Written in Black and Wight: S
Created | Updated Nov 19, 2017
It's another quiz round dedicated to the Isle of Wight's dialect1.
S
This week is the letter S, another extremely versatile letter, but with often contradictory rules. S and Z often substituted for each other, with 'Ch' and 'Sh' often being intershangeable. Similarly, in many words the letters before the 'S' were dropped, with words like 'Sault', 'Sceape' and 'Scent' meaning Assault, Escape and Descent.
Quick Fire Round
Life on the Isle of Wight has always revolved around food and drink – either enjoying what you have now, or working hard on growing the next harvest. Can You correctly match the food from the listed below?
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| Scran Bag | Snack or brencheese eaten between meals |
| Scoggel | Weak beer |
| Scrannel | Lunchbox |
| Scrishel | Trimming the roots of carrots and turnips |
| Sharpzet | Gulping down food |
| Sheard | To eat greedily |
| Slench | Bread and milk, sometimes with water |
| Slewed | Drink liquid noisily and greedily |
| Slurrup | Cup |
| Snawf | Devour greedily |
| Small Beer | To quench a thirst |
| Snobble | Hungry |
| Sop | Soup or broth |
| Sowse | Tough, difficult to chew bits of meat |
| Spoonmeyat | Pickled boiled pig ears, feet and tail |
| Staabit | Parting drink taken on horseback |
| Sterrup Glass | Strong beer |
| Steyal beer | Malt liquor, often before hops added |
| Stucklen | Drunk |
| Sup | Weak beer, also ale and beer mixed |
| Sweetwurt | Apple pie |
| Swizzle | Small drink |
Main Round
There are three possible answers listed for each word below, but only one is correct. Can You tell right from wrong?
Scaffling
- To stuff your face with scallops.
- To accidentally trap your scarf in a door.
- Scaffolding
Schollard
- Someone who can read and write.
- Coal bucket.
- Bollard for tying a mooring rope to.
Scithers
- Scythe handle.
- Scissors
- A sieve.
Scroop
- Device used to pick up dog mess.
- A small scruple or doubt.
- Creaking or grating noise
Scuddick
- A subatomic particle, something minuscule.
- Steampunk guided missile.
- Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.
Scrunge
- Grimy, oily grime.
- Squeeze or press
- A Scrooge or miser who lives by scrounging.
Shat
- Measurement of toilet roll value.
- Large, dangerous, triangular-finned fish that prowls the Solent making 'Derr-Dah, Derr-Dah, Derr-dah derr-dah derr-dah der-dah' noises.
- Shall
Shickshack
- Seaside shack, such as that she sells seashells on the seashore from.
- Wearing oak leaves and apples in May.
- Ship-shaped.
Show Hackle
- Being prepared to fight.
- To put something on display.
- To have a coughing fit.
Shute
- To partake in the production of excrement.
- To attempt to score a winning goal at the World Cup.
- Steep road or lane.
Shroke
- Shrivelled.
- Shrimp-flavour fizzy drink.
- High-pitched scream.
Shrover
- Child going shroven on Shrove Tuesday.
- Someone who roams around.
- A special bus ticket allowing 24-hours' unlimited travel on any Southern Vectis Omnibus service.
Sprack
- Brisk, nimble, active and also smart and spruce
- Someone who personifies virtues such as Boldness, Caring, Confidence,
Consideration, Contentment, Co-operation, Courage, Courtesy, Creativity, Determination, Dignity, Diligence, Discipline, Encouragement, Energy, Enthusiasm, Equality, Ethical, Excellence, Fairness, Flexibility, Forgiveness, Friendliness, Generosity, Gentleness, Graciousness, Gratitude, Helpfulness, Honesty, Honour, Humility, Idealism, Imaginative, Integrity, Justice, Kindness, Leadership, Love, Loyalty, Moderation, Motivation, Optimistic, Orderliness, Patience, Peace, Perseverance, Preparedness, Purposefulness, Reliability, Resilience, Respect, Responsibility, Self-discipline, Serenity, Sincerity, Support, Tact, Teamwork, Temperate, Tenacious, Thankfulness, Thoughtfulness, Tolerance, Trust, Truthfulness, Understanding, Unity, Virtue, Visionary, Wisdom, Wonder and Worth, but is particularly known for his modesty. - To speak.
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1Preserved in publications including A Glossary of Isle of Wight Words by Major Henry Smith and Charles Roach Smith (1876), A Dictionary of Isle of Wight Dialect by WH Long (1886), Isle of Wight Dialect by Jack Lavers (1988), The Encyclopedia of Isle of Wight Words, Placenames, Legends, Books and Authors by Edward Turner (1900) and The English Dialect Dictionary ed. Joseph Wright (1906). Other works include poem A Dream of the Isle of Wight by Mrs Mary Moncrieff (1863) and Legends and Lays of the Isle of Wight by Percy Goddard Stone (1911).
