Lancashire Dialect Glossary L
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Labbor – labour (SB)
Labborin – in labour (SB)
Labborn – they labour (SB)
Lace – to thrash ‘Aw gav’ him a good lacing’
Lad – a boy: also did lead. "He lad 'em th' wrung road." (SB)
Lady-heawse – a place near Milnrow, Rochdale. (SB)
Ladsavvur – the plant, ladslove, Southernwood. (SB)
Laft – left, departed
Laftn – they left (SB)
Lag – to loiter, to lag behind
Laggins – staves of a tub (SB)
Laigh – to laugh (SB)
Laighin – laughing (SB)
Laighnt – they laughed (SB)
Laighliss – laughless, without laughter (SB)
Laith – a barn: also to invite; to laith to a funeral (SB)
Laithe, laythe – invite ‘Aw’ll laithe a rook o’ neighbour lads’
Laithin – inviting (SB)
Lake – laik – play
Land – reach, get, succeed ‘We’st never land theer’
Langot – a shoe-lachet (obs.) (SB)
Lang – long (SB)
Langer or lenger – longer (SB)
Langist – and Langst, longest (SB)
Lant – lent in the past tense: "Aw lant him a peawnd."
Lant – urine. Many Saddleworth cottages had a lant jar outside near the door. Lant
was used to scour greasy woollen pieces. According to Ammon Wrigley: ‘In
the 17th century, Lancashire fold put urine in their Ale to make it strong.’
Lap – wrap ‘For they kept me lapt up in a fent’
Lappin – wrapping up (SB)
Laps – coat laps (SB)
Larn – learn (or teach); Larnin, learning; Larnt, learned; Larntn, they learned. (SB)
Larnt – learned, did learn ‘The mon that’s larn’t up, an’ the mon that’s a foo’
Lass – a young female. (SB)
Lat – lath ‘As thin as a lat’
Lat – late, slow
‘Has th’ trumpet bin blown, an’ aw’ve missed yerrin’ that?
Well aw’m ‘done’ iv it has; but aw’m allis to’ lat’
Latch – catch of a door: also to catch a distemper: "He latch it" is a common expression (SB)
Latchin – taking infection (SB)
Latching – infectious, catching
Lathe – a weaver's fly
Latt – late (SB)
Lattly – lately (SB)
Lattist – latest; also latt, a lath (SB)
Lattnt – hindered (obs). (SB)
Law – Lord
Lawm – lame (SB)
Lawmt – lamed ‘An th’ woman noather lawmt nor nowt’
Lawmt – lamed (SB)
Lawmn – they lame (SB)
Layrock – lark, skylark ‘Loike a layrock at th’ breikin’ o’ morn’
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Le', let; as lemmi – let me (SB)
Le, leet, letten – let ‘Hoo leet a bobbin at him fly’
Lean – to yield towards, to favour: "He leans to'rd hur." (SB)
Learock or Learuk – a sky lark [Ed. Waugh uses Layrock]. (SB)
Leawance – allowance. (SB)
Leawd – loud ‘An’ crash on crash, booath long an’ leawd’
Leawgh – to laugh (SB)
Leawghin – laughing (SB)
Leawghn – they laugh (SB)
Leawght – laughed (SB)
Leawk – to lash, to beat: "Awl githe a good leawkin," a good beating. (SB)
Leawks – tufts of barren dry grass; locks of hair. (SB)
Leawky – full of locks or tufts. (SB)
Leawnge – to lunge; to lounge, to skulk: "He dun nobbo leawnge obeawt." (SB)
Leawp – a loop, a noose. (SB)
Leawp-hoyl – a loop-hole. (SB)
Leawse – a louse (SB)
Leawzy – lousy. (SB)
Lebby – Edmund; Yebby, the same. (SB)
Leck – to lake (SB)
Leckin' – leaking water (SB)
Leckn – they leak (SB)
Leeaf – leaf ‘Cherm’d [charmed] bud an’ leaf fro’ dormant trees’
Lee – lie, lay ‘Ow’d Anvil lee theer, stiff an’ stark’
Leef, lief, leefer, liefer – rather ‘I’d ov leof (I would rather)’
Leef or Lieve – as soon, equally so (SB)
Leefer or Liever – sooner, rather than (SB)
Leefist – soonest. (SB)
Leek-on – to pour on water when brewing (SB)
Leeof, leov, lev – leave ‘Yo’ can lev me a bag’
Leep – leaped; "Aw leep, theaw leep, he leep we leepn, yo leepn, they leepn." (SB)
Leet – light, as in ‘day-leet’, ‘Hearts just as leet as yo’r own are to-neet’
Leet – light, as in ‘leet as a feather’, ‘leet-handed (light-handed)’
Leet – let, as in fell, alighted, also met with
‘I began o’ mindin’ my own business at after that breek leet’
Leet – to let: "he leet hur goo;" "aw leet on him at th' last;" also to light on, to find.
