury) |
| Blart |
cry - from "the bleating of sheep" |
| Blether |
to talk nonsense or talk incessantly. "Blether yed" blether head = someone who talks nonesense, a fool. |
| Blobmouth |
blabbermouth eg "'Ers a right blobmouth. Tell 'er terday, the world knows tomorrer" |
| Blubren |
crying, eg "Ar kids blubren agen" |
| Bobhowlers |
Any large moth |
| Boffle |
hinder |
| Bonk |
bank or small hill. Pitbonk = hill made from mine waste |
| Bost |
broken or burst, past tense Bosted |
| Boster |
something big or possibly something good |
| Bostin |
literally "bursting" but actually "very good indeed" eg "We 'ad a bostin time" or "Ers a bostin wench" |
| (on the) box |
off work, sick |
| Bowk |
A very large recepticle like a skip (Thanks to Sean Percival of Oldbury) |
| Breffus |
breakfast |
| Brummagem |
Birmingham |
| Bunny-fire |
bonfire |
| Buz |
Bus |
| Dialect word |
Meaning |
| Caggy or caghanded |
left-handed - all the best people are! |
| Cag-mag |
Bad or rotting meat |
| Camplin |
gossiping |
| Cant(in) |
gossip(ing) |
| Catlick |
hasty wash |
| Caw or cor |
cannot, eg "I cor goo the'er terday" |
| Chawl |
Pork |
| Chops |
mouth or cheeks |
| Chimdy or chimly or chimbly |
chimney |
| Chuffed |
pleased |
| Chuck |
Throw |
| Chuky or chooky |
chicken, fowl (children's word) also Chooky Egg |
| Chunter |
grumble under one's breath |
| Clack |
uvula, eg "Just stop yer clack" |
| Clarnet |
idiot, fool. "Yo' daft clarnet!" |
| Clane |
Clean |
| Clemmed or clammed |
starved or hungry |
| Clobber |
clothes or possibly to hit someone |
| Clomber |
climb |
| Cocka/Cocker |
mate, friend (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Cockaver |
a smack (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Codge |
a poor job, eg "He's made a right codge of it" |
| Cog-nogger or Cog-nocker |
Thick Sandwich (variation on Noggin) |
| Coddin |
joking, kidding, eg "Goo on, yum coddin me" |
| Coost |
could you ?, also negative "thee coosnt" |
| Coot |
coat |
| Cor or cort |
can't |
| cork-aiver or cog-winder |
a good punch |
| Cost |
can you ?, also negative "I cosn't" - I cannot |
| Cotter |
have no cotter with 'im (have nothing to do with him) |
| Crack |
fun, entertainment |
| Craw |
crop of a bird, as in "that sticks in my craw" - I cannot believe it |
| Croddle |
huddle together |
| Craunch |
crunch |
| Cuckoo |
Sweetie (affectionate term) |
| Cuff |
a cough (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Cut |
canal |
| Cutherin' |
to huddle together, Cuddling? |
| Dialect word |
Meaning |
| Dahb |
daub, smear |
| Dare-cent |
dare not (Thanks to Sean Percival of Oldbury) |
| Day |
did not, eg "I day see 'im comin" |
| Desay |
dare say, very likely |
| Dishle |
cup of tea |
| Ditherin' |
meaning to shiver with cold, or to hesitate. |
| Dock |
to stop or hold back wages |
| Doe |
do not, reply to question "I doe" |
| Dollop |
large quantity, usually of food |
| Donny |
hand (children's word) Possibly a corruption from the French "Donnez" to give? |
| Dowl |
down, soft hair on the face |
| Drap |
drop |
| Duck |
evade, dodge |
| Dun |
Do, as in "What dun yo want?" |
| Dialect word |
Meaning |
| Gaffer |
master, employer, perhaps husband |
| Gain |
Useful, As gain as a glass eye |
| Gamgee |
Cotton Wool. From its inventor Dr. Samuel Gamgee, who originally called it "gamgee-tissue." Dr. Gamgee was born in Birmingham. |
| Gammitin |
playing the fool |
| Gammy |
lame |
| Gamp |
Umbrella (after a Dickensian character named Mrs Gamp who always carried a large black umbrella) - (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Ganzy |
guernsey, jumper, cardigan |
| Garn |
Go on |
| Gawby |
a simpleton |
| Gawk |
an ill dressed person, or to stare, eg "Who am yow gawkin' at ?" |
| Gawp |
open mouthed, staring |
| Gleed or Glede |
A cinder. |
| Gob |
to spit, or the mouth itself, eg "Shut yer gob" or "'Er's got a right gob on 'er" |
| Goo |
go, eg "Am yow gooin' ter the flics?" = Are you going to the Pictures? (Cinema) |
| Graunch |
"To suck a boiled sweet and rattle it in ones teeth"
for example "...'ark at 'er, 'ers 'avin a grate time with that sweet - graunchin' it."
