Geordie

All you want to know about Geordie

This article is about the people and dialect of Tyneside. For other uses, see Geordie (disambiguation).
Look up Geordie in
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Geordie (pronounced /ˈdʒɔrdi/) is a regional nickname for a person from the Tyneside[1] region of England, or the name of the dialect of English spoken by these people. Depending on who is using the term, the catchment area for Geordie can be as wide as the general north east of England, or as small as the city of Newcastle, or various ranges in between.

The label of Geordie has sometimes been claimed as offensive to some people from the Sunderland region.[2] This is also the case with anyone from the Teesside area.

In recent times "Geordie" has been used to refer to a supporter of Newcastle United football club[3] however this use is not as common as with the use of Mackem for Sunderland fans and is not entirely popular due to the proportion of people from South Tyneside who self-identify as geordies but support Sunderland.

Contents

Derivation of the term

A number of rival theories explain how the term came about, though all accept that it derives from a familiar diminutive form of the name "George,"[4] with George (called Geordie, but written George) once being the most popular eldest son's name in families in the north east of England.[5]

One explanation is that it was established during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. The Jacobites declared that the natives of Newcastle were staunch supporters of the Hanoverian kings, in particular of George II during the 1745 rebellion. This contrasted with rural Northumbria, which largely supported the Jacobite cause. If true, the term may have derived from a popular anti-Hanoverian song ("Cam ye ower frae France?"[6]), which calls the first Hanoverian king "Geordie Whelps", meaning "George the Guelph".

Another explanation for the name is that local miners in the north east of England used "Geordie" safety lamps, designed by George Stephenson[7] in 1815, rather than the "Davy lamps" designed by Humphry Davy which were used in other mining communities.

Using the chronological order of two John Trotter Brockett books:

1. Brockett, John Trotter (1829). A Glossary Of North Country Words In Use With Their Etymology And Affinity To Other Languages And Occasional Notices Of local Customs And Popular Superstitions. E. Charnley, page 131. “GEORDIE, George-a very common name among the pitmen. “How ! Geordie man ! how is’t”” ;

2. Brockett, John T. (1846). A Glossary of North Country Words, page 187. “GEORDIE, George-a very common name among the pitmen. “How ! Geordie man ! how is’t” The Pitmen have given the name of Geordie to Mr George Stephenson's lamp in contra-distinction of the Davy, or Sir Humphrey Davy's Lamp.” 

Geordie was given to North East pit men, later Brockett acknowledges the pitmen christened their Stephenson lamp ‘Geordie’.[5][8]

Wales[9] also predates the Oxford English Dictionary, she observes that "Geordy" and "Geordie" was a common name given to pit-men in ballads and songs of the region, noting that one such turns up as early as 1793. It occurs in the titles of two songs by song-writer Joe Wilson (1841–1875): Geordy, Haud the Bairn and Keep your Feet Still, Geordie. Citing such examples as the song Geordy Black written by Rowland Harrison of Gateshead, she contends that, as a consequence of popular culture, the miner and the keelman had become icons of the region in the 19th century, and "Geordie" was a label that "affectionately and proudly reflected this", replacing the earlier ballad emblem, the figure of Bob Crankie.

Newcastle publisher Frank Graham's Geordie Dictionary states:

"The origin of the word Geordie has been a matter of much discussion and controversy. All the explanations are fanciful and not a single piece of genuine evidence has ever been produced."

In Graham's many years of research, the earliest record he has found of the terms use was in 1823 by local comedian, Billy Purvis. Purvis had set up a booth at the Newcastle Races on the Town Moor. In an angry tirade against a rival showman, who had hired a young pitman called Tom Johnson to dress as a clown, Billy cried out to the clown:

"Ah man, wee but a feul wad hae sold off his furnitor and left his wife. Noo, yor a fair doon reet feul, not an artificial feul like Billy Purvis! Thous a real Geordie! gan man an hide thysel! gan an' get thy picks agyen. Thou may de for the city, but never for the west end o' wor toon."[10]
(Rough translation: "Oh man, who but a fool would have sold off his furniture and left his wife? Now, you're a fair downright fool, not an artificial fool like Billy Purvis! You're a real Geordie! Go, man, and hide yourself! Go and get your pick (axes) again. You may do for the city, but never for the west end of our town!")

