Essex Dialect
In 1857 Thomas Wright compiled a
dictionary of obsolete provincial words.
In 1880 Richard Stephen
Charnock compiled his Glossary of the Essex Dialect.
The table below is based on
words that Wright and Charnock specifically identified with usage
in Essex.
Other words have been added as
a contribution from local people with memories of their parents and
grandparents favourite expressions.
The guide may help explain
unknown words in old books on Essex people.
When Essex Men talked they
lengthened their vowels eg make is pronounced maake.
A often becomes O so because
becomes becos.
O is often inserted before an
I eg fine becomes foine.
R is often dropped eg
surpassed becomes suppasssed.
O often becomes U eg from can
become Frum.
W and V and D and T are often
interchanged.
Words that comply with the above rules
have not been included in the listings below
Afeared |
Afraid |
Afore |
Before |
Agin |
Again |
Ails |
Ears of corn |
Artnoon |
Afternoon |
Bagging Hook |
Reaping Hook |
Bange |
Light rain |
Banjy |
Dull day |
Bast |
To beat severely |
Beaver |
Ploughman's lunch
taken at about 11am |
Behounced |
Finely Dressed |
Bellar |
Shout loudly or
bellow |
Bigge |
Cows teat |
Bin |
Been |
Billy Wicks |
Owl |
Biznus |
Business |
Boa |
Boy or man |
Boine |
Swelling |
Bonie |
Blow or wound |
Bonkka |
Very large |
Bonx |
Beat up mix for
batter puddings |
Brank |
Wheat |
Bud |
A cow that is
older than a calf but not yet fully grown |
Bullimong |
A mix of oats,
vetch and peas |
Bumby |
Place where
houshold rubbish is dumped |
Bunting |
Untidy Dress |
Busk |
Lie in sun |
Buss |
Kiss or embrace |
Bussock |
Donkey |
Cad |
The smallest of a
litter especially of pigs |
Caint |
Can not |
Cart rake |
Cart track |
Chate |
A treat or feast |
Chevy |
Chase or run after |
Chice |
Small portion |
Chop |
Flog |
Chops |
Lips |
Clars |
Hands - Often
clars and jaws = hands and face |
Clunchy |
Clumsy |
Cowd |
Cold |
Crotch tail |
Kite |
Dag |
Dew |
Dare |
To Grieve |
Dean |
Din or noise |
Dew Bit |
Ploughman's early
morning breakfast |
Dicky |
Donkey |
Didal |
A sharp triangular
spade |
Dog Rapper |
Parish Beadle or
Sexton |
Dogs |
Dew |
Doke |
A small brook or a
bruise |
Dooles |
Rough hay made
from roadside verges or ditches |
Dolouring |
Mournful noise |
Dunnekin |
Outside Toilet |
Easles |
Embers of the fire |
Eel thing |
St Elmo's Fire |
Essex stile |
Ditch |
Fare |
To appear |
Favour |
Resemble |
Feff |
To overreach in
buying or selling |
Fill |
Meadow |
Fimble |
To touch lightly |
Finnicks |
Tawdry dressed
woman |
Fleet Milk |
Skimming milk |
Foine |
Fine |
Four Want Ways |
Crossroads with 4
roads meeting |
Fowers |
Ploughman's dinner
taken about 4pm |
Furnitade |
Furniture |
Furriners |
People from
outside the village |
Gab |
Gossip |
Gal |
Girl |
Gannicking |
Gossiping or
idling |
Gaster |
To frighten |
Ginnick |
Neat or Perfect |
Go after |
To court a lady |
Goff |
A mow of hay |
Goffer |
To eat fast |
Goings On |
Proceedings or
happenings |
Gole |
Prominent |
Golls |
Hands |
Gomes |
Gums in mouth |
Goon |
Going |
Grift |
Pencil |
Gultch |
Fall heavily |
Gullion |
Stomach Ache |
Gumption |
Nonsence or
foolish talk |
Hainish |
Unpleasant |
Harve |
A haw |
Haumly |
Ugly |
Hazardable |
Dangerous |
Hazely brick earth |
Loamy soil found
in Essex |
Hazle |
Stiff as clay |
Hodmedod |
Snail |
Hoap |
Helped |
Hoss |
Horse |
Ingons |
Onions |
Jice |
Small quantity |
Jink |
To check money is
real by ringing it |
Joggle |
Shake |
Jounce |
a sudden shaking |
Julk |
Hard blow |
Keeping Room |
Living room |
Kidder |
A confidence
trickster |
Largess |
Tip after harvest |
Latard |
late |
Leas-Ways |
At least |
Levens |
The name for lunch
in harvest time - taken more quickly than a ' Beaver' |
Lib |
Basked used to
carry seed corn |
Lugsome |
Heavy |
Martlemas beef |
Beef dried in the
chimney like bacon |
Mauther |
Awkward girl |
Mavis |
A Song Thrush |
Meak |
A hook with a long
handle used to cut peas |
Meece |
Mice |
Mizzle |
To succumb |
Muckinger |
Handkerchief |
Muggy |
Half intoxicated |
Newing |
Yeast |
Nig |
Small piece |
Nippet |
Small quantity |
Not |
Well tiled |
Noteless |
Stupified |
Nuzzle |
Sound of bellows |
Oaken |
Oak |
Oavis |
Eves of a house |
Obstropolous |
Unruly |
Okard |
Awkward |
Ollust |
Always |
Onbeknown |
Unknown |
Onsensed |
Stunned |
Owd |
Old - Used
figuratively not literally |
Piggatory |
Great trouble |
Pin patches |
Periwinkle plant |
Plum Pudding |
Red Campion Plant |
Polliwig |
Tadpole |
Proper |
very ie proper
good |
Puggle |
Move or stir |
Pulk |
Puddle |
Quackle |
To Suffocate |
Rassle |
To stire the
embers of a fire especially on oven fire |
Releat |
A crossroads |
Ruinated |
Ruined |
Roile |
To annoy |
Saacy |
Saucy |
Sappy |
Smart |
Sarce |
Vegetables |
Scally |
Shabby or mean |
Shay |
Chaise |
Scat |
Scared |
Scatch pawed |
Left handed |
Shant |
A pot of beer |
Shirt Buttons |
Stitchwort plant |
Shote |
Young Pig |
Shuck |
Shook |
Slammack |
Untidy female |
Snarth |
The long handle on
a scythe |
Spud |
Small person |
Teuk |
Redshank |
Thrap |
To Crowd |
Warsley |
Not much |
Waste |
To abate |
We's |
Our |
Whip Stalk |
Whip handle |
Winnick |
Suppressed cry |
Wusser |
Worse |
Wust |
Worst |