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Wednesday 14 September 2016

Kentish Dialect - is it dying?

I've recently been sharing some of the dialect words and terms I remember from my childhood and wondering how much of it was still used today. I've been surprised to find that among the younger members of my mother's family for instance, The Constants, the terms seem to be largely alive and well. Here is a further selection! When I was growing up I was often accused of being `Narky'- being badtempered. My grandmother always said `Ne'er-a-once' in place of Never once. She invariably referred to our heads as our `Noddles'. To my mother the word `old' did not necessarily refer to age but was an intensive expression....`she started a tidy old argument'. Cheekiness from children was referred to as `giving old lip'. A term of disapproval was `one-eyed' such as `I'd never live in a one-eyed place like that.' Something out of alignment was referred to as being `out of kilter'. If you slept later than intended you might say you were late because you `overlaid'. Funny how the memories of language use come flooding back!

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