Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Tips for Southerners moving to Yorkshire

I found this advice on a Yorkshire web site.

1. Save all your beef fat. You will be instructed later how to use it.
2. If you forget a Yorkshire persons name, refer to him (or her) as "Love"
3. Just because you can't drive on snow and ice does not mean we always have to give you lifts everywhere.
4. If you do run your car into a ditch, don't panic. Four men in > the cab of a four wheel drive with a 12-pack of Carly Special and a tow chain will be along shortly. Don't try to help them. Just stay out of their way. This is what they live for.
5. Don't be surprised to find video rentals and bait in the same store.
6. Do not try to buy fresh pasta. Thump in gob tends to offend..
7. If it can't be fried in lard, it ain't worth cooking.
8. Remember: "Us" is singular. "Thaa" is plural. "Thaas" is plural possessive.
9. There is nothing sillier than a Southerner imitating a Yorkshire accent, unless it is a Yorkshireman imitating a Brummie accent.
10. Get used to hearing, "Tha not from around here, are tha?"
11. People walk slower.
12. Don't be worried that you don't understand anyone. They don't understand you either.
13. The first Yorkshire expression to creep into a transplanted Southerner's vocabulary "me ducks", Eighty-five percent end their new Yorkshire influenced dialect with this expression. One hundred percent are in denial about it.
14. The proper pronunciation you learned in school is no longer proper.
15. Be advised: The "He were a southern bugger" ia a legal defence up here.
16. If attending a funeral in the north take your baseball hat off when everyone else does.
17. If you hear a Yorkshire kid exclaim, "Ayup, come and look at this!" stay out of his way. These are likely the last words he will say before the explosion.
18. Most Yorkshire Folk do not use turn signals, and they ignore those who do. In fact, if you see a signal blinking on a car with a Yorkshire licence plate, you may rest assured that it was on when the car was purchased.
19. Southerners can be identified by the spit on the inside of their car's windscreen that comes from yelling at other drivers.
20. The summer wardrobe you always brought out in April can wait til June.
21. If there is the prediction of the slightest chance of even the most minuscule accumulation of sun, your presence is required at the local chemist. It does not matter if you need anything from there, it is just something you're supposed to do.
22. Satellite dishes are very popular in the North. When you purchase one, it is to be positioned directly in front of your caravan. This is logical, bearing in mind that the dish cost considerably more than the caravan and should, therefore, be displayed.
23. Blizzards and Yorkshiremen going through a divorce have a lot in common. In either case, you know someone is going to lose a caravan.
24. Leeds does NOT have a castle, no matter how often you ask us.
25. In Yorkshire churches you will hear the hymn, "Come All Ye Faithful". You will also hear expressions such as, "Bugger me, Lord", "God knows", "Jesus wept!" and "God help the poor cow ".
26. As you are cursing the person driving 15 mph in a 55 mph zone, directly in the middle of the road, remember, many folks learned to drive on a model of vehicle known as a Reliant Robin, and this is the proper speed and lane position for the vehicle.
27. You can ask a Yorkshireman for directions, but unless you already know the positions of key piles of rubble, canals, coal mines, railway crossings, and where factories used to stand, you're better off trying to find it yourself

8 comments:

Modigliani said...

So, England has "Southerners" too?! That's so funny to me!

ArleneWKW said...

If my hubby and I are watching an English film on DVD and subtitles are available, we often use them. Sometimes the pronounciation is so different than what we're used to that it's like listening to another language.

Regina Rodriguez-Martin said...

Very funny. I like number 15 particularly.

PFG said...

Very funny! And I am intrigued (but a little horrified) about what to do with the beef fat. #4 reminded me of Michigan. All in all, it sounds like northern Maine in the US (esp #5). They call anyone from Portland and points south "flat landers" and yes, "he were a southern bugger" would be a legal defense up there I think.

Mick & Cathy said...

Modigli,
What else should we call people from the south of England ?

Arlene,
English talk varies a lot from area to area, most films you tend to get London accents (Cockney). Yorkshire films you need to see to learn to speak proper are "Kes", "The Full Monty" or "Calendar Girls".
If you see any films with Sean Bean in them, he can't hide is Yorkshire accent.

Regina,
How did I guess you would like that one.

pfg,
Mucky Fat is a Yorkshire delicacy served in Pubs following Darts & Doms matches. Can't stand it myself, it tastes yuk.

Modigliani said...

It makes sense ... But it's funny to me because our "Southerners" have a very distinct way of life. I never considered it would be the same in other countries, but of course, it makes perfect sense!

PFG said...

MMMmmm! Sounds tasty.

ArleneWKW said...

I saw Monty and Calendar Girls. I don't think I had difficulty understanding the language. Cockney, yes, difficult for me to understand.