The North East is well known and loved for the Geordie language and dialect which is sometimes indecipherable to Southern types.
Our popular sayings, words and phrases have been immortalised on TV programmes from Auf Wiedersehen, Pet in the 1980s to Hebburn now, and we asked readers to share their favourites.
Have we missed any? Let us know in the comments at the bottom.
Before we start the list, a general key for pronouns, verbs and adverbs which are used in some of the examples but aren't good enough to make the list itself:
Nee - no
Dee - do
Gan - go
Divvin' - don't
Doon - down
Toon - Newcastle city centre and Newcastle United FC
Propa - very, really or significantly
Owa - over
Neet - night
Us - me
Geordie saying: geet walla
Non Geordie translation: very, very large
Usage: "There's a geet walla queue at Asda, gan to Morrisons instead, marra (see 13)".
Other words meaning same thing: muckle, howfing (as in "howfing geet")
What's your favourite Geordie phrase? Let us know in the comments section below.
Geordie saying: gadgie
Non Geordie translation: adult male human
Usage: "See that gadgie at the front of the geet walla queue?"
Fact fans: This word was possibly derived from the Romani "gadje" meaning non-Roma or "gorgio" meaning fellow.
(Also "haddaway, man" and the coarser "haddaway and sh*te" made popular by Oz, Jimmy Nail's character in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet)
Non Geordie translation: generic proclamation of negativity or disbelief
Usage: "Haddaway, man, there's nee way that gadgie is signing for the Toon."
Angela Archbold suggests the usage of "haddaway and loss yasel", meaning you are talking rubbish.
Geordie saying: howay man!
Non Geordie translation: generic proclamation of exhortation or encouragement, can be both positive and negative
Usage: "Howay man! We gannin' doon the Toon to beat the queues?"
Important note: howay must also be followed by man, which explains the popular but somewhat confusing phrase "howay, man, woman, man!"
See also: 34, how man.
Geordie saying: wey aye, man!
Non Geordie translation: generic proclamation of positivity or agreement
Usage: anytime you want to agree with someone without resorting to a boring "yes".
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Geordie saying: yem (also hyem)
Non Geordie translation: home
Usage: "This queue's got us propa radgie. I'm gan yem."
Geordie saying: purely belta, beltas
Non Geordie translation: generic proclamation of joy
Usage: "That club was purely belta on Saturday neet, like!"
Geordie saying: hinny
Non Geordie translation: wife, female companion or life partner
Usage: "Dee us some scran (see 12), hinny, I'm clamming (see 11)."
Geordie saying: hoy
Non Geordie translation: please pass or throw
Usage: "Hoy a hamma owa here, hinny."
Not to be confused with "gannin' on the hoy", which means going out with the intention of consuming multiple alcoholic drinks, which could be related to the fact that "hoy up" also means to vomit.
Geordie saying: clamming
Non Geordie translation: starving, hungry to the point of being in desperate need of some sustenance
Usage: "Howay, man, hinny, I said I was clamming!"
Geordie saying: scran, bait
Non Geordie translation: food
Usage: "Where's me bait, hinny?"
Geordie saying: marra
Non Geordie translation: friend, colleague, workmate
Usage: "Howay, man, marra, let's gan doon the pub for some beltas scran."
Note: Wow, this one has provoked some controversy! The origins of the word seem to be down the road in Sunderland, or even Darlington, so some of you think it's a travesty it being in the list. However, the term is widely used all over the North East, so we're keeping it in. Let's just be marras about it, alreet?
Geordie saying: snout, tab
Non Geordie translation: cigarette
Usage: "Hoy us a snout, marra. I'm gasping" and also, the refrain of the charva (see 35), "Gis a tab I can lend till the morra".
Geordie saying: netty
Non Geordie translation: toilet facility
Usage: "Where's ya netty, marra? I'm busting" and a great suggestion from Dorothy Bonner, "howay man put the sneck on the netty door" meaning "would you mind locking the toilet door as soon as possible, please".
Geordie saying: canny
Non Geordie translation: good
Usage: "Canny netty, that, like."
Canny forms an integral part of the phrase "Canny bag o' Tudas", which has its origin in popular 1980s North East-manufactured crisp brand, Tudor Crisps, which were advertised on TV with that slogan.
