Tuffy the window cleaner it cleaned
windows around here for over 35 years so
if any of you from this area you know
probably knew him he did all the terrace
houses from here right down to spit a
little the shops on spit a little etc
but he always knew he was a clever bloke
he didn’t really want to be a windy
cleaner well he was at school in North
Wales
he knew that he thought it was as clever
as a bloke allowed that went on to be a
doctor so we always had it in his head
that he should have been a doctor but
you had to leave school at 14 because he
was his family too poor and he ended up
coming to Sheffield and when the
cleaning but he really wanted was to do
well to do better than he’d done so he
he had seven kids and he worked really
hard to get as all at university for
four of us did actually get to
university so that’s quite epic really
before he died he did tell me that he
was proud that he managed to drink and
smoke for 65 years and not seriously and
nothing had finished him off and we
reckon it’s because the window cleaning
kept him so fair
meanwhile my mum the long-suffering she
had the seven kids and she she also
wanted something better first she didn’t
really want to be married to a window
cleaner so when we were going to school
we will we were picking up the local
dialect bringing it home but she didn’t
like his speaking it so we weren’t
allowed to talk it but me and me tuna
brothers rebelled against and carried on
talking it so that’s where it comes from
so as far as I can tell fuel dialect
it’s a really old language and there’s
no wrong way in so I’m going to go
through a little bit about different
words and stuff dialect is really about
it’s also about accent as well so you
know things like class grass brass you
won’t get me same the longer versions of
those words
but it’s also was like words of ending
all like door floor
I said who were doing things like that
so if you actually frump it’s more you
pronounce it pips more not pips more
it’s more so another word that we use a
lot I use a now sound is always aa so if
I can get it right so now house is man
out so we did use to what I’m your
mother up my say let’s get out and it’s
to be a little bit me and the other
common use of languages we don’t really
use the word there and if you see
there’s a sketch by Michael McIntyre
that’s really funny
and he takes the maquette Yorkshire
people for not using the word there but
you get it kind of says it wrong the way
that we say it is you don’t really
pronounce the tert at all you add it to
the the word before so if I if I was to
say get in the bath
you don’t actually say that you said get
in bath so it becomes shorter you know
back of the net
it becomes back at net so everything
gets condensed is so much more
succinctly to talk now in dialect when I
first saw the word gives it written down
I knew exactly what it meant it meant
use it but what actually stands for is
give it to me it’s too short word
version of saying give it to me and it’s
again it’s just kind of like condensed
likewise ghee or which obviously makes
you sound like a donkey is actually it’s
just short for give over stop it so
usually people do say like you’re gonna
I’ll sit it now to be fair I don’t I
don’t say that but I do know people that
do say I’ll City and obviously it means
I’ll see you Andales often said as a so
and I like that we still say that we saw
say I’ll see you later it’s kind of it’s
still around but it’s I’ll see they
rate is right I mean I spell it right
but right it’s also like night becomes
Nate fight is fate so it’s fight night
becomes fete night but also people
pronounce night need as neat so we’ll
say are they going to neat and I don’t
know where that’s come from but we said
that as well words instead of you
so there’s invite this end that is
really ancient now are we saying the
word that’s for years which means you
have and I didn’t realize all this time
till I was doing this sort is that it’s
actually short for thou hast so it’s a
shortened version of thou hast it’s
really quite ancient like why the thou
your you always actually a pure version
of the word you which would actually
we’ve lost in modern English but it’s
still a part of old Sheffield language
and also what isn’t on there is the word
master the word master the first
recorded time it was was it came from
1200 the word mister didn’t come through
for another two hundred years so it’s
kind of like you know the little masters
is quite an ancient thing another phrase
we can have if we can have the other
slide up is old for now now everybody
knows today folks always want old for
gnome and it means anything for nothing
now I could understand not coming from
naught you know the background to that
is naught but or out oh is it comes from
a word or with an A so it’s like naught
without the animal from that’s an old
word in itself but alt for now is our
version of saying that and the other
thing about that I’ve never really heard
anybody outside of Sheffield pronounce
it like we do properly alt for Nolt the
use
pronounce it out for nowt to rhyme with
the other thing is we tend to shorten
words words words I’ve got two or three
syllables
we just shorten them so isn’t it becomes
in it doesn’t it becomes done it
wouldn’t it wouldn’t it wouldn’t it no
it’s one it just one it all of that lot
honey shouldn’t and couldn’t is the C
word it is so I couldn’t say it because
it’s a swear word but I can say it
because it’s not a swear word in context
in the right context it’s right so
anyway getting on to my favorite C word
is chalk that basically means you’re a
bit of a baguette if they’re in the room
it’s about them it’s their opinions are
the most important ones everybody knows
a trough not to be fair it has to refer
to men I’m sorry about that I think if
you’re a female shelf you’re you’re a
bit of a cow but it’s you know just how
it is
chuffed however it means very pleased
and we think that comes from the French
chef which means to warm to be warmer
apparently a chauffeur comes from the
person not a driver but the person that
actually warms the seat before everybody
gets in the carriage so and likewise
there’s chuffing you basically use it
instead of the F word so it’s chuffy now
Jeff you know what something there so
Joffrey is a very versatile word and I
do use it probably more than I should
actually so I think just to finish I
just think that the language is is very
old it’s at least 800 years old and I’m
proud that I can speak it usually to
somebody you know when when they’re
speaking as well but it is a language
and it binds us together in hardship in
defiance and pride and humor
we like having a laugh about it so I’ll
leave it there thank you [Applause]