Lancashire Dialect & Phrases, Lancashire Slang, Old Lancashire Words & The County Flag

Posted On 14/01/2023

Published And Written By Nikki Wordsmith
A Content Writer, Blogger And Journalist

Lancashire Dialect Words & Phrases

1. Buzz (bus)
2. Chippy tea (a Friday evening meal tradition)
3. Chuffed (proud)
4. Clod hoppers (shoes)
5. Cloth ears (Excuse me but are you hard of hearing?)
6. Cowd (cold)
7. Do you want owt or nowt? (Would you like something or nothing?)
8. Dun yew a thickun (messed things up in your life)
9. Eyup cocker (hello)
10. Frettin’ (worrying)
11. Lad (boy)
12. It’ll be reet (everything is going to be okay)
13. It’s like Blackpool illuminations here (it is either very bright or there’s lots of traffic)
14. Lanky (awkwardly tall)
15. Lanky (the Lancashire dialect)
16. Mek us a brew (Would you mind making me a cup of tea please?)
17. Mither (moan)
18. Ow do (hello)
19. Soz (I’m sorry)
20. Swirling (sweating)
21. Ta ra! (the Lancashire way of saying goodbye)
22. Teacake (teacake)
23. Trouble at mill (There maybe danger ahead)
24. Yer wornt feel th’ benefit when yer owt in theckold (Why are you wearing a coat inside?)
25. Thez nor hast? (you haven’t have you?)
26. The dog is hossing (the dog is mythering for their food)
27. Mythering (someone repeatedly asking you to do something you don’t want to do)

The Historic County Of Lancashire Historic In The North West Of England

Classic Lancashire catchphrases are: Ey up cocker and ta-rah

You could be forgiven for believing the old languages of our islands The British Isles are dying out.

An SEO keyword search reveals less than a few thousand searches a month are being typed or spoken into our mobile phones and desktop computers.

And it is the text and voice interface of Google search engines and the rest, that are helping to keep these old dialect languages alive.

When you Google and type out a micro-specific Lancashire sayings such as:

• “What is hello in Lancashire?” and get “Ey up cocker”
• “How do you say goodbye in Lancashire?” and get “ta rah”

The search engines work hard to pull their returned loads of results from Internet folks like myself, who are fascinated with words, and keen to keep older ways of speaking alive and well-blended with the neologistic new kids on the block.

Northern Sayings – The Lancashire Dialect Itself Has Its Own Lancashire Slang Known Colloquially As Lanky

The Lancashire dialect, known colloquially as Lanky, refers to the Northern English vernacular speech of our county, or in other words how we all talk to each other in this area.

Not to be confused with the other definition of Lanky detailed above as describing someone who is awkwardly tall.

The Lancashire dialect phrases and Lancashire slang only sound right said in a Lancashire accent.

If you want to hear what a real Lanky accent sounds like, a real Lancashire accent listen to Frank Speak from Blackrod reading my poem The Pike.

Feel free, should you be so kind, as to add your own Lancashire dialect words and northern sayings relating to Lancashire in the comments below.

I will then happily add them to this list.

What Do The Linguists Say About The Lancashire Dialect & Rhoticity?

In another blog of mine about the perceived increased honesty of the Lancashire Accent, you break old Lancashire words down even further to their linguistic level

Dr Rob Drummond, Head of the Research Centre for Creative Writing, English Literature and Linguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University said accents are associated with certain social characteristics.

‘Certain accents from areas in the north of England, such as Lancashire, have that association with honesty and straightforwardness, and this association is accentuated when the speaker is surrounded by other accents that are perhaps not viewed in the same way.

He added, ‘One feature of Lindsay Hoyle’s accent that is of interest is his rhoticity – the way he slightly pronounces the ‘r’ in words such as ‘park’ or ‘fair’.

Most accents in England don’t do this, but Lancashire is one of the places where this still occurs (although it is likely dying out).

Other typical Lancashire features are his pronunciation of the vowel sound in words such as ‘mouth’ or ‘loud’, and also the vowel in ‘square’ or ‘care’.’

The Legendary Red Rose Flower Symbol For The County Flag of Lancashire

The Flag of Lancashire, according to the Wikipedia entry, the Red Rose of Lancaster is a symbol for the House of Lancaster, as immortalised in this ancient poem referring to the War of the Roses:

‘In the battle for England’s head / York was white, Lancaster red.’

An unofficial Lancashire flag, a red rose on a white field, was unable to be registered with the Flag Institute as the town of Montrose, Angus, in Scotland, had already registered it.

So a yellow background colour it is.

The next historic county up is…the Cumberland dialect, then the Northumberland dialect.

Please note these lists are a blend of Internet research, talking to people and asking the right questions. It is, as we say in Aggy, Lancashire, also based on the gradley skill of the no-nonsense reet good communication method of using yer loaf.

Read more about the Lancashire accent and Lindsay Hoyle…

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Made in Lancashire England.
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