Sample Dialogue and Glossary

Play Stop X

Press the play button above to listen to David narrate a typical Valleys dialogue, and then match it to items you can read below!

Items in italics relate to a definition that can be found in the full book, which contains over 120 more phrases. Following the definition is a sample dialogue.

Big massive: Huge

“We were down the club earlier and this couple came in and you should’ve seen ‘em. She was a big massive bomper and he was a tiny little dwt.”

Boggin': Unattractive, ugly, unappealing,etc. Similarly, regional variations: Bulin’, Gompin’, Mingin’ Mulin’, Muntin’ & Scruntin’

“Have you seen the state of Ron’s new girlfriend? Boggin’ mun.”

“I yeared she was bulin’. That bad is she?”

“Oh aye, gompin’.”

“His last girlfriend was no oil paintin’ mind.”

“More like an oil slick, mingin’ she was.”

“Oh aye, mulin mun.”

“Mind you, he’s muntin’, can’t expect ‘im to pull any lookers to be honest.”

“Aye, to be fair all his girlfriends ‘ave bin scruntin’.”

Butt/Butt/Butty: Informal term of affection to a mate, pal, friend, associate. The Welsh version of the English, ‘bud’ or buddy’.

“Where to are you off to butt?”

“Alright butt? I’m off to meet Bob down the park.”

“Hang on butt, here’s a stroke of luck, here he comes. Alright butt, how’s it going?”

“Aye, I’m alright butt. What about you?”

“Alright butt, aye.”

“Tidy.”

Cwtch: A very common word, now understood by most English speakers. Made even more famous when international rugby referee Nigel Owens belittled brawling players on national TV when he said: “If you want a cwtch, do it off the field, not on it”. Commonly, cwtch has three meanings:

A cuddle: Physical show of affection.

To hide something: Example: “I was wrapping his birthday present and he walked in. I had to cwtch it a bit quick under the cushion.”

A place where you put things; akin to the English ‘cubby hole’.

“Cwtch it in the cwtch then give us a cwtch.”

Dai Twice: Contrived name allocated to anyone who’s real name is David Davies.

Dooberry: Generic name for something or someone used when the speaker either doesn’t know the name of the subject or can’t be bothered to use it. Similarly: Do-ins, Doodah, Mackonky, Oojackapivvy, Shmongah, Usser, Whatyoumcallit, Woducall, Wossnim etc.

“Have you seen the dooberry?”

“It’s over there by the oojackapivvy.”

“Who put it there?”

“Wossnim, before he went into town.”

“Wossee gone to town for?”

“Gone to pick up a doodah.”

“I wish he’d said, I wanted a mackonky to go with this shmongah.”

“I think I’ve got one of them, over there by the whatyoumacallit. See it?”

“Aye, great stuff. I thought for a moment I’d have to borrow one off Woducall.”

“He ‘asn’t got one, he uses a different Do-ins.”

Drive: Generic name for the driver of a public service vehicle. Commonly heard when the contents of a double-decker exits at the bus station:

“Cheers Drive.”

“Cheers Drive.”

“Cheers Drive.”

“Cheers Drive.”

“Cheers Drive.”

“Thank you Driver.” (Middle class passenger)

Gutsy: Greedy or gluttonous.

“Where’s all them doughnuts to?”

“I ate ‘em.”

“You gutsy bastard!”

Now, in a minute: Some time later. Certainly not soon.

“Willew turn that football off? I want to watch the drama on ITV.”

“I’ll turn it off now in a minute love, when it finishes.”

“How long is left?”

“They’re three minutes into the first half.”

Tidy: A real monster. Tidy can mean just about anything positive, pleasurable, good, neat, smart, satisfying, etc., that the user chooses to describe as ‘tidy’. The list of possible definitions is inexhaustible, but could be represented in the abridged example:

“How’s it going butt?”

“Tidy, mun aye.”

“How did the interview go?”

“Tidy butt, I got the job. They gimme a maths test and I done it tidy by all account.”

“Tidy! Much different to what you’ve bin doin’”

“Oh aye, tidy job this is. Didn’t like my last job much to be honest. Gotta dress tidy an’all.”

“Tidy. Office job is it?”

“Aye. Gotta get some tidy shoes before I start. I’ve got a tidy suit and tidy shirts, but my shoes ‘en up to much.”

“Well you gotta ‘ave tidy shoes if you d’work in an office butt. Create a tidy impression see.”

“Well, I gotta dash. I gotta tidy my room before I get into town for them shoes.”

“All the best butt. See you in a bit I spoze. I’ll tell my missus about your new job.”

“Tidy. See you butt.”

Traaaaa: Goodbye. Farewell, ta-ta

“Ok, traaaa, see you Sunday.”

“Aye, see you Sunday, traaaa.”

“Traaaa.”

“Traaaa.”

Yer: Very versatile interchangeable word for; ear, year, here, hear. At the hospital:

“What’re you doin’ yer?” (here)

“Got summut wrong with my yer.” (ear)

“What? You mean you can’t yer things?” (hear)

“Aye, ‘ad the problem over a yer and only now they’ve got round to seeing me.” (year)

Up by yer

If you ask a Welsh person where they are, or where something is, where they’ve been, where they’re going, you may not be fully au fait with the answer you get. We tend to like to instill a bit of mystery into the whereabouts of the subject of the question by not pinpointing its exact location, but steer you towards somewhere nearby. A form of guessing game that is played and enjoyed by all- the habit of saying, “By here” or “By there”.

So, if you ask where the Radio Times is and the response is “By there”, you may well be in the same boat as you were before you asked the question. This will mean that the responder will be making some gesture, either with his/her eyes or pointing with a finger which means that you must make a conscious effort to observe him/her when he/she responds so that you can follow the physical signs to find what you are looking for.

On the other hand, the responder may be more specific and reply with a: “By there by the coffee table.” This will enhance your success at finding the Radio Times exponentially because all you have to do is find the coffee table and hunt around in that vicinity.

The ‘by’ in this case is actually a non-descript unit of measurement. The Radio Times could actually be on the coffee table, on the floor at the side of the coffee table, a yard away from the coffee table or roughly within the same postcode that the coffee table is sitting in at the time. Quite a lot of scope there, but all perfectly acceptable.

You will see that I did not exaggerate when I made reference to within the same postcode when I tell you about a snippet gleaned from a conversation I heard a few years ago:

“Where to is Manchester?”

“It’s up north somewhere, up by Liverpool.”

In this case, the ‘by’ represented a distance in the region of 34 miles! As you can see, in this case it has actually exceeded the post-code boundary.

Asking and replying using the ‘by’ method

There are no standard protocols when questioning and answering here. There are certainly no rules covering tense, grammar, syntax – this is entirely governed by the speaker, and depending on the speaker, this can become as convoluted as he/she deems appropriate. Here are some examples of questions/answers which show the scope for the progression of bizarreness.