Contributor Leaderboard

Mother & father both born at Netherton and father worked down the pit as did just about everyone else did back then; uncle, cousins etc. I was brought up on what's known as "Pit talk", certain vocabulary I still weave into conversation to this day, but is usually met with confusion. For example - "You gave me a gliff before" = You gave me a fright earlier. Does anyone still use these terms today or have they died out? Another one; "Mind, that gully's sharp" = watch as that knife is sharp. "I walked into the bliddy cheble" = I've walked into that bloody table. Silly daft geordie twang I guess, but localised in certain pit villages. I couldn't imagine anyone saying the same stuff in Consett, for example. Anyway, paying homage to the old school on how your Grandad might have talked about Lonnens, Sculleries, Clarts and Nyuks.

1. What is the more common name for the clavicle? Answer = 2. With which sport do you associate Michael Jordan? Answer = 3. Who was the last Saxon king of England? Answer = Edward The Confessor 4. Which English playwright was murdered by his lover , Kenneth Halliwell, in 1967? Answer = Joe Orton 5. What nationality was the composer Edvard Grieg? Answer = Norwegian 6. Where in London would you see the White Tower? Answer = Tower of London 7. Which sorceress turned Odysseus’ men into swine? Answer = 8. What is the Celtic name for ‘river’? Answer = 9. Who said “We live over the shop”? Answer = I refuse to use those two words. 10. Which Berkshire school did Prince Charles attend? Answer = 11. In which TV series did Jimmy Nail play a Geordie detective? Answer = 12. Pomeroy, Von Schneider, Winterbottom and Sir Toby,were the dinner guests. Who was the hostess? Answer = I’ll bet you didn’t know …. Napoleon tried to kill himself but because the poison he took was old it had lost its potency and gave him hiccups instead. Answer = I didn’t.

Sunday - 08/11/2020 a very quiet Front Street West. Photos by Simon Williams - Bygone Bedlington group

Jojo, there's nothing silly or daft about the geordie twang - or North Eastern dialect, as it's called in linguistic parlance. I was also born at Netherton and grew up with it. I've had to modify it on my travels in order to be understood, as no country teaches it as a second language. Only the Queens English (received pronunciation, RP, to give it its full handle) is good enough för for that purpose. This does not imply that RP is better or more superior in any way. It is simply because it is the accepted standard worldwide thus aiding communication the world over. Imagine a meeting of the European parliament where every country chooses to use one of its many dialects instead of its standard version! It's standard English and a gigantic, well oiled machinery of simultaneous interpretators and translators that make it possible for any communication to take place. It's difficult but it would be impossible if everybody spoke in dialects. As I said earlier, dialects are not taught in schools. On the contrary, I'm old enough to remember 'articulation' lessons in school, during the 50's, when moves were afoot nationally to eradicate some dialects, usually working class dialects and Geordie was top of the list! However, it held it's ground and achieved almost cult status in the late 80's, turning up on TV, radio and even in films where it started to be used by characters with social, educational or professional standing rather than by portrayed thugs and layabouts. Gliff, gully and cheble I remember well but no longer use, and the first words my husband (not British) learned from me were "by hinny this cheble's claggy" - picked up over a pint in a pub probably known to most people here. Claggy and clarty are, however, two words that have stayed with me even after 30 odd years living abroad. Even the occasional 'mebbies' instead of 'maybe' has been known to escape my lips. Dialects are being diluted because we move about much more freely than we've ever done. We aid communication in one of three ways: we modify our own dialect, we adopt the dialect of the other speakers or we revert to Queen's English as best we can - at risk of being accused of 'tring to be posh' or of 'putting on airs and graces'. So words and phrases are disappearing. There are a few stalwarts, including this site's very own HPW (High pit Wilma) who carry on the tradition - if you want to read some of his wonderful posts. Sadly, in reality, the dialects have no written form. We all write our own version which makes the content available to very few people - that's to say, those who are familiar with the spoken version. Even more sad is that within a half century or so, all information in the texts will be lost as only a handful of academics specializing in the North Eastern dialect will be able to read them. Gaan canny!

1. What is the more common name for the clavicle? Collar bone 2. With which sport do you associate Michael Jordan? Basketball 3. Who was the last Saxon king of England? Harold #2 4. Which English playwright was murdered by his lover , Kenneth Halliwell, in 1967? Joe Orton 5. What nationality was the composer Edvard Grieg? Norwegen 6. Where in London would you see the White Tower? Tower of London 7. Which sorceress turned Odysseus’ men into swine? Circe 8. What is the Celtic name for ‘river’? Avon 9. Who said “We live over the shop”? Margaret Thatcher 10. Which Berkshire school did Prince Charles attend? Cheam 11. In which TV series did Jimmy Nail play a Geordie detective? Spender 12. Pomeroy, Von Schneider, Winterbottom and Sir Toby,were the dinner guests. Who was the hostess? Miss Sophie