Since we opened in 2016, we have welcomed guests from a whopping 114 countries. Many bring with them their own language and we love the multi-lingual buzz of our hostel. That being said, today is about our home county (if you didn’t know, it’s Yorkshire Day). Those visiting would be forgiven for struggling with some of our Yorkshire terms and phrases. Our accents can make it all the more difficult too.

Do not fear, we are here to help you decipher our dialect and celebrate our wonderful county in one fell swoop…

Alright? – means hello. You usually don’t need to tell someone how you are in response to this but you can. No Yorkshireman (or woman) will be offended.

‘Aye – in Yorkshire a simple ‘aye is a term of agreement or a straightforward yes.

Be reight – it will be alright.

Brass – money.

Champion – fantastic. “My stay in the hostel was champion”.

‘Eck – this one is a toned down term for hell and is used in the place of a curse word.

Ey up – hello!

Faffin’ and flaggin’ – faffin’ means messing about or taking too long and flaggin’ means struggling.

Ginnel – now this one is controversial, especially if you cross the border to Lancashire as the people over there prefer the word ‘snicket’. However, a ginnel is a narrow passage between two buildings. If you’re given directions to one of the hidden pubs in Leeds city centre, you may way encounter this term.

Wapentake and Slocken – two of our neighbouring establishments but also two Yorkshire terms. Slocken means to quench while Wapentake is a historical term that you’re unlikely to encounter so we won’t explain…unless you visit the bar of course (which we recommend).

Lass – girl.

Love – a term of endearment, used for and by both women and men. It’s a good thing, so take it as a compliment.

Manky – not very nice or rotten.

Mardy – miserable or sulky.

Nowt and owt – nothing and anything.

Now then – Hello or how are you?

On Ilkla Moor Baht ‘at – a song you may encounter if you head across to Ilkley. Translates to on Ilkley moor without your hat.

Sarnie – sandwich.

Scran – food. Join us from some scran at Tuesday tea ;).

Summat – something.

Sup – drink up. “Sup that pint and we’ll move on”.

Ta – thank you.

Have you encountered any terms we’ve not included? Share them and we’ll translate.