Topic ID 2219
I am pretty sure the word "twitchel" is peculiar to Hertford(shire) I have never found anyone who was not a local knows what it is, any other words or saying that are strangely "Hertfordian". Is "tight as two coats of paint" local, I know it is one of my father's favourites and his family have been here for 100's of years!
Reply ID 30496
"Clawfears"
Reply ID 30499
I'm from Darzet and we used twitchel (pronounced "Woarchel") and twitten (pronounced "Woar''n) to mean the narrow path that twitchel is in Hertfordshire.
Reply ID 30501
"A pint of AK please"
Reply ID 30504
quote:A twitchel is a Ginnel in Yorkshire. Have to ask Mr T about the others and risk the odd accent!
Originally posted by CSP
I'm from Darzet and we used twitchel (pronounced "Woarchel") and twitten (pronounced "Woar''n) to mean the narrow path that twitchel is in Hertfordshire.
Reply ID 30516
quote:And a jennel in Sheffield. Apart from twitchel, I don't think I've ever heard any words/phrases here that I haven't heard elsewhere.
Originally posted by Tiggerquote:A twitchel is a Ginnel in Yorkshire. Have to ask Mr T about the others and risk the odd accent!
Originally posted by CSP
I'm from Darzet and we used twitchel (pronounced "Woarchel") and twitten (pronounced "Woar''n) to mean the narrow path that twitchel is in Hertfordshire.
Reply ID 30519
I am sure there must Be others but being a Hertfordshire hedgehog myself I never now till I say something and someone says "I have never heard that before" You know what us locals are like Hertfordshire born, Hertfordshire bred, strong in the arm and weak in the head. But only we can say that of course!
Reply ID 30526
I think Hertfordshire is a bit of a non-county really. It doesn't have much of an individual identity. I suppose that's because we don't have a major city of any note and we are commuterbelt. I find it bizarre that we come under "East of England". It feels so like Middle England to me.
Reply ID 30528
quote:Go to Watford and tell me it feels like Middle England. It's the only place I've been to that has a pub with plastic windows.
[i] I find it bizarre that we come under "East of England". It feels so like Middle England to me.
Reply ID 30566
quote:I find that rather depressing! When I was a kid growing up here it hadn't become a commuter belt and most of the people living here were born and bred here. We knew many old characters that gave the place plenty of "identity". A fair few of them farmers, there were a couple of brothers as I remember who wouldn't use telephones because they were "new fangled sheens" and had their chickens roosting in the trees! Then it was more like Middle Earth than Middle England! [:)]
Originally posted by nora batty
I think Hertfordshire is a bit of a non-county really. It doesn't have much of an individual identity. I suppose that's because we don't have a major city of any note and we are commuterbelt. I find it bizarre that we come under "East of England". It feels so like Middle England to me.
Reply ID 30567
quote:Actually, more accurate would be ... "Another pint of AK please"
Originally posted by Deveraux
"A pint of AK please"
Reply ID 30568
quote:But not said by many!
Originally posted by Deveraux
"A pint of AK please"
Reply ID 30569
quote:Even rarer!!
Originally posted by Deverauxquote:Actually, more accurate would be ... "Another pint of AK please"
Originally posted by Deveraux
"A pint of AK please"
Reply ID 30571
quote:Yes, this is strictly a Hertford saying, restricted to places like The Salisbury Arms and The Ram, where regulars have long since become immune to the effects of AK and taste buds were killed off long ago.
Originally posted by Roosterquote:Even rarer!!
Originally posted by Deverauxquote:Actually, more accurate would be ... "Another pint of AK please"
Originally posted by Deveraux
"A pint of AK please"
Reply ID 30593
Taste-buds? You don't need taste buds to drink AK? According to Mr Fish (who is an expert and speedrinker of all things liquid), he can sweat stronger than AK. I have to say I do like the idea of plastic windows, perhaps the White Hart could get some? [;)]
Reply ID 30656
Twitchel = Gennel = Ginnel = Jitty. I'm originally from the North Derbyshire/South Yorkshire border and have heard all of these, but the most popular one is "jitty". They do certainly use "Twitchel" up there too though. I don't know why 'they' need at least four synonyms for jitty. I can think of lots of words from my home town that I've not heard down here (most people don't know what "pip" means, for instance) but really can't think of any that I've heard in Herts that are specific to Herts, but I appreciate that it doesn't mean there aren't any!
Reply ID 30657
Twitchel = Gennel = Ginnel = Jitty = Snicket
Reply ID 30658
friday night in fore st "watch where you're walking..mind you dont stand in that pu.....oh well"
Reply ID 30660
http://www.countrysidebooks.co.uk/book-catalogue-book-details.php?book=513
Reply ID 30664
quote:This site seems to have definitions (with various shades of meaning) of the above http://www.urbandictionary.com/
Originally posted by Sargasso
Twitchel = Gennel = Ginnel = Jitty = Snicket
Reply ID 30697
Due to the apparent lack of local words and phrases round these parts, perhaps now is the time for those of us who have moved to Hertfordshire from elsewhere to give something back to this great county we have made our home by inventing a few of our own. How about... "More faces than the Shire Hall clock" - pretty self-explanatory. "Thick as puddingstone" - an unfavourable comparison of a person's intellect with a well-known local geological formation. "Salisbury Kiss" - the type of greeting--usually involving the application of the greeter's forehead to your nose--you might reasonably expect to receive in Salisbury Square around midnight on a Friday or Saturday night. "McMouth" - not, as one might expect, a reference to McDonalds, but rather to the taste one might expect to wake up with after consuming 4 or more pints of AK. Any more?
Reply ID 30700
"It's a Hertford one-way street" meaning you can travel in any direction you damn well like. "Tarred with the same Baroosh" meaning a generic wine bar. "A Hertford Happy Slapper" - a Traffic Warden.
Reply ID 30710
A Lussmanns holiday? - Eating out in Fore Street for those in the catering business. Bengeo was not built in a day - for those complaining about the short-term closure of Bengeo Street a few weeks ago. Like a crayfish out of water - the feeling experienced by people first visiting Hartham Common. Zero's tolerance - a strong character trait required for experiencing the early-hours nightlife in Hertford. Seal Pharm - something those people in white coats do at the chemist.
Reply ID 30712
In the same vein, but without the local bias, Douglas Adams co-wrote a book called The Meaning of Liff which took place names and mangled new definitions out of them for comedy purposes. You can see examples at http://folk.uio.no/alied/TMoL.html . Some of them are even funnier than the Hertford forum.