(/aː mæn )

Graham is backed up historically by Hotten (1869).[11]

The definition of Geordie as around the Tyne communities was not always the case, as Geordie has been documented for at least 180 to 240 years as meaning the whole of the North East of England. (As referenced in Camden Hotten, John (1869). The Slang Dictionary, Or Vulgar Words, Street Phrases And Fast Expressions of High and Low Society. John Camden Hotten, 142. ““Geordie, general term in Northumberland and Durham for a pitman, or coal-miner. Origin not known; the term has been in use more than a century."” .[11] The book was reprinted in 2004.[12]

BAD-WEATHER GEORDY. A name applied to cockle sellers. "As the season at which cockles are in greatest demand is generally the most stormy in the year - September to March -the sailors' wives at the seaport towns of Northumberland and Durham consider the cry of the cockle man as the harbinger of bad weather, and the sailor, when he hears the cry of 'cockles alive,' in a dark wintry night, concludes that a storm is at hand, and breathes a prayer, backwards, for the soul Of Bad-Weather-Geordy" - S. Oliver, Rambles in Northumberland, 1835.

“Plus Geordieland means Northumberland and Durham” Dobson Tyne 1973[13]

Geographical coverage

When referring to the people, as opposed to the dialect, dictionary definitions of a Geordie typically refer to "a native or inhabitant of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, or its environs",[14] an area that encompasses North Tyneside, Newcastle, South Tyneside and Gateshead[15][16][17]. However, just as a Cockney is often colloquially defined as someone "born within the sound of the Bow bells", a Geordie can be defined as someone born "within spitting distance of the Tyne".[18] Another interpretation is the mining areas of the North East of England.[11]

Although the dialects of North East of England were often grouped together as Geordie[19] in modern times this is incorrect. This misconception is usually made by people from outside of the north east.

People from Sunderland have been nicknamed Mackems in recent generations. However, the earliest known recorded use of the term found by the Oxford English Dictionary occurred as late as 1988.[20]

Geordie dialect

Vocabulary

Look up category:Geordie in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Geordie also has a large amount of vocabulary not heard elsewhere in England, though some are shared with (or similar to) Scots. Words still in common use by true Geordies today include:

  • areet (/'a:lri:t/ a variation on alright or Hello
  • cannit 'can not'
  • canny for "pleasant" (the Scottish use of canny is often somewhat less flattering), or to mean 'quite'. Someone could therefore be 'canny canny'.
  • cuddy 'small horse or a pony'
  • geet for "very", also *muckle (used more in Northumberland)
  • hyem for "home"
  • deeky for "look at"
  • kets for "sweets/treats"
  • knaa for "to know/know"
  • divint for "don't"/
  • bairn/grandbairn for "child/grandchild"
  • hacky for "dirty"
  • gan for "to go/go"
  • hoy for "to throw"[21]
  • pet a term of address or endearment towards a woman or a child
  • toon for "Town"
  • nettie for "toilet"
  • naa for "no"
  • wiktionary:aye for "yes"
  • neb for "nose" (nebby=nosey)
  • banter for "chat/gossip"
  • clart for "mud" as in "there's clarts on yar boots"
  • hadaway for "get away"
  • hinny a term of endearment - "Honey"[21]
  • haad for "hold" example: 'keep a hadd' is 'keep a hold' and 'had yer gob' becomes 'keep quiet'. That polite little notice in the parks aboot keepin' yor dog on a lead is 'ye cud hev keep a-hadden yor dog'[21]
  • divvie for "stupid person"
  • tab for "cigarette"
  • chor "to steal"
  • chiv for "knife"
  • wor for "our", used mainly in the context of wor kid, meaning 'friend', one's sibling or literally 'our kid'. Used primarily to denote a family member.
  • nowt for "nothing"[21]
  • is for "me"
  • wuh for "us"
  • get awesh for "go away"

