[from A Vocabulary of the Anglo-Manx Dialect, 1924]

A VOCABULARY OF THE ANGLO-MANX DIALECT

NOTE—
B. The Rev. T. E. Brown.
C. Miss Josephine Kermode (‘ Cushag ‘).

W

WADHER [wada(r)], 'weather'.
It's doin fine wadher.

WAE [wë, wæ], 'way', a call to a horse to stop.
I didn see him, but I heard him outside the door waein and woin to his horses. And waein and woin as restless.

WAEVER [wëva(r)], 'weaver'; spider.
If a waever'll creep on ye it's a sign o' new clothes.

WAFF [waf], 'waft', flap, flutter; whiff.
Don't be waflin the blankets so much when ye're makin the bed. A Iii waff o' smook come in me face.

WAIS [wës], 'waist'. In the following
Fat in the face and thin in the wais' Tha's the gel tha's all to me tasle. That boat is very thick in the wais'.

WAKE [wëk], 'awake'. Are ye wake at all?

WALKER [wQka(r)], vagrant.
I've navar hard the beggars tha's goin roun' the counthry gettin called 'walkers', but I've of'n hard them called I thravellers'.
The walkers would enther a house without knockin, and take a saet by the fire, and they would be sarved with plenty to ate and dhrink, and a bed kep' for them in the barn.

WALKIN [w§kan], 'walking', in:
He used to be goin roun' walkin the bag, i. e. begging with a poke or wallet.

WALLAD [wolad], 'wallet', a long bag open at the middle and closed at the ends.
The beggars would be goin roun' of a Sathurda, and pokes and wallads at them. ' Dan-the wallad', the beggarman, had salt herrins in one en' o' the wallad and barleybread and oatbread in the other.
Used to be every fisherman carried his own provision to sea in a wollad slung over his shouldher-mate in the one end and the clothes in the other.

WALLOPER [wolapa(r)], a large bustling person.
Yandher wumman is a reglar walloper, and she can jump in and out of a cart like winkin.

WARP [wo(r)p], a cast of three.
When the fishermen tell out their herrings they add to every hundred of six-score, three fishes which they distinguish by the name of I warp', and then they throw in a single herring which they call 'tally'.
Would you accep' of a couple o' warp of herrin for yer breakwhis this mornin? I'll just gerra warp of herrins urrov pickle.

WARPLE [wo(r)pl], to warble, to sing with unsteady intonation, to tremble in sound.
I don't like them singers when they're warplin yandher-ways.

WARR, WAR [war], 'ware'.
The fayries in the night tuk and turnt all the warr on the dhresser wrong side out. Hardly a plate or a basin or any other surt o' war' (B.).

WARRIM [woram], 'warm'.
Ye're lookin very warrim. The weather is warrim and the hate (heat) is doin the land (soil) good.

WARRY [wori] (Mx. warree), 'wary', knowing. They were very wary for the weather in oul' times.

WART [wo(r)t], the name of a sea-bank near Peel. Skeddan beg er y Wart (small herring on the Wart), Best herrin avar caught.

WAS [wos (stressed), woz (unstressed)], used after nouns singular and plural.
The men was there, they wor. The boys and the gels wasn hirin at the feer on the one day, no, they worn. The English ones is of 'n sayin ' you was', but the Manx ones is always sayin 'you war'. I navar h'ard no Manx body sayin ' we was', no, nor ' they was' ither.

WASE [wës], 'waste', wasted.
The tap got bruk, and the wather all runnin wase.
I was feeling wase for maet. Them childher is lookin feer wase for want of looking afther.

WASH-WOMAN [wofwüman], 'washer-woman'.
The wash-woman can't get the clothes dhried with (on account of) the rain tha's in.

WASSP [wãsp], 'wasp'.
Them lil yalla wassps-I can't suffer (bear) them comin near me.

WATCH [wotf], a midnight religious service on New Year's Eve. She's gone to the Watch and won't be home till the New Year is in. Afther the Watch the singers'll be goin roun' the town. He ron out o' chapel sthrite afther the Watch and went to people's houses for (as) quaaltagh, i. e. to be the first-foot.

