What are your favourite regional phrases?

[annie]

My dad's favourite saying ( he was very broad Lancashire) was "Put th'wood in th'oyl" -  meaning shut the door
what is yours?

In Stewkley in Buckinghamshire, the local word for a buttercup is "crazy". In Docking, Norfolk, the expression "couldn't stop a pea" is said of a bow-legged person. In the delightfully named Staffordshire village of Mow Cop, if you've "cocked your toes" you have died. In Wiltshire, hands that have been in the washtub a long time are called "quobbled" (ie temporarily wrinkly).

The regional dialects of British English are surely one of the joys of this rain-soaked dime of a country. But the news this week that the Americans have nearly finished their six-volume Dictionary of American Regional English after 44 years of lexicographical hard labour made me worry. When are we going to get a similar volume here? During my research for a G2 article offering my A to Z of funtime regional British English phrases, I found out that in fact a lot of scholarly work is being done at Leeds University, at the BBC, and at the British Library.

Thanks to this work, we will soon know why Scousers are "made up" when they are happy, why people in the West Midlands say "mom" rather than "mam" or "mum" and (my personal favourite) why in Northern Ireland "cat melodeon" meant terrible or appalling.

Susie Dent, lexicographer of TV's Countdown, reckons that regional British English, despite fears to the contrary, is in rude health, diversifying as kids are mixing expressions up with slang and producing new variations of the old all the time. Can you prove her point and let me know your favourite regional words or phrases? Ideally, you should try to leave readers "in tucks", which is the north Wales expression meaning being in stitches or having a fit of laughter

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksb ... sh-english

[JaneJ]

"Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs"

One my mum uses and she originates from Birmingham but not sure where it's from

"It'll be reet"

A Nottingham expression my friend uses.

"Slip off the plate"

Another of my parents phrases but don't know what area that would be prolific in

[maureenho]

One my mum and dad used and I do is  Higgledy Piggledy meaning mixed/muddled up

[Misspears]