I grew up in the West Midlands (Stourbridge) from 5 until 18. Mother south-east London, father from all over (grandfather navy).
1. The space between two buildings containing a footpath: The alleyway (always ‘the’), the passage, or the cut.
2. A knitted item of clothing worn over a shirt, without buttons: A thin one, such as for school, was a pullover, a thick one, a jumper.
3. The act of not going to something that you're supposed to go to: skiving off
4. Playground game in which someone is "it" and has to touch someone else who then becomes "it.": Tag. When played within the netball court markings: bulldog. We also played Hacky/Lurky.
5. Playground truce term when you want a break from the above games: Cross keys.
6. Playground term you say when you want to claim something: Bagsy. Just as, if not more common in the negative: ‘Bagsy baint it’ ie. ‘Bagsy not I’.
7. Slip-on shoes worn for school sports in the days before trainers: If they’re black, plimsolls. Otherwise pumps.
8. Small round bread: If it’s got a crusty outside, then a roll, if soft, it’s a bap. Buns are sweet.
9. Sweet course that follows the main course: Pudding or Afters.
10. Scone: pronounced to rhyme with "gone" or with "moan": I go with either, but more likely to rhyme with ‘gone’. Parents rhyme with ‘moan’.
11. Generic term for a bird: I say ‘bird’ but would also understand ‘chook’
12. Round food stuff made with batter on a griddle, which is brown on the outside: pikelet
13. A delicacy that you feel is particularly local to you: pork scratchings. Faggots. (Which I never liked.)
14. Term of endearment: ‘love’ or ‘lover’ ‘All right my lover’ is absolutely generic – adult to child could say that with no connotations. My godfather says it to me all the time. ‘Bugger’ is the same – very affectionate, especially ‘old bugger’ (you can say that to a kid, too) and ‘daft bugger’. My Uncle, who just about never left south-east London (he came to visit us once, for the weekend, and it was a major expedition) called all women from his mother to his wife to the girl behind the bar ‘lovey’.
15. Someone who's soft and easily feels the cold: ‘wuss’ is generic for anything soft. ‘Are you dithering?’ means ‘Are you cold?’
16. Tourists: Didn’t really get them.
17. A field boundary: Hedge
18. You see a group of animals standing in a farm building. They have udders and go moo. Complete the following sentence: "Look at those ____ standing in that ____!" “Look at those cows standing in that barn!”
19. You haven't had anything to eat in a long time, and your stomach is letting you know about it. You would also like to be warmer. You say: "I'm ____ and ___!" “I’m starved/starvatious and half-frozen” (or, if really cold, ‘proper frozen’. ‘clammed’ means ‘hungry’ – I don’t say that, but some of my friends do).
20. Your friends invite you to enter a haunted house: you demur. What do they call you, by way of a derisive taunt? Yampy. Wuss. Wimp.
21. A man who dresses flashily with lots of expensive jewellery is a ____: wide boy is all I can think of.
22. What do you say in a shop when you are handed your change? Cheers, Ta or just thanks
23. Generic friendly greeting: ‘All right?’ or even ‘All’s all right?’
24. Slang term for a pair of trousers: keks or keeks.
25. Slang term for left-handed: caggy or cackhanded.
26. Pronunciation of Shrewsbury? Newcastle? Glasgow? SHROOZEbry, NEW-Cah-Sul, GLAHS-go.
27. Two pieces of bread with a filling: Sandwich. Sarnie when at school.
28. A playground way of saying someone is out of order: ‘bang out of order’ is all that comes to mind.
29. Dialect terms for hands, ears, face – and, indeed, for any other body parts you care to name: head is noggin. Paws or mitts are hands. Chops was a really common term, for cheeks/mouth. ‘long in the chops’ for ‘down in the mouth’, etc.
30. Terms for someone who looks miserable: ‘all in’. ‘proper’ was always the qualifying term ‘proper miserable’ although I’d use ‘right miserable’ more these days. Face as long as Livery Street.
31. Potatoes: ‘taters’, usually. Or ‘spuds’.
32. Pale round food stuff with a brown base, lots of holes in it, which you serve hot with butter: crumpet at home, pikelet at friends.