WATHER [wåpa(r), wopa(r)], 'water'. A fisherman's word for no fish.
When one of the luggers heave to, the other boats run for him and ask if he had seen any signs. If no herrings the answer was ' Water, boy, what store have you?' The old men would say ' Ushtey' (water).
' Water-bailiff', the chief officer in all matters relating to outward and inward trade:-There's no waher bailiffs now-the las' o' them was in eighteen hundherd and eighty-five, and he used to be called the ' Customer' (officer of the Customs).

WEDDINER [wedana(r)], 'weddinger', wedding-guest. And the weddiners all went pas', linkin two and two.

WEER [wia(r)], 'wear'.
She's gorra fine Nape o' Sunda clothes and plenty o' wcerin (ordinary) ones too. I don't like to see people goin about in their weerin clothes of a Sunda.

WESTARD, WESTHARD [wespa(r)d], westward.
Ye'll navar get to the westhard of yandher falla, i. e. you can never take him unawares or get the better of him.

WET [wet], rain, water.
And the wet come pourin down. It's beginnin to wet. The kettle is boilin-wet the tea (make tea).
Wet-my-hp, a name given to the quail from the sound of its note : I h'ard a wet-me-lip shoutin not far off.

WHALE [hwël], 'wale', flog. Whale him (B.).

WHALLIAN [hwoljan] (Mx.), an inflected form of 'quallian', whelp. Whose whallian is that ?

WHAT [hwot]. The word 'what' is often contracted to 'wha'when
followed by 'is' :-Wha 's that? i. e. what is that? When the word 'what' precedes a vowel its final 't' is often replaced by ' r ' :-W harro' that ? i. e. what of that ?
He's navar done (finished) axin queshtins, and that's the for we're callin him ' Oul' What !'
What man o' them are ye talkin about? i. e. of which of the men are you speaking?
What many years are ye? i. e. how old are you?

WHATAVAR, WHARRAVAR [hwota'va(r), hwora'va(r)], 'whatever'.
When his father died, he come to wharravar there was in, i. e. he inherited all.

WHEN [haven], the time.
That's the when, you'd see, mind you (B.).

WHENAVAR [hwena'va(r)], 'whenever' ; as soon as.
Whenavar she'll come I can't say-may-ve this everin, may-ve to-morra. Whenavar he seen me he claent away.

WHERRY [], a two-masted vessel with fore and aft sail.
The wherry rig went out o' use about 1830, the time the dandy or jigger rig come in.
Look out for a wherry.

WHIP [], a young conger eel.
A whip of an eel. Aye, we had two congers and three whips. A whip'll grow to a conger but a snig won't.

WHITE, QUITE [], 'white'.
White as milk, milk it isn,
Green as grass, grass it isn,
Red as blood, blood it isn,
Black as soot, soot it isn. (Riddle: Answer-A blackberry in its different stages of flower and fruit.)
White-boys, Christmas mummers:-The white-boys'll act.
White nets, nets sparkling with fish:-One day white nets, another day black nets, and another day jus' lilt grains.
White wren, the willow-warbler, Phyllosocopus trochilus:-It isn every day ye'll see a white wran.

WHO []. The word 'who' is seldom used as a relative pronoun but is freely used interrogatively and demonstratively; the form whom' is never used.
Who's there? Who of you tuk it? i. e. which of you took it? Who Kelly is that? i. e. which Kelly is that? Who from did ye gerrit? Who to did ye give it ?
I'll tell you who done it. I'm not goin to tell who of us it was. A gel, no matter the who (B.).

WHOALAG [] (Mx.), a sewing.
The tailor said-' If I get a whoalag out under the arm it won't be too tight-jus' a glout out here', he said, ' an it'll be right enough'.

WHOMM [], untidy stitching, patch.
Is it stichin and sawin (sewing) ye're callin that?-it's nothin but whommin. She whommed it up in any surt o' way. The skipper put a whmm on the sail.

WHUCH [, 'which'. The word 'which' is seldom used as a relative pronoun, though frequently as an interrogative pronoun.
Whuch is the bes' do you think? Whuch o' thorn (them) III ye hev? I dunnaw for sure whuch Oll (I'll) hev-whuch do ye say yerself?

