09.11.2009
Babysitter jailed for child rape
14:45 Lien permanent | Commentaires (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Envoyer cette note | Tags : politique, littérature, france, musique, sarkozy, normandie, paris, les, ps, ump
03.11.2009
A tasty ommuck?
BBC News
A major dictionary publisher is compiling a list of regional English words that have died out. But local dialects are not entirely extinct - as these words reveal.
Have you ever found yourself in a puckaterry or felt wambly after a drink or two
If so, you're one of a dwindling breed - a user of an English regional dialect.
Where once your vocabulary would tie you definitively to a particular part of the country, the social upheavals of past few decades have stretched those verbal ties to breaking point.
Now dictionary maker Collins is launching a project - using that most modern form of communication Twitter - to try to identify whether there is any life left in a selection of weird and wonderful words.
What sort of words is it trying to find and how did they enter the language in the first place
PUCKATERRY
In Norfolk, to be in a puckaterry is to be in a muddle or a panic. It is thought to come from the word "purgatory" - the religious place or condition of those neither in heaven nor in hell.
Consequently, as Keith Skipper, from Friends of Norfolk Dialect, explains, it was historically used by people who didn't know whether they were coming or going.
"Yowm alis in the lezzer wen yow orta be in the lairne"
Black Country for 'You're always in the wrong place'
"In Leicestershire, I believe, they have 'pucky wacky' that means the same thing," he says.
"It's difficult to pin down exactly when it originated, but it was certainly in a local dictionary from 1830. I still use it, my family uses it, I've heard several old boys out in the sticks using it. I think the real puckaterry resistance movement is in rural areas."
Broad Norfolk dialect has experienced something of a revival recently in defiance of the way people in the region are portrayed on film and television.
Many are put out, Mr Skipper says, because Norfolk folk tend to be given generic "rural" accents more akin to the South West than East Anglia.
Other Norfolk words include blar, meaning "to cry", and brawk, meaning "to burp".
BARI
The Northumberland dialect comes from Old English - and early form of the English language which dates back to at least the 5th Century - although further south in the county the Norse of the Viking invaders also has an influence.
In words like bari - meaning pretty - there are other influences too, as Kim Bibby-Wilson, of the Northumberland Language Society, explains.
"Bari is a Romany word, a gypsy word, and it's found right across the world," she says.
"It came into use in Northumbria towns like Morpeth, Hexham and Alnwick because that was where the jails were. Gypsy populations grew up around them and their words spread to the rest of the locals.
"You'll still hear some of the older generation using the phrase muckle bari, meaning very pretty.
"Bari actually originally comes from Urdu - it was picked up by gypsies when they spread east into Asia. Another one from Romany which is still in use in Northumberland is 'gadgie'. It's come to mean a miserable old caretaker-type of man, but to Gypsies it just means anyone who is not a Gypsy."
Other Northumberland words include shawm, meaning "to warm oneself" and hippetyclinch, meaning "to limp".
SQUADDY
Lincolnshire's dialect was preserved for longer than others because of its relative isolation.
Protected by the Fens to the south and River Humber to the north, it was sufficiently cut off to have developed several local lingos.
Alan Mumby, of the Far Welter'd East Lincolnshire Dialect Society, says one of the words still used is squad - for mud - although it is pronounced to rhyme with bad, not mud.
"We have a cattle market and you'll hear farmers talking about squad, squaddy conditions," he says.
"Another one that we use in the name of our society is far welter'd. It comes from when a sheep with a full coat falls onto its back and can't get up again. You say it's far welter'd.
"It means stuck, trapped in a tricky situation or in a rut, something you can't get out of."
Dr David Britain, from the University of Essex who is working with Collins on the project, says many dialect words have faded as farming has declined.
"Far fewer people are employed in agriculture, even in rural areas," he says.
"And with counter-urbanisation, city people are moving to the countryside and they don't understand local dialect. They either learn it or it drops away - inevitably it's the latter."
Other Lincolnshire words include footpad, meaning "pavement", and roily, meaning "upset of stomach".
OMMUCK
Black Country dialect comes from Old English with some Germanic influence.
Brian Dakin, whose organisation Roosterspake performs songs and readings in the local tongue, says ommuck, meaning sandwich, is still in use.
"We have always used it round our way. I think what's so interesting about these words is how isolated they can be to very specific localities.
"Someone somewhere else in the Black Country, not very far away, wouldn't know what an ommuck was.
"A dialect phrase I heard again and again as a kid was 'Yowm alis in the lezzer wen yow orta be in the lairne.'
"Lezzer is field and lairne is lane, so it means you're always in the field when you should be in the lane - in other words you're never where you ought to be!"
Other Black Country words include settul, meaning "home", and wassuck, meaning "fool".
PARZLE
Donald Bemrose, founder of the East Riding Dialect Society, says the traditional East Yorkshire tongue can be very beautiful.
"To parzle, for example, means to saunter or stroll in," he says.
"It's been in our vocab for centuries, but the best example, I think, is in a poem by Francis Austin Hyde. He was a school teacher in Pickering in the 1930s and 40s, and he wrote about a Yorkshire shepherd talking to his dog.
