Yorkshire folk, it can be said, are more proud of their accents, words and phrases the most other counties in England. We are all dead proud of our turn of phrase, and the fact we will shorten every word in the English language if at all possible.
A poll taken by Trainline polled 2,000 adults to take part to find out the top most popular dialect words across the UK to find the most quintessentially British sayings and beloved regional phrases. Some classic Yorkshire phrases made the top 20 phrases in the UK, and we are surprised there weren’t more.
Trainline has partnered with the British Library to launch an inter an interactive online quiz in a bid to celebrate and keep the UK’s dialects alive as it seems that they may be dying out.
Jonnie Robinson, lead curator of spoken English, The British Library, said: “It’s been great fun working with Trainline to build a collection of dialect phrases for the online quiz.
“Our sound archive preserves thousands of spoken word recordings of UK accents and dialects for anyone to hear.
“The quiz is a fantastic way to celebrate them and connect them with people who may not have come across them before.
“The richness and diversity of dialects featured immediately conjures up a sense of place and community and ultimately makes UK travel so fascinating.”
Tim Dunn, travel editor, Trainline, said: “Our fun and educational guide to local dialects mean British tourists can enjoy the cultural richness of their holiday destination, even if they’re not travelling abroad this year.”
Not that those polled appear to mind, as 72 per cent enjoy hearing different UK dialects even if they don’t always understand them.
The UK’s top 20 most popular sayings are listed below:
- Don’t get your knickers in a twist
- It’s all gone pear-shaped
- The bee’s knees
- A cock up
- Were ya born in a barn?
- Gone to pot
- A picnic short of a sandwich
- Brass monkey
- Bright as a button
- Where there’s muck there’s brass
- A curtain twitcher
- You look smashing
- I’ll ring you/give you a ring
- Having a blether
- I quite fancy you
- They are fit
- It’s a dreich day
- You look smart
- Lang may yer lum reek
- Treacle tart
Read More: 50 Yorkshire Words And Phrases That Mean Nothing To Anyone Else