33. You annoyingly lucky person! ‘jammy cow’ or ‘jammy bugger’.
no subject
1. The space between two buildings containing a footpath: The alleyway (always ‘the’), the passage, or the cut.
2. A knitted item of clothing worn over a shirt, without buttons: A thin one, such as for school, was a pullover, a thick one, a jumper.
3. The act of not going to something that you're supposed to go to: skiving off
4. Playground game in which someone is "it" and has to touch someone else who then becomes "it.": Tag. When played within the netball court markings: bulldog. We also played Hacky/Lurky.
5. Playground truce term when you want a break from the above games: Cross keys.
6. Playground term you say when you want to claim something: Bagsy. Just as, if not more common in the negative: ‘Bagsy baint it’ ie. ‘Bagsy not I’.
7. Slip-on shoes worn for school sports in the days before trainers: If they’re black, plimsolls. Otherwise pumps.
8. Small round bread: If it’s got a crusty outside, then a roll, if soft, it’s a bap. Buns are sweet.
9. Sweet course that follows the main course: Pudding or Afters.
10. Scone: pronounced to rhyme with "gone" or with "moan": I go with either, but more likely to rhyme with ‘gone’. Parents rhyme with ‘moan’.
11. Generic term for a bird: I say ‘bird’ but would also understand ‘chook’
12. Round food stuff made with batter on a griddle, which is brown on the outside: pikelet
13. A delicacy that you feel is particularly local to you: pork scratchings. Faggots. (Which I never liked.)
14. Term of endearment: ‘love’ or ‘lover’ ‘All right my lover’ is absolutely generic – adult to child could say that with no connotations. My godfather says it to me all the time. ‘Bugger’ is the same – very affectionate, especially ‘old bugger’ (you can say that to a kid, too) and ‘daft bugger’.
My Uncle, who just about never left south-east London (he came to visit us once, for the weekend, and it was a major expedition) called all women from his mother to his wife to the girl behind the bar ‘lovey’.
15. Someone who's soft and easily feels the cold: ‘wuss’ is generic for anything soft. ‘Are you dithering?’ means ‘Are you cold?’
16. Tourists: Didn’t really get them.
17. A field boundary: Hedge
18. You see a group of animals standing in a farm building. They have udders and go moo. Complete the following sentence: "Look at those ____ standing in that ____!"
“Look at those cows standing in that barn!”
19. You haven't had anything to eat in a long time, and your stomach is letting you know about it. You would also like to be warmer. You say: "I'm ____ and ___!"
“I’m starved/starvatious and half-frozen” (or, if really cold, ‘proper frozen’. ‘clammed’ means ‘hungry’ – I don’t say that, but some of my friends do).
20. Your friends invite you to enter a haunted house: you demur. What do they call you, by way of a derisive taunt? Yampy. Wuss. Wimp.
21. A man who dresses flashily with lots of expensive jewellery is a ____: wide boy is all I can think of.
22. What do you say in a shop when you are handed your change? Cheers, Ta or just thanks
23. Generic friendly greeting: ‘All right?’ or even ‘All’s all right?’
24. Slang term for a pair of trousers: keks or keeks.
25. Slang term for left-handed: caggy or cackhanded.
26. Pronunciation of Shrewsbury? Newcastle? Glasgow? SHROOZEbry, NEW-Cah-Sul, GLAHS-go.
27. Two pieces of bread with a filling: Sandwich. Sarnie when at school.
28. A playground way of saying someone is out of order: ‘bang out of order’ is all that comes to mind.
29. Dialect terms for hands, ears, face – and, indeed, for any other body parts you care to name: head is noggin. Paws or mitts are hands. Chops was a really common term, for cheeks/mouth. ‘long in the chops’ for ‘down in the mouth’, etc.
30. Terms for someone who looks miserable: ‘all in’. ‘proper’ was always the qualifying term ‘proper miserable’ although I’d use ‘right miserable’ more these days. Face as long as Livery Street.
31. Potatoes: ‘taters’, usually. Or ‘spuds’.
32. Pale round food stuff with a brown base, lots of holes in it, which you serve hot with butter: crumpet at home, pikelet at friends.
33. You annoyingly lucky person! ‘jammy cow’ or ‘jammy bugger’.