The Tooth & Claw series features a Yorkshireman as a central character, and when he gets stressed he tends to revert to some fairly obscure language. Here’s your handy glossary of Yorkshire slang to help you understand what the heck Ellis is saying half the time!
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Areet | All right. E.g. Y’areet there, petal? or It’s areet, in’t it? |
| Aye | Yes. Aye, it was me. |
| Barmpot | Fool. This tends to be used as a term of mild frustration or exasperation. It isn’t too derogatory, but it’s not all that fond either. The fella’s a total barmpot! |
| Cadge | Borrow. Can I cadge a tenner? I’ll pay it back… |
| Daft apeth | Fool. This is a term of fondness or endearment while still expressing how silly you think someone’s being. You don’t have to pay me back ten quid, you daft apeth. |
| Earwig | Eavesdrop. This can either be in, on, or as-is: I was earwigging in on Albert t’other day or Oi, stop earwigging, it’s rude! |
| Gradely | Good. Excellent, even, especially combined with reet: Aye, it were reet gradely! |
| Happen | Reckon. I’ll ‘appen as it’ll take a few days. |
| In’t | In the or isn’t it. I’ll be over in’t morning or It in’t time for dinner yet! |
| Owt | Anything. I didn’t bring owt with me. Were I s’posed to? |
| Reet | Right. Very. I’ll ‘appen as it were reet gradely! |
| Petal | Term of endearment. Y’areet there petal? |
| Tosser | Wanker. From ‘tossing off’, i.e. wanking. Aye, ‘e’s a reet tosser, he is. |
| Wazzock | Idiot. Mildly derogatory. Then the wazzock dropped ‘is trousers an’ we all had a good laugh! |