Understanding Yorkshire Expressions and Accents

Understanding Yorkshire expressions can be very difficult for those that are learning English. In this video we'll look at 20 of the most common Yorkshire sayings and we'll teach you their meanings. You'll also be able to hear an authentic Yorkshire accent.
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[@debfryer2437]

I’m from Leeds and have been living in America for 35 years. I’m now 70 and I’m finding that my Yorkshire accent is getting stronger! I’m consciously choosing to keep it going. My children were born here and use some of my Yorkshireisms! “Nah then lad, ow yer diddling?” is another fun one.

[@laurikun_]

I am Spanish living in Leeds and thanks to you I was able to understand many things that I was not understanding here, thank you very much!

[@frankrusselldesign7563]

I am an Australian with a Grandfather from Leeds. He emigrated in 1912. None of these expressions are odd to me. My family used most of these and I still use a lot of them.

[@nashwanalaezy4727]

Thanks so much coach from Yemen.

[@mollyshackleton7760]

I grew up in Yorkshire but went to uni in Scotland and they use a lot of these words too. Some are Yorkshire some are just northern. I now live in Newcastle and everyone I know grew up there and I understand about 10% of what they say. Geordies are something else

[@leonita2252]

Awesome! Thank you ❤

[@Sisah08]

My husband is from Yorkshire , I'm german and he said you missed out the expression 'tha what'...😂he still uses is after many years in Germany.

[@trynabeproductive6808]

Cheers mate, will ‘elp me a lot

[@jintineog3367]

Hello teacher I think you're doing a fantastic job to teach us English regional dialect it's so refreshing to learn different variations of the same language..

[@keystoneenglish8423]

Thank you! 😃

[@christa1732]

I simply adore South-Yorkshire accent and slang when I heard speaking Louis Tomlinson for the very first time. Chuffed to found your video to improve my own Yorksire-accent!

[@valeriyawhem2733]

Very useful! Can we hope to see more of the north Yorkshire expressions topic ?

[@febrylian5134]

thanks 👍

[@joannamaczka8168]

Yorkshire accent is my absolute fave. Thanks for the video. Would love to see more about it. In your video you are talking more in RP arent you?

[@keystoneenglish8423]

Thanks. I'm from Yorkshire originally, but my accent became a little more neutral when I lived in London for four years. Now I'm back in Yorkshire though and my accent is slowly returning!

[@joannamaczka8168]

@@keystoneenglish8423 thanks i really love your video! One of my faves with Yorkshire accents on yt.

[@xSmoJithx]

@@joannamaczka8168 You should check out the Yorkshire dialect, pretty much died out now but as a Yorkshiremen myself i find it hilarious to hear it really shows its influence from the germanic saxon and viking languages from over 1000 yr ago.

[@luthientinuviel1981]

Ta for that great lesson. Its so much fun to listen to you...tara for now and greetings from Germany🥰

[@user-jd5xw2ij1l]

I knew some of these words. Thanx to Louis Tomlinson - I fell in love with this accent. And thank you for this info. It was very interesting)

[@someone7327]

Me too

[@ClubuldeEnglezaYouTube]

Great video!

[@keystoneenglish8423]

Thanks! :-)

[@sallyjanewillis6810]

You totally forgot how in Yorkshire we don't pronounce H"s for example... "im off ome" "ow are ya?" "Oo r you?".

[@lennih]

Great video!! I thought that 'chuffed' was super posh Southern English! And I believe 'faffing about' is used pretty much universally in England with the exact same meaning you gave. I've heard it in London, Cornwall and Essex for sure.

[@agdgdgwngo]

I think a lot of them aren't really Yorkshire-isms but just general working class phrases you can hear anywhere. Either they came from Yorkshire or were perfected by Yorkshiremen I don't know. I'm from Derbyshire and have heard all these and use quite a few.

[@GO0DWOLF]

Some of these expressions still survive in the States in speech of the rural South. Particularly 'un for one. Some are selective. My grandmother would occasionally use the t' contraction in specific phrases. One thing or t'other, she'd say.

[@anthonybartle]

Ginnel was used in Leeds. In Bradford we'd say snicket

[@user-in5ok9io8d]

Don't start this debate off 😆

[@yalunhsieh4868]

I was studying in Leeds university, that was so hard for me! To understand people 😅

[@patriciacarline6975]

Yorkshire it is also 'reyt' - rait or 'reet' both meaning correct or ok or I'm fine! And 'nah then' 'hayup' - hello. Ginnel - also jinnel - may also be 'backs' when it is a wider alleyway between 2 rows of houses!

[@deepadevarajan8114]

Hi 👋 really loved your Yorkshire video xx r you doing online classes ??