Howay or Haway is broadly comparable to the invocation "Come on!" or the French "Allez!" ("Go on!"). Examples of common use include Howay man! or Haway man!, meaning "come on" or "hurry up", Howay the lads! or Haway the lads! as a term of encouragement for a sports team for example, or Ho'way!? (with stress on the second syllable) expressing incredulity or disbelief.[21] The 'a' and 'o' in howay/haway convey different strands of aggression, with the ‘a’ being the aggressive. The literal opposite of this word is "Haddaway" (go away), which is not as popular as Howay, but has found frequent use in the phrase "Haddaway an' shite" (Tom Hadaway, Figure 5.2 Haddaway an' shite; ’Cursing like sleet blackening the buds, raging at the monk of Jarrow scribbling his morality and judgement into a book.’[22]).

Divvie or divvy seems to come from the Co-op dividend,[23] or from the two Davy lamps (the more dangerous explosive Scotch Davy[24] used in 1850, commission disapproved of its use in 1886. (inventor not known, and nicknamed Scotch Davy probably given by miners after the Davy lamp was made perhaps by north east miners who used the Stephenson Lamp[25][26]), and the later better designed Davy designed by Humphrey Davy also called the Divvy.[27]) As in a north east miner saying ‘Marra, ye keep way from me if ye usin a divvy.' It seems the word divvie then translated to daft lad/lass. Perhaps coming from the fact you’d be seen as foolish going down a mine with a Scotch Divvy when there are safer lamps out, like the Geordie, or the Davy.

The geordie word netty, meaning a toilet[28] or bathroom came from the Roman slang found on Hadrian's Wall which later became gabinetto in Italian.(Such as these articles about the Westoe Netty, the subject of a famous painting from Bob Olley[29][30])

A poem, called ‘YAM’ narrated by author Douglas Kew, demonstrates the usage of a lot of Geordie words[31][32]

Related dialects

As well as Geordie, other Northern English dialects include:

Geordie in the media

In recent times, the Geordie dialect has featured prominently in the British media. Note however, that although the dialect appears, the dialect is toned down for comprehension of the general (non-Northumbrian) public. Television presenters such as Ant and Dec are now happy to use their natural dialect on air. Marcus Bentley, the commentator on the UK edition of Big Brother, is often perceived by southerners to have a Geordie dialect. However, he grew up in Stockton on Tees. Brendan Foster and Sid Waddell have both worked as television sports commentators.

The dialect was also popularized by the comic magazine Viz, where the dialect itself is often conveyed phonetically by unusual spellings within the comic strips. Viz magazine itself was founded on Tyneside by two local males, Chris Donald and his brother Simon.

The Steve Coogan-helmed BBC comedy I'm Alan Partridge featured a Geordie named Michael (Simon Greenall) as the primary supporting character and de facto best friend of the eponymous hero, despite Partridge's typically snobbish and patronizing demeanor sinking to new lows when referring to Michael (at one point referring to him as 'just the Work Geordie').

Mike Neville and George House (aka Jarge Hoose), presenters of the BBC local news program Look North, in the 1960s and 1970s, not only incorporated Geordie into the show, albeit usually in comedy pieces pointing up the gulf between ordinary Geordies and officials speaking Standard English, but were responsible for a series of recordings, beginning with Larn Yersel' Geordie[33] which attempted, not always seriously, to bring the Geordie dialect to the rest of England.

The mastermind behind Larn Yersel' Geordie was local humorist Scott Dobson,[34] who wrote several booklets on the theme in the early 1970s, including Histry O' the Geordies,[35] Advanced Geordie Palaver,[36][37] The Geordie Joke Book (with Dick Irwin)[38] and The Little Broon Book (Bringing out The New Little Broon Book in 1990[39]).