WHUSHIN, WHIZHIN [], 'whi
ing', flouncing. The thing come whushin pas' me.
She lef' the table with a whizhin on her.

WHY [], the reason.
He tould me the why and all about it (B.). I never thought on for the whys or the hows (B.).

WICE [], 'wise'.
He isn half wice isn yandher falla.

WICKAD [], 'wicked', used intensively with the meaning of excellent or remarkable.
Juan was asked what sort of preacher his brother the ' Local I was- Aw,' he said, ' he can pray wickad I.

WIGHT, WITE [], 'weight',
There's no w'ight in his praechin-nothin but kesh (froth). The Wight o' larnin tha's on his brains is turnin his eyes swinty.
Wha's the wite o' the pig do you think? Deed, I dunnaw but it's more weighty till I'm thinkin.

WILDHERNESS [], bewilderment.
I was all in wildherness over it. And them in wildherness what to do, the freckent they wor.

WILL, 'LL [wil (stressed), al (unstressed)]. The contracted form I'll' is commonly used in affirmative and negative sentences. The full form 'will' is used in interrogative sentences and in cases of special emphasis. Futurity is always indicated by 'will' or its contraction "ll'. 'Shall' is only used to express determination. The contracted negative forms 'won't' and "ll not' are almost indiscriminatingly used at the option of the speaker :-He won't. He'll not.
Will I do it? i. e. shall I do it? Will I go home with ye? Won't I be glad o' that! I'm afraid I won't gerrit, deed I'm thinkin I'll not, O, dear, Doctor, give us. a pill.
Yiss, me dear, and so I will. O, dear, Doctor, will I die? Yiss, me dear, and so will I.
(Said in derision to such as fancy themselves to be ill.)

WILLY-WAGTAIL [], the pied wagtail, Motacilla lugubris.
What we're callin willy-wagtails the oul' people was callin ' ushag vreck' (speckled bird).
It's not right to plough till the willy-wagtails is about.

WIN THRUSH, the fieldfare, Turdus pilarus.
It appears in stormy weather, the oul' people were calling it Ushagsniaghtey (snow-bird).

WINCH [], 'wench'.
I don't like hearin gels goin a callin winches. He worried the winch (B.). A simple winch (B.),

WINCHY-MY-DONKEY [].
An old game played by boys, as follows :-One boy called the Standard stood with his back against a wall, a second placed his head against the Standard's middle, a third stood bending back to back with the second, a fourth like the second, and so on, all except the Standard being called Donkeys. The last boy tried, straddle-wise, to reach the Standard over the donkeys' backs, the donkeys trying to ' winch' him off; if he succeeded he had another turn, if not he took his place at the end of the line, and the Standard in his turn tried to advance, the second boy becoming Standard.

WINDHARD [], 'windward'.
It's no use thryin to get to the windhard o' yandher falla. We've to keep to the windhard o' yandher ones, they am fit to come near.

WINDHER [], 'winder'.
She wun (wound) the thread on the windhers as nate as nate. Wha's the use o' windhers and navar no thread to put on them?

WINDLE [], 'dwindle'.
The Chile tuk a sickness, and windled away to a shadda.

WINDY [], hare-brained, fickle.
He's that windy there's no dependin on him. That windy-brain of a thing, there's no use mindin her.
Windy people they are, and navar of the same notion two days runnin.

WING [], a goosewing used as a dusting brush.
Take the wing and brush the griddle. I've knawn people sweepin the whole house from top to bottom with a goose's wing.

WINKER [], blinker, blinder.
Put the winkers on the hoss. She can put the winkers on her man fine.

WINKIN [], 'winking'; creaking.
With his boots goin winkin (B.).

WINDY [], 'winking', blinking.
I seen the lil wintry eyes of him. He's a man with wintry eyes. An' wintry boots.

WITCH [wing], 'width'. (N.Yks.)
Wha's the winth o' yandher flarman?-is it narra wnth or wide wnth ?

WIRRASTHRU [wirasprü], an Irish cry of woe, literally ' O Mary, 'tis pity.'
O wirrasthru, O wirrasthru (B.).