[@jackthelad5366]

In leeds we say foggy instead of bagsy and right not reet and it's a cuppa

[@alleywatson]

Hi from a fellow Leeds lad. Nice vid

[@geofsharp658]

In my 70 years personal experience of Yorkshire accents I have found that the Castleford area accent to be be the most representative. Good flat vowels, aeiou. Off up ‘ road to ‘ shops, words like thee, thou, are in common use. “Where’s tha barn fo toneet all togged up’ Obviously means where are going tonight all dressed up. ‘Tek thi sen off’ = you can finish early. My favourite from my grandad b.1900 was ‘ thas more lakes than plays in Cas tha noz’ That takes some explaining, let me know if you know what it refers to. ‘Thas nobbut a toe rag’, explain that if you can? The Yorkshire accent is very complicated many thousands of localised deviations. As a Race we are obviously unique, (coz we say so). After pay day when out shopping you will here the common cry of the Yorkshireman, “HOW MUCH!”

[@forsakingfear3652]

Aye ah's fram kippis and ah's nobbut 3 mile fram cas.

[@RobWords]

Ay up! We use pretty much all of these in Derbyshire too. I won't get mardy that you didn't mention us though. Pleasant viewing as ever.

[@marcburton2916]

Yes you do but with a different accent

[@DS-ll6zyelle]

British people should learn to speak slowly if they want me to understand them 😁 Thanks for this video about Yorkshire’s expressions It will be very useful for me !

[@keystoneenglish8423]

Thanks. I'm glad it was helpful.

[@eleanorpikes]

Adorable

[@notmissingout9369]

In North Yorkshire we tend to say now then when we greet someone and we use our when we talk about family or loved ones ie our Kelly or our Sam

[@martinburke362]

Ey up or nah then are used interchangeabley in west Yorkshire, or both together as ey up! nah then! assit goin!!

[@araxxi27pogo86]

Oh lol so true

[@1258-Eckhart]

I grew up in Doncaster (Donny) and I see the family relationship, but we don't swallow our t's, we emphasise them. My favourite - "wa:tter" (water), where there's a bit of a breath before the T's to emphasise them. Never heard of "wood int' ole", but I like it 👍. My father grew up in Bradford, went to a posh school int' south, but then took on an opticians' practice in Donny. His patients were all miners from Brodsworth, but he never quite hit it off with the South Yorkshire accent. There was always a strange bit of West Yorkshire in there.

[@KarmasAbutch]

The official name for this is a - Glottal Stop - apparently Likely pronounced Glo’al if yer a West Yorkie like me 😂

[@1258-Eckhart]

@@KarmasAbutch I think you'll find that that's a recent import from Cockney, we never had such a thing in Doncaster.

[@MissWeezeyUSA]

“ ‘E c’u’n’t stop a pig 🐖 in a ginnel! “ (Translation = ‘He is bow-legged’) 😂😂😂

[@sendicalvole]

Hi David, I m very happy to find your video by chance, I live in Leeds and came to the UK this year. I dont have problems to understand ENglish in the university from tutors, But when it comes to talk to guys on the street (especially the workers and elder people ) I notice that I am missing most of the words. And this situation disturbs me alot. I want to develop my Leeds accent and understandig. Do you any suggestions for that. I will appreciate. Thanks for the content. I wish you best luck.

[@sazji]

It's perfectly normal, just like if I learn standard "Istanbul Türkçesi" and then go to Rize. :-) Keep listening, ask when you need to, and be patient. I'm a native American English speaker and the first time I listened to Manchester folks it was hard for me. You'll get it!

[@RichiEnglish]

I1d love to make a collab vid with you. I used to live in Donny and York, and since then been an avid fan of the accent. I reckon it's the best, White Rose! :D

[@cleanwithjaimie7586]

Donny girl here 😅

[@Retrospective.]

TBH, alot of these terms are in use in Scotland as well, specially the SW of Scotland.

[@JiP2944]

This is because our languages where derived from Germanic settlers, namely the Danes and Vikings! Thanks to them we used their language known as Old Norse. We still use little bits of it today but sadly it’s all but vanished apart from the short little words and phrases such as haddle, bekk (beck) or gawm; he tekks nee gawm. Lots of these are also heared in the North East, but it’s not surprising as once upon a time Yorkshire and the North East, all the way to the Bonny Boarders of Scotland was the county of Northumbria Yorkshire, Gods Own Country was for the outlaws of England who refused to conform and so we settled with the Germanic settlers ruling with the rest of our Northern brothers the Scots from the “English”. Yorkshire folk always refer to their County as a country especially when asked where they are from when over sea’s. We never answer “am from England”

[@Isisbridge]

We used bagsy, bog, chuffed and cuppa where I grew up near London.

