Free the Word: Here's the Weather
28 September 2017
Here's the Weather by Stuart A Paterson
BBC Scotland
Here's the Weather by Stuart A Paterson
The many Scots words related to the weather are given their freedom.
Today in London, the weather man speaks / of damp & of cold. In Scotland it's dreich / with outbreaks of smirr, the occasional hoolie, / advice in the papers to look oot yer woolies.
The many colourful Scots words related to the weather are given their freedom by BBC Scotland's new Poet in Residence Stuart A Paterson.
As part of the Free the Word campaign, the BBC asked poets in regions across England to put local words to verse. Stuart's poem is the result of an on-air call out to Radio Scotland listeners asking for their suggestions for words used in Scotland, which they think deserve to be celebrated.
The word dreich topped the list of suggestions and Stuart took this as inspiration to create a poem. He has used suggested words from dialects across the whole of Scotland.
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Susie Dent on the local words that bring it all back home
It’s not just poets who are fascinated by local dialect, as celebrity lexicographer Susie Dent explains.
Words and Films
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Bobowler by Liz Berry
A large moth. From listeners to BBC Radio WM (West Midlands).
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Cheeselog by Hollie McNish
A woodlouse - selected by BBC Radio Berkshire listeners
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Didlum by Dean Wilson
A community savings scheme - selected by BBC Radio Humberside listeners.
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Dimpsy by Chrissy Williams
Dusk; twilight. From listeners to BBC Radio Devon.
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Fam by Caleb Femi
A familiar form of address for a friend. From listeners to BBC Radio London.
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City of Geg ins by Chris McCabe
To interrupt; to butt in. From listeners to BBC Radio Merseyside.
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Ginnel by Vidyan Ravinthiran
An alleyway. Suggested by listeners to BBC Radio Leeds.
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Gurt by Vanessa Kisuule
Very; great - suggested by listeners to BBC Radio Bristol.
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Mardy by Toby Campion
Spoilt; sulky; moody. Suggested by listeners to Radio Leicester.
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On the huh by Rebecca Watts
Lopsided; wonky. As suggested by listeners to BBC Radio Suffolk.
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Ode to Twining by Katie Hale
To moan; to complain. From BBC Radio Cumbria.
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Twitten by James Brookes
A narrow lane; an alleyway. From BBC Sussex.