"'Thou has parzled tha way in again', he says, meaning the dog just strolled in looking for attention when he was having his tea. We're not totally sure where parzle comes from, but it's probably to do with paws or pads - the way the dog walks."
Other East Yorkshire words include galasses, meaning "braces" and agglesteans, meaning "hailstones".
DREE
Lancashire's dialect, strongly linked to the region's 19th Century cotton industry, was recorded for future generations in the works of the poet Edwin Waugh.
Brian Foster, from the Edwin Waugh Dialect Society, says he came across the word dree - originally from Old English - in the poet's most famous work, Come Whoam to Thi Childer An' Me.
"He talks about the rain coming down 'very dree'. It means steadily, monotonously. It's like the Scottish 'dreich'," he says.
"I remember my grandmother using it and I might use it occasionally, but I don't think they've been said widely for quite a while."
Dr Britain says while words were undoubtedly disappearing, new dialect was being introduced.
"Immigration definitely plays a part, but also technology," he says. "What do you call you remote control Zapper, flipper... that sort of dialect is socially rather than geographically defined."
Other Lancashire words include fratching, meaning "arguing" and wambly, meaning "unsteady".
To take part in the Collins project, tweet your experience of any of these words to @localwords with details of where and when it as used and by whom.
And send in any other interesting dialect words using the form below.
18:09 Lien permanent | Commentaires (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Envoyer cette note | Tags : politique, littérature, normandie, société, france, sarkozy, cinéma, christianisme, musique, paris
Chelsea Euro glory a must - Cole
Champions League Group D: Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Venue: Vicente Calderon Stadium Date: Tuesday, 3 November KO: 1945 GMT
Coverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live and Sky Sports Xtra
Midfielder Joe Cole says Chelsea need to win the Champions League if they are to join Europe's elite clubs.
The Blues, who take on Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, won the Premier League in 2005 and 2006 but have never won Europe's premier domestic trophy.
"Chelsea are building a genuine claim to be as big as the Manchester Uniteds, the Real Madrids, the Milans but you have to win trophies," stated Cole.
"It's important for the club, we need to win the Champions League."
Chelsea have made a fine start to this year's European campaign, winning their opening three games without conceding a goal.
And Cole believes the Premier League leaders have what it takes to win the Champions League this time around.
"Obviously the Premier League is very important but for this club the Champions League is a massive target for us. We've not won it yet," added Cole.
"The Champions League is going to help show us as a worldwide club that means business.
"We've come close over the last five years and we probably should have won it on a few occasions.
"We have the right people in charge, we have the experience now and we have to come to places like this and win, that's the challenge for us."
Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said Didier Drogba is "ready to work for the team" as he prepares to make his European comeback.
The Ivory Coast striker will line up against Atletico Madrid in his first Champions league outing since the semi-final defeat by Barcelona in May.
Drogba was given a three-match ban for abusing the referee after the match.
606: DEBATE"Keep Drogba on the bench to make him hungry for the Man United game"
Carlo_Chelsea
"He will return to work for the team - and he is ready to work," said Blues boss Ancelotti.
The Italian revealed he had witnessed the ugly scenes that followed Chelsea's controversial defeat by Barca.
Andres Iniesta's late goal ensured the Spanish champions progressed to the final on away goals after Norwegian referee Tom Ovrebo had rejected a succession of Chelsea penalty appeals.
Drogba, who had been substituted because of injury, marched on to the pitch after the whistle to subject the match official to a prolonged verbal tirade.
"I saw what happened," confirmed Ancelotti. "I didn't speak with him about this, I'd rather speak about the results of the last three games."
Ancelotti pointed out that Chelsea are in good form, having recorded wins of 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 since beating Atletico 4-0 at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago.
They sit top of Group D after three straight victories, three points clear of second-placed Porto.
Victory on Tuesday evening would ensure qualification for the last 16, with two matches to spare.
Chelsea will fancy their chances against a side that have won once in nine Primera Liga games and have gained only a point in the Champions League so far.
Former Valencia and Benfica coach Quique Sanchez Flores has replaced Abel Resino, who was sacked as manager following the defeat by Chelsea.
"To win the Champions League is very, very difficult. Everything has to go well for us to win"
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti
"Quique Sanchez Flores is a good coach, he had a good experience at Valencia and I think he can do a good job at Atletico Madrid," added Ancelotti.
"We have respect for Atletico because they have very good players; Tomas Ujfalusi is a good defender, Sergio Aguero is a very good striker, Diego Forlan is a very good striker, Maxi is a very good midfielder.
"I think now is not a very good moment for them but I think they have the quality to get out of their situation."
Chelsea are two points clear of Manchester United in the Premier League and are well-placed to challenge for the two biggest prizes this season but Ancelotti is under no illusions as to where the club's priorities should lie.
"The Champions League, for me, is the most important trophy this season," he said. "I won it as a player and a coach and it was a fantastic moment in my career.
"I think for this club it's important to try in all competitions until the end of the season.
"To win the Champions League is very, very difficult. Everything has to go well for us to win."
16:04 Lien permanent | Commentaires (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Envoyer cette note | Tags : politique, littérature, normandie, société, france, sarkozy, cinéma, musique, paris, christianisme