However, the phrase has since evolved among those who remember the now obsolete crisps to indicate any experience which is generally pleasant or enjoyable, regardless of whether it relates to a potato-based snack.
There's also "gan canny, man", a generic farewell term implying take care or take it easy.
Geordie saying: Giz a bag o'crisps
Nothing to do with fried snacks, this one. Rather, it's a Geordie put-down, usually declining an advance of the romantic variety.
Non Geordie translation: I'd rather not, thanks (usually in response to being asked whether you fancy someone)
Usage: "Howay man, divvin' be daft. Him? Giz a bag o' crisps."
There's no indication that the crisps have to be of the Tudor variety, although that's clearly preferable.
Geordie saying: dunch
Non Geordie translation: hit, like a car hitting the back of another
Usage: "I'm propa radgie. Some gadgie dunched me motor so I stotted a brick at his."
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Geordie saying: spelk
Non Geordie translation: splinter of wood of the sort that gets stuck in a finger
Usage: "Hoy some tweezas owa, hinny. I've got a spelk."
Fact fans: This word is possibly derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'spelc'.
Geordie saying: twock
Non Geordie translation: steal, take without owner's consent
Usage: "I cannit hoy ya tweezas, pet. Someone's twocked them."
Twock actually comes from the official police term TWOC or taken without owner's consent, but we appear to be the only region that's adopted it so extensively to refer to small acts of theft.
Geordie saying: jabs or sand shoes
Non Geordie translation: gym shoes commonly worn in school PE lessons
Usage: "Someone's twocked me jabs an' all (see 28), man!"
This appears to be another phrase with its origins in Sunderland. But we rather like it, so in it stays.
Geordie saying: gob
Non Geordie translation: mouth
Usage: "Divvin' shoot ya gob off man, ya jabs are owa here."
Geordie saying: bairn
Non Geordie translation: child
Usage: "The bairn needs new sand shoes for school, hinny."
Geordie saying: set-a-had
Non Geordie translation: to light on fire
Usage: "How man (see 34), I'm ganna set-a-had to this shed if it gives us another spelk."
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Non Geordie translation: dirty, but can also mean bone idle when used to prefix lazy
Usage: "I was hacky lazy this morning, didn't get oot me scratcha (see 32) till gone 12."
Geordie saying: plodge
Non Geordie translation: to wade, paddle or splash in the shallows of the sea
Usage: "Howay man, let's take the bairns plodging doon Cullercoats."
Geordie saying: an' all
Non Geordie translation: generic expression of emphasis, as well
Usage: see 21 above.
Geordie saying: clarts or clarty
Non Geordie translation: wet and muddy
Fact fans: possibly derived from Middle English 'clart', found in the verb 'biclarten' which means "to cover or smear with dirt"
Usage: "The bairns are hacky off plodging through clarts."
Geordie saying: doylem
Non Geordie translation: idiot, fool or person generally challenged in the common sense department
Usage: "That gadgie's a propa doylem, man."
Also popular meaning the same thing is the word knacka, and see 47 below for our favourite such term, wazzock.
Geordie saying: micey
Non Geordie translation: a person possibly showing signs of madness or mental instability
Usage: "He's not a doylem, he's gannin' micey."
Micky Burns tells us that "gannin' akka" means the same thing.
Geordie saying: scratcha
Non Geordie translation: bed
Usage: "I've had enough. I'm gan yem to me scratcha."
Geordie saying: monkey's blood
Non Geordie translation: the raspberry or strawberry flavour sauce used to garnish ice cream cones sold from a van ("cornets")
Usage: "Can I have monkey's blood on me cornet?"
Geordie saying: how, man
Non Geordie translation: generic exclamation indicating a warning or threat
Usage: "How, man, divvin' dunchus" would be a sensible way to warn a fellow motorist of an impending prang.
Geordie saying: charva
Non Geordie translation: chav, which is defined by the Urban Dictionary as "a young lower-class person typified by brash and loutish behaviour and the wearing of (real or imitation) designer clothes"
Usage: "How man, have a deek (see 36) at them charvas gannin' radgie owa there."
Geordie saying: giz a deek
Non Geordie translation: please let me have a quick peek or look at what you're doing
Usage: "Giz a deek at ya cornet, you've got more monkey's blood than me."
