Each week we'll post a celebration of Nottingham slang, a celebration of the inventiveness, warmth and sheer oddness of the words that make Nottingham unique. Yer gerrin us?
Mardyadj.sulky, moody
“Don't be so mardy, give us a go on your Chopper”
Across the whole UK, there probably isn’t something as misunderstood, baffling and downright bizarre as Nottingham slang. Linguists have descended upon the city in droves, convinced they will crack the code or write the equation on how we talk. They go home empty-handed. How to explain a tongue that changes right across the county, with a West Bridgford resident sounding completely different from someone from Mansfield?
While Geordie, Cockney, Mancunian and Scouse are well-studied, Nottinghamese still remains a strange experience to an outsider to understand. Just watch the baffled faces of freshers called ‘duck’,'miluv' or ‘myold’ by a bus driver to see how, even in these days of mass communication; Sleaford Mods and Shane Meadows; the way we speak is still a rich source of wonder.
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