[@Britz4Gaza]

Bog, bagsy, cuppa, chuffed also used in parts of the Black country

[@forsakingfear3652]

Tha int spayking Reet yorkshire , I'll gi thee a proper sentence . " ah sa'll hev a sausage sarnie fram thee if tha's fettling yan, ah's perished an ah'll be fair capped if tha Ken mek us a pot o teaa t waarm mi op, ah's starved wi caawd".

[@debfryer2437]

Tha said it reet luv!

[@marcinlukasiewicz2452]

l just came across on your channel. I'm foreigner living in Yorkshire. Would you recommend something to listen and anwser close to Yorkshire accent? Sub & thumbs up

[@garryl6594]

What does ‘diffwent expwessions’ mean?

[@diannehardwick950]

By eck that were rain grand lad!

[@violetweston3401]

Reight tha on. Sithee

[@manfredconnor3194]

Was Penfold from danger mouse from Yorkshire or is that cockney?

[@isabeldolores1285]

Ey up, fancy summet to eat 😋

[@shanearmitage8755]

"Ear all, see all, say now't. Eyt all, sup all, pay nowt and if ivver tha does owt fer nowt allus do it fer thissen" reyt then, I want ta see if ya do video on how offcumden's response to missen and t'other tykes alike on how t' pronunce "couldnt" for example if I was to say "tha cun't just take towels up't top o'stairs, an' put in shit'oil" when tha's dun that let us know and I'll give ya another like

[@debfryer2437]

😂😂😂

[@debfryer2437]

I understood every word. I remember that saying!

[@stephanevu-hoang1014]

It's actually very much the same on the other side of the Pennines.

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

As an American, I love faffin about. Here in the southern US we'd say piddlin, as in- stop your piddlin and come on. You're gonna make us late. I always thought popped his clogs was the funniest Yorkshire saying. Still makes me chuckle.

[@jimgrim2138]

we use piddling also in yorkshire or pissing or pratting, we have multiple words with the same meaning, next time they are wasting time tell them to "stop prattin about" for the laugh see what reaction you get, kicked the bucket, or snuffed it, is an alternative to popped his clogs

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

@@jimgrim2138 we also use kick the bucket in the US.

[@karlraynes1986]

How about the word ‘nesh’? Not sure if it’s used through Yorkshire, though. I’m from South Yorkshire, and it’s a common expression there. It’s a derogatory way to describe someone who feels the cold too easily.

[@DrStephenT]

It's b'reet - it will be alright! Alright ar kid?😂😂

[@user-hq7jj7yk7w]

It'll be reyt*

[@fadih6696]

Are you on TikTok

[@johnnycreighton29]

I know all the ginnels of my neighbourhood.

[@edram4051]

Why is it always the same words? This has to be the fourth Yorkshire words video I have seen and it is the exact same words.

[@stuartparkin2914]

One of my faves is Radged which means not right in the head, eg He's fair radged that un. and the word clever which has a totally different meaning in Yorkshire !

[@skipmole612]

Tha's puddled lad.

[@simonartley1645]

Ni'then youth tha's were reet gradly

[@aartman01]

You forgot summat, lad.

[@valeriyawhem2733]

Some of it?

[@pmckenzie3103]

@@valeriyawhem2733 You forgot something lad.

[@simonmcl74]

Surely for faffing it should have been: wil the stop faffing abou

[@martinburke362]

Sorry Yorkshire teacher but, butty is a liverpudlian expression originally!!

[@tezer3496]

Get ti sen tut tarn lad...Barnsley

[@savourymilkman8147]

How fuckin weird is this learning my own language on KZbin

[@user-in5ok9io8d]

Give me my shoes would be giz mi shoes

[@davidfrazerwray7525]

A good effort but it’s skewed towards West Yorkshire, and Leeds hardly qualifies as Yorkshire at all these days. A lot of the words you’re presenting as Yorkshire are common to most of the UK, as are some of the contractions. I grew up in North Yorkshire - or the North Riding of Yorkshire as it was before Westminster decided we posed too much of a threat and carved up the county - and when I was a lad Yorkshire dialect was very much alive. We had words like “yat”, meaning a gate, but also a street, which comes directly from Norse. “Chunter” (grumble), “blake” (pale) and “how” (hill) are other examples. The usual greeting was not "hello" but "now then", which always perplexed me. I’m not saying that Yorkshire did not give expressions to the rest of the country, but I think you could have made better choices. I challenge you to explain "as queer as Dick's 'atband".

[@forsakingfear3652]

My granny was born in craven district, she had a really strong north riding accent, I think it was austwick.

[@patriciacarline6975]

It's also 'nowt' - now-t, owt, pronounced like owl! This bloke is a bit on't posh side!

[@keystoneenglish8423]

:-) Yes, the Leeds accent is a little more toned down than other parts of Yorkshire. I also spent four years in London and so my accent became a little more neutral.

[@peterdean8009]

"The Doctor's office" ????? That's not even British English, let alone Yorkshire. We just say "the Doctor's".