Geordie saying: on ya honkas
Non Geordie translation: to crouch down low on all fours
Usage: "Get doon on ya honkas man or them charvas'll see ye"
Geordie saying: kets
Non Geordie translation: sweets, usually the penny chew variety that you'd buy with your pocket money from a corner shop
Usage: "How, man, divvin' nick all me kets!"
Geordie saying: workyticket
Non Geordie translation: someone being mischievous or downright annoying
Usage: "The bairn's being a propa workyticket, if he's not careful there'll be nee kets this week."
Can also be used as a verb, as in to work one's ticket, meaning to behaving in a vexing manner.
Geordie saying: shuggy boat
Non Geordie translation: a two-person swing boat popular at seaside fairs during the 1980s
Usage: "Let's gan in the shuggy boat once we've got these hacky clarts off."
Geordie saying: spuggy
Non Geordie translation: sparrow, but also refers to the role played by red-haired actress Lynydann Barrass in Byker Grove.
Geordie saying: up a height
Non Geordie translation: in a state of high emotion or upset
Usage: "Wor lass is up a height, man, the bairns is still hacky with clarts."
Non Geordie translation: drunk enough to adversely affect coordination and general wellbeing
Usage: "I'm gannin' on the hoy (see above) in the Toon the neet, ganna get maaahrtal."
Geordie saying: had ya pash
Non Geordie translation: take your time, be patient (literally "hold your patience, old fellow")
Usage: "How man, had ya pash, divvin' be a workyticket."
Another Geordie phrase meaning the same thing is "had ya watta".
Geordie saying: get wrong (also pronounced "wrang")
Non Geordie translation: to be told off or get into trouble, usually by a parent, boss or other authority figure
Usage: "You'll get wrang off ya fatha when he gets in, mind."
Geordie saying: nebby
Non Geordie translation: nosy or overly inquisitive, can also be used as a verb "to neb" into someone else's affairs
Usage: "Howay, man, woman, man, divvin' be nebby."
Geordie saying: howk
Non Geordie translation: to pick or scratch
Usage: "Divvin' howk ya sneck!"
(NB: here sneck is meaning nose and not to be confused with its other meaning in 15 above as a lock for the netty door!)
Geordie saying: wazzock
Non Geordie translation: imbecile, buffoon or doylem
Usage: "That gadgie's a propa wazzock."
Geordie saying: nappa
Non Geordie translation: head
Usage: "Me nappa's knacking off gannin' on the hoy."
Geordie saying: pop
Non Geordie translation: fizzy drink
Usage: "The bairn's away to get a can o' pop."
Geordie saying: bubble
Non Geordie translation: to cry
Usage: "The bairn's ganna bubble if there's nee pop left."
Geordie saying: dancers
Non Geordie translation: stairs
Usage: "Get up the dancers, man, it's time for bed."
Geordie saying: willicks
Non Geordie translation: winkles, or periwinkles, which is a small edible sea snail, usually found clinging to rocks at the beach
Usage: "I'm gannin' doon Cullercoats for a bag o' willicks."
NB: This term was twocked from Scotland where it is also still in use.
Geordie saying: fettle
Non Geordie translation: various. "Out of fettle" means ill or not oneself, whereas "in a fettle" means in a bad mood, and the term can also be used as a verb, "to fettle", which means to sort out a problematic person or situation.
Usage: "Divvin' dunchus, man, or I'll fettle ye."
Geordie saying: dee as ya telt
Non Geordie translation: do as you're told
Usage: "Dee as a ya telt, man, or I'll fettle ye."
Geordie saying: bobby dazzla
Non Geordie translation: someone who thinks a lot of themselves or looks rather special, either because of good looks or impressive clothes/accessories.
Usage: "Look at that charva owa there, she thinks she's a right bobby dazzla.
Geordie saying: paggered
Non Geordie translation: exhausted or extremely tired
Usage: "I'm paggered thinking up usages for these Geordie sayings."
Geordie saying: stott
Non-Geordie translation: to throw and bounce an object off something
Not to be confused with stottie cake, a popular type of bread bun generally expected to bounce if dropped.
One of our Facebook fans, Meg Henderson, tells us that the stottie is a cake of bread that was stotted (thrown) off the floor to see if it bounced, which showed it was ready.
Have we missed any, or do you know the origin of any of those we've included? Let us know in the comments, which make for amusing reading...
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