Monday 2 April 2012

Greenock Gets A New School

Waterloo Road (UK tv programme about a school) comes to Greenock! 


 The programme is to be filmed and edited here in town.  It has given everyone here something new to talk about.  Until last week the top four topics of casual conversation in Greenock were -

1.   weather,    2.  weather,                  3.  the buses,    4.  weather.
Last week's top four -
1.  weather,    2.   Waterloo Road,     3.  weather,      4. weather



The programme has taken over a school just along the road from where I live - it used to be Greenock Academy - both my sons went there.  I worked there for a short time, so it will be interesting to see how it has been changed.  The place has been a hive of activity for the last few months and last weekend the new school sign went up ready for filming to start.


The views of the river Clyde from the school are stunning and I hope that they show how amazing the scenery around here is.


It occurred to me that some of the "incomers" might need a wee bit of help in translating Greenock-speak   -   so here goes   -   get rolling your rs!

aye (pronounced eye) - means yes     ..........      and right - means ok
BUT
aye right - (usually uttered in a sarcastic tone) means I doubt it/that'll be right!  Example
Hubby -          I thought I'd give the golf a miss this weekend and wallpaper the spare room and clean out the loft instead.
Wife -              Aye right!


An important word for this programme since it is set in a school is -
weans (pronounced wanes) - it means children. 
Example -                  Ma maw'll pick eh weans up frae school eh day.
Translation -               My mother will pick the children up from school today.

Now, a word which is used a lot around here is wee - which usually means small as in - I'll have a wee cuppa.  But it can also mean younger - for example if you know two people called Jean, usually the younger one will be - wee Jean and the older - big Jean.  Even if big Jean is 4'11" and wee Jean is 5'11" this is what they will be called.

Phew, are you still with me?

messages - shopping (usually groceries)
Example -                  Ah'm goan doon eh toon fur ma messages.
Translation -               I'm going into town for my shopping.

Some words have very different meanings!
Gie's wan a they pokes - give me one of those ice creams.
(Poke can also mean paper bag, as in - a poke of sweets.)  Did you really think I was being rude?


The more I think about it, the more examples I can come up with - I could go on for ever!


Now, I wonder if they need a wee (as in small) tea cosy for the staffroom - in school colours, of course!

Love, Liz

12 comments:

lucy joy said...

Very funny! You just brightened up my morning.

Emma Breadstill said...

Haha Liz, you make me laugh. Very exciting for you though, something else to talk about apart from the weather! Our British weather is famous, isn't it? xxx

Little Nell said...

Wonderfully entertaining post all round Liz. How exciting to have filming going on so close to home too.

My Vintage Mending said...

Liz this was fun. I enjoyed trying out a different dialect. I wonder how much an American would stick out in this sweet little village. Enjoy your prime time...smiles...Renee

Rachael said...

How are they working a new school into the show? I've missed all the shows since moving to America so I feel so out of the loop.

Mum said...

I only know 'och aye the 'noo' and I don't know whether that's authentic or not!
Love from Mum
xx

Ruth Kelly said...

We don't use wee much here but it is such a descriptive word. Loved your post.

vintage grey said...

What a fun post! Thanks for sharing! Have a wonderful week! xo Heather

claire said...

ooo how exciting! my dad was born in Greenock! Scottish sayings are fab arent they!?

Lakota [Faith Hope and Charity Shopping] said...

Cool! I thought I was quite good at local vernacular in the UK but 'getting my messages' would have had me completely confused!

sky-blu-pink said...

Strangely, for Southern Englishers, we've always used wee in our family to mean tiny. We had a colleague at school who used to sit and eat his 'piece' at lunchtime - I liked that turn of phrase, and I love the idea of going to do the 'messages'!

Pam of Eastlake Victorian said...

How different and exciting that they are filming at the school! And thank you for the wee lesson in How To Speak Greenock! :-)