Manx English - Modern Anglo-Manx Lexicon

Modern Anglo-Manx Lexicon

Some of the following terms surviving from the original Anglo-Manx dialect are still in occasional use today. The task of identifying dialectical usage is complicated by the large cross-over between Manx Gaelic, idiomatic usage and technical/organisational terms such as "advocate" and "deemster".

• Across – The United Kingdom; referred to as across the water.
• At – In possession of (from Gaelic usage). He's got a nice house at him (from Gaelic description of possession)
• Aye – Yes
• Boy – Common address from one male to another, originally an unmarried male (from Gaelic usage).Hey,Boy! is a common greeting between young men.
• Bumbee – Bumblebees (which were thought to be bad fairies).
• Coalie – A coalfish, (specifically P. Virens).
• Comeover – A non-native person living in the Isle of Man.
• Down is used for going North, Up for going South, out for going West. The topology of the Isle of Man means that to go to the flat, glacial plains of the North of the island, one has to go down, whilst going South means climbing the slate uplands. This is in contrast to the English Up North, which new residents are more used to.
• Fairy Flower – Red Campion, Silene dioica. (from Gaelic blaa ny ferrishyn, "the fairies' flower")
• Feller/Fella – A man/mate (fellow), common to other dialects, but much more frequent in Anglo-Manx.
• For – towards, to; at the period of; wherefore, the reason why; in order to. Are you for goin'? (From Gaelic usage, erson).
• Gilpin – Young fish of indeterminate species, especially Callig.
• Herrin – Herring
• Himself – The master of the house, the husband. Is himself in? (from Gaelic usage; direct translation of eh hene, "himself", emphatic "he").
• In – In existence. The best that's in (from Gaelic usage; direct translation of oan in it, there (is)).
• Jinny Nettle – the stinging nettle, Urtica dioica.
• Lhergy – a hill-slope, or high wasteland. Goin' down the lhergy means going downhill in life. (from Gaelic Lhiargee or Lhiargagh meaning "slope")
• Little People – Fairies, supernatural beings. (from Gaelic usage; direct translation of Deiney Beggey or Mooinjer Veggey, "fairies" or "little people")
• Mann – the Isle of Man; e.g., Gaut made it, and all in Mann
• Manx and Manks – Pertaining to, or originating from the Isle of Man.
• Manxie – A Manx person or a Manx cat.
• Mark – A fishing-ground distinguished by landmarks.
• Middlin' – Tolerable, an equivalent of the Manx, castreycair.
• Neck – impudence; e.g., Oh, the neck of him!.
• Skeet – News, gossip, and also to take a look (take a skeet) at something. A partial translation from the Manx "Skeeal".
• Scutch – A quantity of something; e.g., There were a scutch of people there. (from Gaelic cooid, "selection", "amount", "number")
• Snigs – Young eels, or sand-eels.
• Themselves – Fairies, supernatural beings.
• Twenty Four – The House of Keys.
• Yessir – Recorded by A.W. Moore in 1924 as a "disrespectful form of addressing a boy or man", is used as an informal address to a local acquaintance in modern Anglo-Manx. Early 20th-Century sources suggest that its origin may lie in a contraction of You, Sir, but Gaelic scholars have suggested that it is a hangover from Ussey, the emphatic form of You in Manx Gaelic, which is used in a similar context. Not congruous with Yes, Sir in mainstream English.