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Words you can't spell/ Words that haven't spellings.

Started by Magnum Valentino, March 31, 2021, 06:59:44 PM

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Magnum Valentino

There are a couple of words I can't spell that members of my family have beeing saying all my life.

In context:

'Red' up. As in, to 'get red up', or 'let me red up in here and I'll be ready in a minute'. Essentially to finish or clear away. Is it 'read', like would rhyme with 'led', or 'redd', 'red', ugh. No idea.

'Kyoboy'. As in 'watch yourself with him, he's a kyoboy'. An eejit, or a rogue. My brother basically said this is best spelled as 'keoghboy', but that's so specifically tied to the name 'Keogh'. Probably comes from cowboy, which would be another term of damnation on the island.

'Bowle'. Presumably a derivation of bold. Sounds like 'cowl' but with a B. Correct usage would be something like 'I was talking to the bowle Dympna yesterday, she's not half wise that one'. Sort of an affectionate prefix that no-one in my household can agree the definition of.

Have youse any? These are all Irish obviously but I'll take from all regions.

Dr Rock

I've never known how to spell a term for 'mate' common in (the more common parts of) Kent, and I'm not sure where else - 'Mush.' Or 'Moosh.' Neither aids correct pronunciation, which is more like 'Msh.'

'Oi msh, gissus some of yer chips'

Echo Valley 2-6809

Quote from: Dr Rock on March 31, 2021, 07:42:08 PM
I've never known how to spell a term for 'mate' common in (the more common parts of) Kent, and I'm not sure where else - 'Mush.' Or 'Moosh.' Neither aids correct pronunciation, which is more like 'Msh.'

'Oi msh, gissus some of yer chips'

Mush, I think. Tony Hancock/Galton & Simpson used it from time to time. Supposedly from Romany, where 'moosh' means man.

dissolute ocelot

I recently found out that a Scottish slang word I'd known since childhood is allegedly spelt "shan", meaning shitty or unfair. Still doesn't look right.

There's another Scottish word that my mother regularly used of my sister that according to the Dictionars o the Scots Leid is spelt "besom, bysim, bizzim, bizzom, bizzum, bissom". So no wiser there.

Quote from: Magnum Valentino on March 31, 2021, 06:59:44 PM
There are a couple of words I can't spell that members of my family have beeing saying all my life.

In context:

'Red' up. As in, to 'get red up', or 'let me red up in here and I'll be ready in a minute'. Essentially to finish or clear away. Is it 'read', like would rhyme with 'led', or 'redd', 'red', ugh. No idea.

This is used in Scotland too, mostly by older folk or in rural areas. The Scots dictionary has a long entry under 'redd' and it also appears under that spelling as 'Scottish/N Eng dialect' in this English dictionary:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/redd

It seems to be related to 'rid', in the sense of getting rid of a mess, etc.


flotemysost

As a teenager I often wondered how to spell (in text messages, MSN, etc.) the first syllable of "casual" (as in, that was the whole word - used to indicate the tone of an event/how you were planning on dressing for something/how you were going to act around someone, etc.). Cas? Cash? Caszj?

Not really a huge dilemma as you could easily just use the full word, but that would have taken away the sense of bonding that comes with shared colloquialisms, it just seems more lighthearted and friendly (or more cas/cash/casjz, if you will).


Magnum Valentino

Quote from: flotemysost on March 31, 2021, 09:06:21 PM
As a teenager I often wondered how to spell (in text messages, MSN, etc.) the first syllable of "casual" (as in, that was the whole word - used to indicate the tone of an event/how you were planning on dressing for something/how you were going to act around someone, etc.). Cas? Cash? Caszj?

Not really a huge dilemma as you could easily just use the full word, but that would have taken away the sense of bonding that comes with shared colloquialisms, it just seems more lighthearted and friendly (or more cas/cash/casjz, if you will).

This is a brilliant one.

holyzombiejesus

Is there a word for Mrs as Mister is to Mr? Missus is slang, isn't it?

