Local & Dialect Words

I think it may be more of an archaic usage rather than a dialect, but it was common when I were a lad to say a version of fierceness as fiercity.

"Oh, she said that with a terrible fiercity. Fairly cut him, so she did."

Anyone else heard of that word in use?
 
Ascalon said:
I think it may be more of an archaic usage rather than a dialect, but it was common when I were a lad to say a version of fierceness as fiercity.

"Oh, she said that with a terrible fiercity. Fairly cut him, so she did."

Anyone else heard of that word in use?
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Local pronounciation of "ferocity"?
 
marhawkman said:
yeah.... "wench" isn't inherently derogatory.
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Er... having experienced it, it assigns low status, which denotes sexually available, which then leads to gagging for it. When all you are doing is selling raffle tickets at the school fete.

People using it of themselves is one thing. But it's one of those words that, if used of someone else, completes your identification as an utter tosser.
 
Frideswide said:
Er... having experienced it, it assigns low status, which denotes sexually available, which then leads to gagging for it. When all you are doing is selling raffle tickets at the school fete.

People using it of themselves is one thing. But it's one of those words that, if used of someone else, completes your identification as an utter tosser.
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Well, yeah, it's a term used for "lower class" or "peasants". not sure where you get the other part from, unless the idea is "so poor will literally do anything for money?"
 
Mythopoeika said:
No. I lived there 1991 - 2001 or something like that.
I guess the adult locals must have grown out of saying that phraseology.
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Sadly, they do. I visited, with my Daughters, Alnwick and Bedlington in 2013 and discovered that now, speaking dialect is seen as 'common' and what old people do.

I was talking with two sisters who ran the small hotel in Bedlington and they admitted to speaking dialect at home but not outside their front doors.

More's the pity.
 
marhawkman said:
realized that sometimes archaic words get treated as derogatory simply because modern people don't know what they mean. they are part of the population that experieces the words being used to and about them in a derogatory manner.
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TFTFY :twothumbs:

Honestly? I'm a mediaevalist /and/ hyperlexic (I/II) which is a great combination for this sort of thing. I'm sure you are correct, as in I /know/ you are correct in your original statement - look at the recent querying of the word niggardly.

But in the case of wench, it simply /is/ used rudely, derogatively and passive-aggresively as the above posts show. No if, no buts, no maybes.
 
Well yes, the actual meaning of a word isn't always how it is used, that is a form of slang though.

If the slang definition is more common that the traditional definition... that's also a thing that happens.
 
Frideswide said:
TFTFY :twothumbs:

Honestly? I'm a mediaevalist /and/ hyperlexic (I/II) which is a great combination for this sort of thing. I'm sure you are correct, as in I /know/ you are correct in your original statement - look at the recent querying of the word niggardly.

But in the case of wench, it simply /is/ used rudely, derogatively and passive-aggresively as the above posts show. No if, no buts, no maybes.
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In Cheshire where I live 'wench' is used interchangeably with 'girl' or 'lass' and certainly isn't an insult.
 
marhawkman said:
Well, yeah, it's a term used for "lower class" or "peasants". not sure where you get the other part from, unless the idea is "so poor will literally do anything for money?"
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So, if it is not a sexually derogatory term, what is the male version? I see most terminology that tries to belittle female people as sexually derogatory when there is no male equivalent.
 
Very good point @brownmane! Even when there is a male equivalent it doesn't carry as much negativity as the female one. Well not that I can think of offhand at the moment. I'm thinking of the difference in using the word 'prick' and the female equivalent beginning with C!!
 
Sollywos said:
Very good point @brownmane! Even when there is a male equivalent it doesn't carry as much negativity as the female one. Well not that I can think of offhand at the moment. I'm thinking of the difference in using the word 'prick' and the female equivalent beginning with C!!
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Though to be fair, though C is a feminine noun, it is used towards both sexes:). But it still stands true that the C word is considered a worse insult.
 
Well it's original meaning is 'female genitals'. I think woman were resistant to using it but then decided it might take the sting away if they also started to use it in an insulting meaning.
 
Sollywos said:
Well it's original meaning is 'female genitals'. I think woman were resistant to using it but then decided it might take the sting away if they also started to use it in an insulting meaning.
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And this may be why it is seen as a greater insult - because women used it as an insult to take the power of the word. In general, when the fairer of the sex shows strength, it becomes more fearsome to others.

It is a very strong sounding word.
 
Not sure about that maybe things were different in other places but here it already had the more insulting meaning before woman started to use it. Well so it seemed to me anyway which isn't to say that's how it was lol
 
marhawkman said:
As a disparate example.... cracker... some places use cracker as an insult... .... some... not really a word where I'd consider that the primary use though.
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I first learned that word from reading Gone With The Wind!

Here's another - uppity. I advised Techy never to use that around Americans.
 
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