WISH, see Wush.

WITCH, see Wutch.

WITH, WIS, WI' [a]. The word 'with' is often used redundantly in combination with a personal pronoun:-Carry it with ye to the house.
If I was you I wouldn depend much on her, she is one of them ' with-me, with-thee' kind of persons, i. e. a fickle or untrustworthy person.
A fine everin wis the moon at full. Come wi' me down to the baetch (beach).
Come here with ye ! Bring it with ye. Off with him he went all by himself, i. e. he went away alone.
I'll have to take with it, i. e. I must submit to it.

WOBBLER [], a brisk person.
A bright little tight little wobbler (B.).

WOMAN [], used in familiar address to women and female children.
Come here, woman, and help yerself to't. And yis, woman, tha's the way it is, woman.

WOODS [], loose pieces of wood. He haped up all the woods together.

WOOMER [], a hummer, or humming-board, a boy's toy made of a closely notched lath attached at one end to a string, and making a loud humming noise when whirled round at arm's length.
When he's singin, he's woomin like a woomer. There was a man getn buried in Peel Churchyard, and he was that fat it was middlin hard to shove him in the grave ; and at night a falla was passin and h'ard a boy's woomer goin, ' woom, woom !' and the falla tuk to his heels for he thought it was the fat man shoutin, ' Room, room! '

WOOR [], 'wore', worn, in She woor the sickness on her feet, i. e. she kept afoot thoughout her illness.

WORK [], ferment.
The badness was workin in him like barm. And it works till ye feel yer
heart risin (B.). The say (sea) is workin with a tidesway.

WRACK [], 'wreck'.
The boat was wrackt and the men was dhrownded. There'll be many a wrack this night in the storm.

WRACK [ræk], sea-wrack, sea-weed.
Get bladdher-wraick and boil it, and wash the lil boy's backbone with the wather of it, and it'll strenthen him wondherful. Passin the stringers of the long sea-grass between his fingers, as if it wasn wrack he had there (B.). He called her an oul' ' bag o' wraick'.

WRITIN [reitn], 'writing', legal document.
The bit of writin's done at me that all should have their share. He said the house was his, but he had no writins to show for it, i. e. he had no document as evidence.

WUD, UD, 'D [wild (stressed), ad (unstressed)], 'would'.
I cannot do the thing thou wud o' me (B.). They'd come for you they
wud (B.). The cocks and the hens 'ud be nisin of a mornin.

WULLY-WUSS [wüli wüs] (Mx. Wullee-wus), woad, Reseda luteola.
'Intment made o' wully-wuss'll stop bleedin. They used to be gettin gorryman (blue dye) out of wullee-wuss.

WURRY [würi], worried, weary.
He was lookin very wurry and moidhered. I'm thinkin she's middlin wurry with all them childher to look afther.

WUSH [], ' wish'.
I'm wushin I was at Chapel lis'nin to a Manx sarmon-the surt them oul' locals was praechin before now.
Wishing-herb (Mx. lus y wooishal), the yarrow, cut by the light of the new moon by a young woman who said as a charm:
Good morra, green yarra,
Good morra, green yarra,
Good morra, green yarra to thee ;
Tell me to-night
Before to-morra
Who my true love shall be.
If he appears to me in blue,
His love to me shall ever be true ;
If he appears to me in green,
His love to me shall never be seen;
If he appears to me in grey
His love for me is far away.
(Then the yarrow is brought home and placed under the pillow, and the mystic dream is expected.)

WUSHLEEN [] (Mx. woishleeyn), pennywort, Cotyledon umbilicus.
Wushleen bruised, and spread with hog's lard is gud for the arisippelas (erysipelas). Did ye avar hear wushleen goin a callin ' lus y daa phing' (herb of the two pennies) ?

WUTCH [], 'witch', bewitch.
A witch? of coorse she was a wutch, and a black witch, the wuss that's goin (B.).
Beg from a beggar you'll navar get ruch, Beg from me and I'll call ye a wutch. (Children's rhyme.)
You'll not witch him ! (B.).
Wutched or tuk at the fairies or that (B.).