(Many thanks to Steve Pearson for this one) |
| Dialect word |
Meaning |
| Lamp |
to beat or thrash, eg "Ee giv' 'im a right lampin'" |
| Larrupin' or larussin' |
Also to beat or thrash, eg "Ee giv' 'im a right larrupin'" |
| Lather |
ladder |
| Lather |
upset or excited as "In a bit of a lather" (Thanks to Frank Gidlow for this one) |
| Lezzer |
a meadow. From the old english Leasowe |
| Lickle |
little |
| Lief |
as soon as |
| Loff |
laugh |
| Lommock (or lummock) |
clumsy, lumbering, eg "Yow big lommock" |
| Lover |
common term of endearment to children - m'lover |
| Lungeous |
play roughly, inclined to horseplay |
| Dialect word |
Meaning |
| Ockerd |
awkward |
| Ode |
old, eg "Th' ode lad" - the devil |
| Odge |
push, eg "Odge up" - move up a bit |
| 'Ommer |
hammer |
| 'Ond |
hand |
| Ood |
would |
| Ooman |
woman |
| Oot |
will you |
| Opple |
Apple - (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Oss |
horse |
| Ote |
hold, eg "Ketch ote on it" - take hold of it |
| O'thatnin' |
in that way |
| O'thisnin' |
in this way |
| Ow |
how |
| Owamya? |
how're you? (Thanks to Jim Asman of Dudley for this one) |
| Ow bist? |
How are you? |
| Owern |
my husband, my son, my daughter, often used by women to denote member of family |
| Dialect word |
Meaning |
| Pail |
Beat as in I'll give yo' a pailin' |
| Pie-can |
Silly, daft as in "Yo' pie-can" |
| Piece |
Slice of bread or a sandwich, often spread with jam or dripping |
| Pikelet |
Crumpet |
| Pisey |
Spitful (Thanks to Lyn Corbett) |
| Pon |
Pan, as in saucepan |
| Poorly |
sick, ill. 'Ers proper poorly |
| Puk |
pick, as in pick up (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Pus |
purse |
| Purler |
A fall as in "cum a purler" fall down |
| Dialect word |
Meaning |
| Sad |
heavy, as in bread that does not rise. |
| Saft |
stupid, soft (in the head) |
| 'Safta |
Shortened version of "this afternoon." eg. See ya this safta. |
| Saided |
sated, glutted remains left after rendering lard |
| Sailin' |
Ceiling as in "up on the sailin" |
| Scrag |
To beat up as in fight |
| Scrawmp |
To have a good scratch (Thanks to Lee Marshall of Darlaston for this one) |
| Scratchings |
Black Country delicacy - pork rind deep fried |
| Scrumpin' |
pinching fruit (usually apples) from someone's orchard |
| Shek, Shekin |
Shake, shaking - (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Siden |
Out of perpendicular, crooked. See photo of the Glynne Arms, aka The Crooked House, aka The Siden House |
| Skraze |
graze, scratch |
| Skrobble or scromble |
a tangle of wool, string, and the like |
| Sheed |
to spill a liquid (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Shed |
spilled/spilt (Thanks to Mike Dickens for this one) |
| Siken |
to sigh (from the Old English 'Sican' ) |
| Spake |
speak |
| Splod |
flat-footed |
| Spockle |
to cover with drops of moisture |
| Spottle |
splash |
| Soople |
to soften, make supple |
| Steen |
stew jar or earthenware pot |
| Suff |
sewer or drain, eg "Up the suff" - down the drain |
| Suck |
Sweets, (candy to the Yanks, lollies to the Aussies) |
| Sup |
to sip, a sip, drink |
| Sustifikut |
certificate |
| Swaits |
sweets (Thanks to Zoë Miller from Cradley Heath) |
| Swelth |
swelling |
| Swilker |
to spill or splash |
| Swole |
swollen |
| Swopson |
a heavily built woman, used in a semi-humorous sense |
| Dialect word |
Meaning |
| Tack up |
improvement in the weather, eg "It'll tack up tonight" |
| Tacky-bonk or Tocky-bonk |
a pit mound |
| Tararabit |
Bye for now |
| Taters |
potatoes |
| Tai(tay) |
tea, also "it isn't" |
| Tek |
take |
| Tek after |
to resemble, look like physically, mentally, or emotionally |
| Tewthree |
a few, two or three, always used as a noun preceded by "a" |
| Thaten |
that one |
| Thissen |
this one |
| Thrial |
group of three, used only in the card game of Cribbage |
| Thrape |
thrash. Give I'm a good thrapin' |
| Tiswas |
Confused, "getting in a tiswas" |
| Tizzicky |
having an irritating dry cough |
| Tittle |
tickle |
| Tranklements |
small possessions, bits and pieces, paraphernalia, precious possessions. |
| Trapes |
walking aimlessly about, eg "Trapesin' in an' ott like a dog at a fair" |
| Trussen |
to trust |
| Tummy |
a snack, especially a collier's mid-morning snack |
| Tunky |
a fat pig, eg "As fat as a tunky" |
| Dialect word |
Meaning |
| Waggin |
Playing truant from School (Thanks to Lee Marshall of Darlaston for this one) |
| Wag Mon |
The council official employed to round up errant children who were "Waggin" (Thanks to Lee Marshall of Darlaston for this one) |
| Wammel |
dog |
| Wassin |
Throat. "Get it down yer wassin" From the Old English "wasend" meaning gullet. |
| Weem |
We are. Eg. "Weem gooin out tonight" - We're going out tonight. (Thanks to Dave Woodward of Sacramento, California for this one) |
| Welly |
nearly, eg "Welly clemmed to jeth" |
| Wench |
girl, still commonly used by parents towards daughters. From the Anglo-Saxon "Wencel" meaning child |
| Werrit |
worry |
| Whimsey |
pit head winding gear |
| Wick |
Nerves - as in 'Yow'm gerrin' on me wick.' (Thanks to Ben Armfield for this one) |
| Wik |
week or weak |
| Woa |
won't, eg Yow woa |
| Wool |
whole, often of a brick : "A wooly 'un" |
| Wool |
will, eg Yow wool |
| Wurse or Wuss |
worse |
| Wum |
home. "I'm gooin' wum" |
