anachrospasm /ənakroʊ'spaz(ə)m/ n. An intensely jarring or unsettling episode of déjà-vu.
I made this word up for fun in 2009. I thought it would make a good title for a Thrash Metal album. The anachro- and -spasm parts are mixing Greek and Latin, which supposedly poor form.
Yan as one is used further afield than Cumbria and the North East. It's also used in Yorkshire dialect, particularly the North and East Ridings. I occasionally hear it (and say it myself) where I live in the old West Riding. Anything by Arnold Kellett or the Yorkthire Dialect Society would be a good source for this.
The celtic sheep counting numbers are certainly not just from Cumbria. There are many variants covering most of England and Wales, though they aren't commonly known anywhere, I gather. I knew one version as a child in Westmorland, and there are four variations for Yorkshire in Arnold Kellett's Basic Broad Yorkshire (1992, South Settle press). I know Kellet's Wensleydale variant by heart and can say it fast.
The numbers listed by johnmperry here are familiar to me. My hunch is these are the ones I knew as a boy in Kendal: lethera, hovera, covera. However I don't recall Figgot at all.
I just checked Wikipedia's "Yan Tan Tethera" article, which has two dozen versions. Figgot is mentioned - the version given by johnmperry here is _supposedly_ a Lincolnshire variant. However the Wikipedia article is very thin on citations.
Comments by fuzzbomb
fuzzbomb commented on the word anachrospasm
anachrospasm /ənakroʊ'spaz(ə)m/ n. An intensely jarring or unsettling episode of déjà-vu.
I made this word up for fun in 2009. I thought it would make a good title for a Thrash Metal album. The anachro- and -spasm parts are mixing Greek and Latin, which supposedly poor form.
January 31, 2020
fuzzbomb commented on the word yan
Yan as one is used further afield than Cumbria and the North East. It's also used in Yorkshire dialect, particularly the North and East Ridings. I occasionally hear it (and say it myself) where I live in the old West Riding. Anything by Arnold Kellett or the Yorkthire Dialect Society would be a good source for this.
The celtic sheep counting numbers are certainly not just from Cumbria. There are many variants covering most of England and Wales, though they aren't commonly known anywhere, I gather. I knew one version as a child in Westmorland, and there are four variations for Yorkshire in Arnold Kellett's Basic Broad Yorkshire (1992, South Settle press). I know Kellet's Wensleydale variant by heart and can say it fast.
The numbers listed by johnmperry here are familiar to me. My hunch is these are the ones I knew as a boy in Kendal: lethera, hovera, covera. However I don't recall Figgot at all.
I just checked Wikipedia's "Yan Tan Tethera" article, which has two dozen versions. Figgot is mentioned - the version given by johnmperry here is _supposedly_ a Lincolnshire variant. However the Wikipedia article is very thin on citations.
January 31, 2020
fuzzbomb commented on the word mardy
Mardybum is another variant. Popularized by the Arctic Monkeys song, which is gash.
January 31, 2020