Leeter – lighter
Leetnin – lightning (SB)
Leets – lights: also the lungs: "plucks an leets " (SB)
Leetnt – lightened (SB)
Leetsum – lightsome (SB)
Leeter – lighter (SB)
Leetin' – lighting (SB)
Leeten – pl. of leet: "they leeten hur gooa at last," they suffered her to escape. (SB)
Leigh – signifying low, a town near Bolton (SB)
Lemme, lem’mi – let me
Lenger – longer (SB)
Lennock – long, pendulous (SB)
Lennock yerd – long-eared (SB)
Less-rods or Leysh-rods – rods to keep the leash of a warp. (SB)
Let in – taken in, deluded
Let on – tell
Lether – to fight ‘Aw lethered him’
Lew – thin, poor: "It's very low." (SB)
Ley-land – land untilled and left for pasture (SB)
Leyther – rather, (but little used.) (SB)
Lhog or Logg – a block (or log) of wood: also to lug, to pull the hair; the o sounded as in dhog, or doe, roe, &c. (SB)
Lhogguryed – a loggerhead, a blockhead: also to go to loggerheads, to dispute, and quarrel. (SB)
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Lick – to beat ‘At dooin’ sums, an sich as that,
My feyther liks em o’ (SB)
‘That licks Pompey, an’ ’ee wur t’biggest dog i’ Bury.’
Lick – to beat; also to lick with the tongue (SB)
Lickin – beating: licking with the tongue (SB)
Lief – rather ‘Aw’d as lief be hanged’
Lifter – a kick ‘An he gav’ him a bit of a lifter beheend’
Like – to be fond of: to resemble (SB)
Likly – likely (SB)
Likker – more like: more likely: more resembling (SB)
Liklyist – most likely (SB)
Lik’n – like ‘There’s no body boh the’ lik’n somebody’
Likt' – like to: as, "like to ha had," he almost had. (SB)
Lilt – to walk quickly, lightly (SB)
Liltin – dancing: moving with a jaunty air (SB)
Limber – lithe, active ‘Come, limber lads, so leet an’ gay’
Limpin’ Billy – a famous fortune teller/wizard, lived ca. 1800 at Radcliffe Bridge
Linch – a small step (obs.) (SB)
Line – layn: "It's line eawt." (SB)
Lin-pin – a linch-pin (SB)
Ling – heath, a shrub (SB)
Linther – to fasten the end of a warp in a loop, so that it can be woven close and finished (SB)
Lintherin – securing a warp (SB)
Lintherin-bands – small cords by which the end of a warp is held until woven down (SB)
Lip – talk, cheekiness ‘Let’s ha’ less o’ thi lip’
Lippn – to expect: also leaped (SB)
Lippen’s – expects ‘He lippens o’ swappin’ his cowt for gowd’,
‘Aw lippent he’d come’
Lippnin – expecting (SB)
Lippnt – expected (SB)
Lithe – active, pliant: also to thicken broth or soup (SB)
Litheing – meal added to stew to thicken it
Lither – idle (SB)
Littleborough – near Rochdale (SB)
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Loaches – pieces of meat in a stew
Loath – unwilling (SB)
Loast – loosed: "he loast it, an it ran." (SB)
Loastn – they loosed (SB)
Lobcock – a great idle young fellow (SB)
Lobb – to run: "he went lobbin away” (SB)