BeardFaceMan

A Welsh one used in non-Welsh speaking parts of Wales is "acky", to rhyme with 'baccy', and it means something horrible. It's usually used towards young kids ("Don't touch that, it's acky") and for years I had no idea what the word was until I was watching Absolutely one day and there are Denzil sketches where he says "Ach y fi" a few times, and at the end of the sketch they were an Ach Y Fi Production, it was hearing him say the phrase out loud that made it click with me. So that's where that word comes from, an English corruption of a Welsh phrase that is a mild version of an exasperated "oh for fucks sake". Comedy makes you learn things! Other than how to spell acky properly, obviously.

What would be the preferred spelling of 'physog' (meaning face) in the CaB style guide? Apparently it comes from 'physiognomy', a rather highfalutin-sounding word for face.

This link gives several possibilities: phizog, fizzog, phizog, phizzog, phyzog.

https://www.definition-of.com/physog

Does anyone still say phizog/fizzog/phizog/phizzog/phyzog, anyway?


pigamus

Can't spell privilege

Always think it's like window ledge

Magnum Valentino

I'm reading Ken Reid comics from the 60s at the moment and he spells it Fizzog, which is how I would have as well before I had it sort of confirmed.

I've never seen any of those other spellings actually.

gib

Quote from: Clatty McCutcheon on March 31, 2021, 10:04:14 PM
What would be the preferred spelling of 'physog' (meaning face) in the CaB style guide? Apparently it comes from 'physiognomy', a rather highfalutin-sounding word for face.

This link gives several possibilities: phizog, fizzog, phizog, phizzog, phyzog.

https://www.definition-of.com/physog

Does anyone still say phizog/fizzog/phizog/phizzog/phyzog, anyway?

it's complicated

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=phizog%2Cfizzog%2Cphizzog%2Cphyzog&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cphizog%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cfizzog%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cphizzog%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cphyzog%3B%2Cc0

All Surrogate

Quote from: Dr Rock on March 31, 2021, 07:42:08 PM
I've never known how to spell a term for 'mate' common in (the more common parts of) Kent, and I'm not sure where else - 'Mush.' Or 'Moosh.' Neither aids correct pronunciation, which is more like 'Msh.'

'Oi msh, gissus some of yer chips'

Quote from: Echo Valley 2-6809 on March 31, 2021, 07:46:18 PM
Mush, I think. Tony Hancock/Galton & Simpson used it from time to time. Supposedly from Romany, where 'moosh' means man.

I thought it came from German 'musch', meaning 'sparrow'. It sticks with me because I read that Karl Marx would call his son Edgar 'musch', which is quite bitterweet given Edgar died young, and shows a bit of the humanity of the man that his reputation often omits.


Rizla

Quote from: dissolute ocelot on March 31, 2021, 08:30:29 PM

There's another Scottish word that my mother regularly used of my sister that according to the Dictionars o the Scots Leid is spelt "besom, bysim, bizzim, bizzom, bizzum, bissom". So no wiser there.
A besom is a broom, like a twig witch's one. Rhymes with "jism".

gib

Quote from: Clatty McCutcheon on March 31, 2021, 10:28:07 PM
I wonder what caused the big spike in the use of 'fizzog' in the new millennium.

tbh i'm not sure how revealing that google tool is. Might have just been one or two semi popular authors who used it for a while.

Dusty Substance


Not sure if this one counts but I never liked how "just a couple of bros" when written down, as it makes me immediately think of Matt and Luke Goss before my brain reminds me that it's the plural of "bro".

jamiefairlie

Quote from: Rizla on March 31, 2021, 10:30:06 PM
A besom is a broom, like a twig witch's one. Rhymes with "jism".

Aye, that's how I'd spell it. A favourite of my mum's, usually as part of "cheeky besom".

Magnum Valentino

Quote from: Dusty Substance on March 31, 2021, 11:10:42 PM
Not sure if this one counts but I never liked how "just a couple of bros" when written down, as it makes me immediately think of Matt and Luke Goss before my brain reminds me that it's the plural of "bro".