The Jocks and the Geordies was a Dandy comic strip running from 1975 to the early 1990s.

In the lyrics of the song "Sailing to Philadelphia" by Mark Knopfler, Jeremiah Dixon describes himself as a "Geordie boy. Jeremiah Dixon, surveyor of the Mason-Dixon line"[40]

Dorphy, real name Dorothy Samuelson-Sandvid, was a noted geordie dialect writer who once wrote for the South Shields Gazette.[41][42][43][44][45]

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was a popular fictional British comedy-drama series about a group of seven British migrant construction workers:[46][47] Wayne, Dennis, Oz, Bomber, Barry, Neville and Moxey, who, in Series 1, are living and working on a German building site. Three of the seven were Geordies. Dennis Patterson (played by Tim Healy) comes from Birtley Co. Durham;[48] Leonard "Oz" Osborne (played by Jimmy Nail) comes from Gateshead;[49] and Neville Hope (played by Kevin Whately) comes from North Shields.[50]

The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook with Geordie Simon King and Dave Myers. The duo's lifestyle TV show is a mixture of cookery and travelogue.[51]

In 1974, Alan Price’s Jarrow song reached number one in the old RNI International Service, and number 4 in the UK charts. Which brought to the attention once again of the Jarrow March.[52]

The character Detective Inspector Robert "Robbie" Lewis (formerly Detective Sergeant) in the long-running ITV series Inspector Morse is a self-described Geordie. His speech variety serves as a foil to Morse's pedantry and RP.

