Cumbrian words & sayings
Now then, marra...a light-hearted guide to the words you'll hear across Cumbria, from the west coast to the Eden Valley, and how (not) to use them on a date.
Cumbrian dialect
- Now then
- Hello; how are you doing? The standard northern greeting, no answer strictly required.
- In dating: A "now then" and a smile at the bar beats any opening line you've rehearsed.
- Hoo ista?
- How are you? Heard all over Cumbria, especially out west.
- In dating: A perfectly good first message. Just be ready to answer it back.
- Marra
- Friend, mate. A West Cumbrian word, from Whitehaven to Workington.
- In dating: Plenty of good matches start as "just marras". Nothing wrong with that.
- Laal
- Little. "A laal bit", "a laal lad".
- In dating: "I'm a laal bit nervous" is a lovely honest thing to say on a first date.
- Yam
- Home. "Gan yam" means go home.
- In dating: Offering to see them yam safely is kind. Inviting yourself in is not.
- Gan
- Go. "Are ye ganning?" Are you going?
- In dating: "Shall we gan for a walk?" is about the easiest first-date ask there is.
- Deek
- Look. "Deek at that" means have a look at that.
- In dating: Have a deek at their profile properly before you message. It shows.
- Lish
- Lively, nimble, full of energy.
- In dating: If they're still lish at the top of a steep fell, that's a good sign.
- Mafted
- Too hot, overheated, sweltering.
- In dating: Dressing in three layers for a pub with a roaring fire will leave you mafted.
- Clarty
- Muddy, mucky, dirty.
- In dating: Mention in advance if the walk you've planned is a clarty one. Nobody wants ruined shoes.
- Neb
- Nose. And being nebby is being nosy.
- In dating: A few questions is interest. Twenty questions is being nebby.
- Laik
- To play. "Laiking about" is messing about.
- In dating: A bit of laiking about is how you know you're getting on.
- Bait
- A packed lunch or snack, the sandwich you take up the fell.
- In dating: Bringing a second lot of bait for your date is a quietly winning move.
- Brant
- Steep. A brant path is one to take slowly.
- In dating: Pick a gentle route for a first walk. Save the brant ones for later.
- Hoy
- To throw. "Hoy it ower here."
- In dating: Hoying your phone in your bag for the evening is the best manners going.
- Gurn
- To pull a face. Egremont's Crab Fair is home to the World Gurning Championship.
- In dating: Save your best gurn for when they already like you.
- Owt and nowt
- Anything and nothing.
- In dating: "Owt you fancy doing?" is fine. "Nowt" as a reply is not.
- Offcomer
- Someone who wasn't born in Cumbria, however long they've lived here.
- In dating: Offcomers are very welcome here. Where you grew up matters less than where you want to be.
- Canny
- Nice, good, pleasant. Heard more in the north of the county.
- In dating: "That was a canny evening" is high praise. Take it.
- Sneck
- The latch on a door or gate.
- In dating: Close the gate and drop the sneck behind you on a fell walk. Farmers notice, and so will your date.
Fell and Lakeland words
- Fell
- A hill or mountain, from the Old Norse fjall.
- In dating: "Fancy a fell?" counts as asking someone out round here.
- Beck
- A stream or brook, from the Old Norse bekkr.
- In dating: A walk along a beck is a gentle first date with plenty to look at.
- Tarn
- A small mountain lake.
- In dating: A picnic by a tarn on a still day is hard to beat.
- Force
- A waterfall, from the Old Norse fors. Aira Force is the famous one.
- In dating: Waterfalls are loud. Save the deep conversation for the walk back.
- Ghyll
- A ravine with a stream running through it. Also spelled gill.
- In dating: Ghyll scrambling is a brilliant day out, probably not a first date.
- Pike
- A pointed summit.
- In dating: Bagging a pike together makes a good third or fourth date.
- Thwaite
- A clearing in woodland. It's why so many place names end in -thwaite.
- In dating: Knowing where Bassenthwaite got its name makes good small talk.
- Wainwright
- One of the 214 fells described in Alfred Wainwright's Pictorial Guides.
- In dating: "How many Wainwrights have you done?" is a classic Cumbrian icebreaker.
- Yan, tyan, tethera
- One, two, three in the old Cumbrian sheep-counting numbers.
- In dating: If you're counting the minutes to a first date, you're doing it right.
Dialect words vary from valley to valley and generation to generation, so what they say in Whitehaven isn't always what they say in Kendal. Spellings vary too. Got a favourite we've missed? Tell us when you join.
Now then. Go and meet someone.
Put a few of these to use with singles who'll know exactly what you mean.