I don't like when people pronounce it, like YouTubers saying Super Mario Brose out loud. I'd be of the persuasion of just taking it as an abbreviation of Brothers, like with Mister/Mr above, and saying brothers accordingly.

gilbertharding

Quote from: flotemysost on March 31, 2021, 09:06:21 PM
As a teenager I often wondered how to spell (in text messages, MSN, etc.) the first syllable of "casual" (as in, that was the whole word - used to indicate the tone of an event/how you were planning on dressing for something/how you were going to act around someone, etc.). Cas? Cash? Caszj?

Not really a huge dilemma as you could easily just use the full word, but that would have taken away the sense of bonding that comes with shared colloquialisms, it just seems more lighthearted and friendly (or more cas/cash/casjz, if you will).

I was alarmed a few years ago to discover someone I worked with thought (and had thought for many decades) that the word 'fridge' was spelled 'frig.'

He reasoned it was short for 'reFRIGerator', which is both true and wrong at the same time.

poodlefaker

Quote from: flotemysost on March 31, 2021, 09:06:21 PM
As a teenager I often wondered how to spell (in text messages, MSN, etc.) the first syllable of "casual" (as in, that was the whole word - used to indicate the tone of an event/how you were planning on dressing for something/how you were going to act around someone, etc.). Cas? Cash? Caszj?

Not really a huge dilemma as you could easily just use the full word, but that would have taken away the sense of bonding that comes with shared colloquialisms, it just seems more lighthearted and friendly (or more cas/cash/casjz, if you will).

There's a similar sound in a word meaning to decorate or liven up a bit; it's like "zjooje up", "zjooje it up a bit". Unspellable.

dissolute ocelot

Quote from: Rizla on March 31, 2021, 10:30:06 PM
A besom is a broom, like a twig witch's one. Rhymes with "jism".
Also "A term of contempt applied to a person, gen. a woman; some times to a woman of loose character, sometimes jocularly to a woman or young girl. Besom; bysim, bizzim, bizzom, bizzum, bissom. [′bi:zəm, ′bɪzəm, ′bɪsəm]"
https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/besom

lazyhour

Quote from: poodlefaker on April 01, 2021, 10:56:53 AM
There's a similar sound in a word meaning to decorate or liven up a bit; it's like "zjooje up", "zjooje it up a bit". Unspellable.

See also the short form of "pleasure" - it's an absolute plezj, mate.

I do wish we had satisfying spellings for the "zj" type word.

FredNurke

'zhuzh'. The ZH digraph for /ʒ/ is analogous to the SH one for /ʃ/, so it's probably the best bet.

itsfredtitmus

I genuinely got really confused why swollen isn't spelt like "sweollen" yesterday it just makes so much sense muscle memory wise when typing to go to the E

Shoulders?-Stomach!

People who think when people are saying 'would've' and 'should've' they are saying 'would of' and 'should of' instead of 'would have' and 'should have'.

There's a weird inversion where the existence and usage of apostrophes have gone on to destroy millions of people's basic understanding have what the word've even means or how it functions.

flotemysost

Quote from: poodlefaker on April 01, 2021, 10:56:53 AM
There's a similar sound in a word meaning to decorate or liven up a bit; it's like "zjooje up", "zjooje it up a bit". Unspellable.

Yep, I thought of this one after posting. It's Polari isn't it? Which I'm no expert on, but AFAIK is partly derived from Romani, so makes sense that it might not be obvious to spell from an English-speaking perspective.

NurseNugent

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on March 31, 2021, 09:19:23 PM
Is there a word for Mrs as Mister is to Mr? Missus is slang, isn't it?

Mrs is short for Mistress isn't it?

touchingcloth

Quote from: NurseNugent on April 03, 2021, 02:04:22 PM
Mrs is short for Mistress isn't it?

You sometimes see people write "missus" (especially in literature), and I always wonder if that's a "proper" word which is the source of mrs, or if it's just a slang one.

On a similar note, to this day I still come across words which I hear rather than read for the first time and realise with horror that if I've ever spoken them, I'd've said them wrong. I was well into my twenties or maybe even in my 30s when I realised that the epithet I'd seen written as "poof" was the same as the one I'd heard pronounced as "puff", and that it's not meant to be pronounced like boomf.