Notes

  1. ^ "AskOxford.com - a person from Tyneside". Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
  2. ^ Never call a Mackem a Geordie... - Sunderland Echo
  3. ^ Arca gives Boro spark to silence bigoted Geordie fans | Match Reports | guardian.co.uk Football
  4. ^ "AskOxford.com - from the given name George". Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
  5. ^ a b Brockett, John Trotter (1829). A Glossary Of North Country Words In Use With Their Etymology And AffinityTo Other Languages And Occasional Notices Of local Customs And Popular Superstitions. E. Charnley, page 131. “GEORDIE, George-a very common name among the pitmen. “How ! Geordie man ! how is’t”” 
  6. ^ Recorded by the folk group Steeleye Span on their album Parcel of Rogues, 1973.
  7. ^ Smiles, Samuel (1859). The Life of George Stephenson, Railway Engineer, page 120. “As to the value of the invention of the safety lamp, there could be no doubt; and the colliery owners of Durham and Northumberland, to testify their sense of its importance, determined to present a testimonial to its inventor.” 
  8. ^ Brockett, John T. (1846). A Glossary of North Country Words, page 187. “GEORDIE, George-a very common name among the pitmen. “How ! Geordie man ! how is’t” The Pitmen have given the name of Geordie to Mr George Stephenson's lamp in contra-distinction of the Davy, or Sir Humphrey Davy's Lamp.” 
  9. ^ Katie Wales (2006). Northern English: A Cultural and Social History. Cambridge University Press, 134–136. ISBN 0521861071. 
  10. ^ Newcastle Beer Toon Ale: BUY BOTTLED BEER ONLINE: Next Day Delivery: Buy Bottled Beer UK
  11. ^ a b c {{Camden Hotten, John (1869). The Slang Dictionary, Or Vulgar Words, Street Phrases And Fast Expressions of High and Low Society. John Camden Hotten, 142. ““Geordie, general term in Northumberland and Durham for a pitman, or coal-miner. Origin not known; the term has been in use more than a century."” )
  12. ^ Amazon.com: The Slang Dictionary; or, The Vulgar Words, Street Phrases, and 'Fast' Expressions of High and Low Society: Many with their etymology, and a few with their history traced: John Camden Hotten: Books
  13. ^ Dobson, Scott. A light hearted guide to Geordieland. Graham (1973). ISBN 0902833898. “Plus Geordieland means Northumberland and Durham” 
  14. ^ geordie - Definitions from Dictionary.com
  15. ^ "AskOxford.com - a person from Tyneside". Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
  16. ^ "Jarrow song". Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
  17. ^ "Blaydon Races". Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
  18. ^ Geordie Dialect - BBC
  19. ^ Camden Hotten, John (1869). The Slang Dictionary, Or Vulgar Words, Street Phrases And Fast Expressions of High and Low Society. John Camden Hotten, 142. ““Geordie, general term in Northumberland and Durham for a pitman, or coal-miner. Origin not known; the term has been in use more than a century."” )
  20. ^ "No mackem until 1990". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved on 2007-10-22.
  21. ^ a b c d e "Dorphy dialog". Retrieved on 2007-11-04.
  22. ^ Colls, Robert (2005). Geordies. Northumbria University Press, 90. ISBN 1904794122. “Hadaway an’ shite; ’Cursing like sleet blackening the buds, raging at the monk of Jarrow scribbling his morality and judgement into a book.’” 
  23. ^ (2003) IMS: Customer Satisfaction: BIP2005 (Integrated Management Systems). BSI Standards, page 10. ISBN 100580414264. “An early example, which may be remembered by older readers was the Co-op dividend or 'divvie'. On paying their bill, shoppers would quote a number recorded ...” 
  24. ^ Henderson, Clarks, NEIMME: Lamps - No. 14. SCOTCH DAVY LAMP., <http://www.mininginstitute.org.uk/lamps/Davy.html>. Retrieved on 2 December 2007, "CONSTRUCTION. Gauzes. Cylindrical, 2 ins diameter. 41/2" high with conical top, a double gauze 1 ins. in depth at the peak. 24 mesh iron. Light. Candle." 
  25. ^ Smiles, Samuel (1859). The Life of George Stephenson, Railway Engineer, page 120. “As to the value of the invention of the safety lamp, there could be no doubt; and the colliery owners of Durham and Northumberland, to testify their sense of its importance, determined to present a testimonial to its inventor.” 
  26. ^ Henderson, Clarks, NEIMME: Lamps - No. 16. STEPHENSON (GEORDIE) LAMP., <http://www.mininginstitute.org.uk/lamps/Stephenson.html>. Retrieved on 2 December 2007 
  27. ^ Henderson, Clarks, NEIMME: Lamps - No. 1 - DAVY LAMP., <http://www.mininginstitute.org.uk/lamps/Davy.html>. Retrieved on 2 December 2007 