Lobbin – running, at along step (SB)
Lobden – a place near Rochdale (SB)
Lobscouse – a hot dish of hash, potato hash
Local-lads – local militia
Lod – a lad (obs.) (SB)
Loft – an upper room (SB)
Log, getten, gitten, gotten – got
Logging, lugging – pulling the hair
Loike – like
Loike to be – bound to be
Lond – land (SB)
Londed – landed (SB)
Londin' – landing (SB)
Londs-end – near Middleton (SB)
Lond-hawther – a landholder (SB)
Lone – a lane ‘At th’ hut near th’ cow-lone well’
Lonlady – landlady: a female tapster (SB)
Lonlort – a landlord (SB)
Look’n – the plural of the verb look ‘I look, we look’n, etc.’ Other verbs similar
Loont – a land: a butt or ridge of ploughed land; Hadloont, the head-land, or add-land, of a ploughed field (SB)
Lopper – to boil slowly (SB)
Loppert-milk – boiled milk or curdled milk (SB)
Lopperin-breawis – thick breawis (SB)
Lorjus – Lord Jesus
Lorjus o' meh! – Lord Jesus, have mercy on me (SB)
Lort – lord, a family name (SB)
Lotch – to halt, to limp (SB)
Lotchelin – limping (SB)
Lothe – or Loothe, look thee (SB)
Lother – lather, suds (SB)
Lougher-place – Lower-place, near Rochdale.
Lowance – allowance (Ale drunk at harvest time)
Loyns – or Leyns, leans, inclines towards: "he reyther loyns that way." (SB)
Loyse – to lose, also loosen (SB)
Loyte – or lite, a few (SB)
Lozzuck – to loll, to rest idly (SB)
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Luckit – a nursing term: also used by way of scoff, "lookit" (SB)
Luck’o – look you
Lug – to pull the hair
Lumber – mischief ‘Up to some lumber’
Lumber – rubbish, discarded goods
Lung – long, also lunk (SB) ‘it’s lung sin’, ‘we’n suffered so lung thro’ this ‘Merica war’
Lunge – to injure unexpectedly: "he's taen th' advantage, an lungst him" (SB)
Lunger – lenger, longer (SB)
Lungous – surly, revengeful (SB)
Lungus – rough, coarse
Lung’st – longest
Lunnun – London (SB)
Lurch – to lurk, to surprise (SB)
Lurches – one who lurks, a dog (SB)
Lurden – an idle lubber (SB)
Lurry – to drag, to pull away (SB)
Lurrid – dragged, forced (SB)
Lutch – to pulsate (SB)
Lutchin – pulsating painfully, as in a tumour (SB)
Lutching – a throbbing pain
Luvver – or Loover (SB) – chimney ‘Tyne th’ dur, luvver reeks’
Lwod – to load, also a load (SB)
Lwodin – loading (SB)
Lwodn – loaded (SB)
Lyed – to lead, also lead, a metal (SB)
Lyen – lean meat (SB)
Lyend – to lend (SB)
Lyep – to leap (SB)
Lyepin – leaping (SB)
Lyeps – leaps (SB)
Lyin’ – to lie, prostrate, to speak
Lypn – they leap (SB)
Lyest – least, also leased (SB)
Lyev – leave, permission also leaf of a vegetable (SB)
Lyevs – leaves (SB)
Lyev – to depart, to leave (SB)
Lyevin – departing (SB)
Lyevn – they depart (SB)
Lyne – lain, reposed, abided (SB)
Lyve – life ‘i’ mi’ lyve’
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