Words and phrases we remember

I thought I might start a topic about dialect words which seem to be unique to Coventry. Most of these I learned from my grandmother who was born in Coventry in 1892. I think the most commonly used one is "batch" for a bread roll. I have never heard this used apart from in Coventry plus Bedworth and Nuneaton. Other that spring to mind are "jetty", for a small alleyway between houses, "on the box" for being on sick-leave from work, and a very rare one; This is "thrawl" which is the name for a stone or marble slab found in a food cupboard or pantry. This last one I wasn't certain of until I was chatting yesterday to another Coventry resident who had also heard of that word. Are there any more suggestions to add to the list?

I can't think of any new ones right now, but I agree - "batch" is a very typical example. Funnily enough, I once spent a few weeks working at Beeston near Nottingham. On the first morning I asked what time tea-break was - and the reply was "The cob lady comes at 10 o'clock". So I said "yes, but what time's tea-break?" So he repeated his answer. So I then asked what on earth a cob-lady was.... and he looked confused and said "Don't you know what a cob is?" On seeing my blank expression he described a 'cob'. So I said..... "Oh I see, it's like a batch". He replied.... "What on earth is a batch?" Enough said!

I've lived and worked in other parts of the country and I don't recall so many roads being prefixed with "The" as in Coventry For example, The Allesley Old Road The Holyhead Road The Kenilworth Road The London Road The Foleshill Road The Walsgrave Road

You can tell someone is local if they can pronounce "Cheylesmore" and "Styvechale" or if they know the meaning of "Brumagem Screwdriver".

. . . not forgetting Bed'uth and Long-ford ! Oh, and Awsley and Kersley ! And Fozull ! And Burk-swell !

Do you remember when Mercia Sound first started broadcasting? Some of the adverts were hilarious! Wob-burly, Wick-in etc ...

Here's a jetty Pictures of Coventry

Why does every Cov Kid refer to the city centre as town, i.e. going down the town?

I must admit, I also used to think this was a Coventry thing to say, but on the telly in recent years I've noticed a couple of people from other cities refer to their centres as 'town', too. That still doesn't explain why we say it though. The only reason I can think of is that the saying began in the days when our city centre 'was the town', and the surrounding areas - now Coventry's sub-districts - were not yet part of it, but just nearby villages, like Stoke, Earlsdon, etc.

Batch and Thrawl are both in fairly widespread use and found in ordinary dictionaries. Jetty, I think was very peculiar to Coventry. Another Coventry word for jetty was entry, not commonly used elsewhere. In Rugby the term passage was used and in Hull it's ten-foot. Godcakes are common throughout Warwickshire. God cakes, made for a christening (with God parents), were often triangular, I believe.

"The" was also used when people said where they worked - never "I work for Morris Engines", but "I work at 'The Morris', 'The Standard', or wherever. A saying I remember my grandma using was "Stap me!". I asked her what it actually meant, and she hadn't a clue!

One thing I remember being common, at least in our family, was "Well, I'll go to Stoke!" as an expression of surprise. I don't know the origin of it.

During a recent flying visit to Coventry I noticed that even the restaurant in the Herbert sells "bacon batches". Glad to see that the place is keeping up with local traditions.

Both my parents used this saying when I was child and as far as I can remember most adults did, I haven't heard it said for many years now though.

Surely one of the most unique of Coventry words and phrases is Catching the buz down The Meada. Perhaps I'll meet you under the elephant.