  28. ^ Graham, Frank ((November 1986)), The Geordie Netty: A Short History and Guide, Butler Publishing; New Ed edition, ISBN 0946928088, <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Geordie-Netty-Short-History-Guide/dp/0946928088/ref=sr_1_1/026-5166506-7385210?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194978041&sr=8-1> 
  29. ^ "Urinal finds museum home". Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
  30. ^ "Famed Geordie netty is museum attraction", The Northern Echo, 2007-03-31, <http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/topstories/display.var.1299982.0.famed_geordie_netty_is_museum_attraction.php>, "the Geordie word "netty" for lavatory derives from Roman slang on Hadrian's Wall which became "gabinetto" in Italian." 
  31. ^ (2007-07-29). YAM narrated by author Douglas Kew. Retrieved on 2008-01-02. "CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS IS ENGLISH!? "YAM" Pitmatic poem from a Trimdon Lad. From the book "A TRAVELER'S TALE" by Douglas Kew.; DouglasKew TRIMDON Poet YAM pitmatic Geordie"
  32. ^ Kew, Douglas (2001-02-07). A Traveller's Tale. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 101552125521. 
  33. ^ "Neville,Mike: George House - Very Best Of Larn Yersel: Geordie & Geordierama". TV Presenter (1995-12-13). Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
  34. ^ Dobson, Scott (March 1970), Larn Yersel' Geordie, Frank Graham, ISBN 0900409576, <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Larn-Yersel-Geordie-Scott-Dobson/dp/0900409576/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194615370&sr=1-2> 
  35. ^ Dobson, Scott (1 June 1970), History O' the Geordies, Frank Graham, ISBN 0900409185, <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Histry-O-Geordies-Geordie-beuks/dp/0900409185/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194614695&sr=1-19> 
  36. ^ Dobson, Scott (June 1970), Advanced Geordie Palaver, Frank Graham, ISBN 090040938X, <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Advanced-Geordie-Palaver-beuks/dp/090040938X/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194613631&sr=1-7> 
  37. ^ Dobson, Scott (April 1993), Advanced Geordie Palaver, Butler Publishing, ISBN 0946928436, <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Advanced-Geordie-Palaver-Scott-Dobson/dp/0946928436/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194613631&sr=1-8> 
  38. ^ Irwin, Dick; Milne, Maurice & Dobson, Scott (1970), The Geordie Joke Book, Graham, ISBN 0900409797 
  39. ^ Dobson, Scott (1990), The new little broon book, Bridge Studios, ISBN 1872010601, <http://www.amazon.co.uk/new-little-broon-book/dp/1872010601/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194626340&sr=8-1> 
  40. ^ "Sailing To Philadelphia". Retrieved on 2007-11-09. “I Am Jeremiah Dixon; I Am A Geordie Boy”
  41. ^ "Dorphy, Dorothy Samuelson-Sandvid. Dorphy's Geordie dialog, South Shields Gazette". Retrieved on 2007-11-04.
  42. ^ Sandvid, D (1970), Basinful o' Geordie: Tyneside Readings, H Hill, ISBN 0900463112 
  43. ^ Sandvid, D (1988), Basinful o' Geordie: Tyneside Readings, Sandhill P, ISBN 0946098123 
  44. ^ Sandvid, D (1969), Between Ye an' Me, H Hill, ISBN 0900463082 
  45. ^ Sandvid, D (1976), I Remember, Tree P, ISBN 0904790029 
  46. ^ "THE ORIGINAL AUF WIEDERSEHEN PET HOMEPAGE". Retrieved on 2008-01-17.
  47. ^ Wayne Winston Norris, Denis Patterson, Leonard “Oz” Osborne, Brian “Bomber” Busbridge, Barry Taylor, Neville Hope, Albert Arthur Moxey. (2002-10-07). Auf Wiedersehen Pet Box Set - The Complete Series 1 and 2 [1983] (PAL). Retrieved on 2008-01-17.
  48. ^ Wayne Winston Norris, Denis Patterson, Leonard “Oz” Osborne, Brian “Bomber” Busbridge, Barry Taylor, Neville Hope, Albert Arthur Moxey. (2007-06-04). Auf Wiedersehen Pet Video. Retrieved on 2008-01-17. Event occurs at 1:42.
  49. ^ Wayne Winston Norris, Denis Patterson, Leonard “Oz” Osborne, Brian “Bomber” Busbridge, Barry Taylor, Neville Hope, Albert Arthur Moxey. (2007-06-04). Auf Wiedersehen Pet Video. Retrieved on 2008-01-17. Event occurs at 1:50.
  50. ^ Wayne Winston Norris, Denis Patterson, Leonard “Oz” Osborne, Brian “Bomber” Busbridge, Barry Taylor, Neville Hope, Albert Arthur Moxey. (2007-06-04). Auf Wiedersehen Pet Video. Retrieved on 2008-01-17. Event occurs at 2:04.
  51. ^ Ferguson, Euan (2005-12-11). "Meet the new Delia and Nigella". “'just no relation to what you get late on a Geordie night out,' recalls Si.”
  52. ^ "RNI International Service Number One Hits, 1971-1974" (1974-06-14). Retrieved on 2008-03-17. “14-06, Jarrow Song, Alan Price”

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