Time, Manner, Place

[venta]

Every so often, I use a word which makes everyone go "eh?". Often this is because I'm using regional words in the wrong region (and, in fairness, sometimes it's because I'm just indulging my taste for obscure words). But recently, I apologised for saying "playing hooky" (playing truant), and was told that this was in fact (a) well-known and (b) American. So I'm wondering... how many of the words I often avoid really are obscure northenisms. Are they in fact well known? Are they not actually northern, but instead, perhaps, words that were common when I was little/are common among kids but not grown ups, or something completely different?

So, what I want to know is, for the following words, would you know what I meant if I used them? Would you be able to work it out ? Would you use them yourself ? Do you know whence they come ? I'm not particularly interested in whether they're in dictionaries/googlable etc, what I'm after is a measure of well-known-ness. Please comment, even if only to say "I have no idea what you're talking about, you freak!"

And as a side-issue - I'd always thought "minging" or "minger" were definitely on the list of northern words, but they seem to have become pretty widespread relatively recently. Any suggestions?

• scunner (noun) - to take a scunner at someone


• ket(s) (noun) - I'm off to buy ket(s)


• chimble (verb) - that wall is chimbling


• molly (adj) - she's wearing a really molly top


• stotting (adj) - I'm stotting


• gegs (noun) - where did I put my gegs?


• mizzle (noun/verb) - the weather? Oh, it's just mizzling


• ginnel (noun) - take the first left down the ginnel

Probably more as I think of them.

Comments

[nevecat.livejournal.com]

I would have thought "stott" was a verb meaning to bounce or kick around or something - don't Scottish children stott their balls?

There's also 'stottie' meaning a bread roll/bap - so stotting could be related to that (eg 'eating' or similar)?

[verlaine.livejournal.com]

I've always thought that venta was top stottie, myself.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Mmmm.... stottie cakes...

When I am dictator, all bakeries south of, I dunno, about Sheffield or something will be served with a writ demanding that they henceforth stock stotties, cornedbeef pasties, and japs.

Anyone finding these items for sale in the vicinity of Oxford should inform me post haste (which actually, these days, is pretty bloody slow).

[uitlander]

I only became familiar with 'stotties' when I lived in Newcastle. True to my southern roots, I find them realy quite unpleasant, so am pleased to learn that they have not yet penetrated as far south as Oxford. Honestly, the thing about the north is you lot just don't know how to make decent avocado dip </Mandelson>

Oh, and 'ginnel' is one I've known for a long time, but it definately not a southern word - can't remember where I first heard it, probably when I was in Lanacaster.