CUMBRIAN LIFF
In1983, Douglas Adams and John Lloyd produced "The Meaning of Liff," dedicated to providing a useful purpose for "thousands of spare words which spend their time doing nothing but loafing about on signposts pointing at places." In the view of the present author, places in and around Cumberland were less well represented than the picturesque quality of their names deserved, and this is an attempt to remedy the deficiency - with apologies for those instances of purely local significance.
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Allithwaite |
(n) |
Call of a white rabbit with a speech impediment |
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Ambleside |
(adj) |
Like an old lady on a pedestrian crossing |
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Appleby |
(adj) |
(Bed) made as practical joke (occas. corrupted as "apple- pie") |
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Arlecdon |
(n) |
Incongruous hybrid (orig. Welshman of Spanish descent) |
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Askam |
(n) |
List of ambiguous questions in a sociological research project |
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Aspatria |
(n) |
Sneeze with the mouth full of cream cracker |
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Beckermet |
(vi) |
Imitate a grotesque cartoon character |
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Blennerhasset |
(n) |
Statement of great length and little substance |
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Blindcrake |
(n) |
Driver who parks in the middle of a two-car space |
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Bolton Lowhouses |
(n) |
Do-it-yourself home extensions |
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Bootle |
(vi) |
Annoy the neighbours by dancing around in heavy footwear |
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Bothel |
(n) |
Container resisting all attempts to open it |
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Bowness |
(n) |
Distortion in a piece of timber that ought to be straight |
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Brandreth |
(adj) |
Of a muesli-like texture |
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Bransty |
(n) |
Kind of Irish jig formerly used in winnowing corn |
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Bridekirk |
(n) |
More accessible substitute for Gretna |
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Brigham |
(n) |
Severe magistrate |
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Brotherilkeld |
(adj) |
Claiming connection with distinguished personage |
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Brough |
(adj) |
Terse to the point of rudeness |
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Buttermere |
(n) |
Unwanted result of the Common Agricultural Policy |
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Calderbridge |
(n) |
Card game to pass the time in a power station control room |
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Cark |
(n) |
Ancient bottle stopper |
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Carnforth |
(vi) |
Demonstrate one’s driving skill to the unimpressed multitude |
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Cartmel |
(n) |
Beverage supposedly good for the health |
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Cleator |
(n) |
Diner who leaves nothing on the plate |
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Cockermouth |
(n) |
Idiot who blurts out confidences given to him about a third party in the hearing of the subject |
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Coniston |
(n) |
Successful large-scale practical joke |
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Crosthwaite |
(n) |
Blow from a bishop’s staff |
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Crummock |
(n) |
Bread put out for the birds |
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Deanscales |
(n) |
Distribution from joint harvest festival |
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Derwent |
(adj) |
Wishing one had taken an opportunity just vanished |
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Drigg |
(vi) |
Make a convincing case for extra funds in next year’s budget ("To drigg I am not able, to beg I am ashamed") |
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Dunnerdale |
(n) |
Undiagnosed sickness |
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Eaglesfield |
(n) |
Sensation of impending disaster |
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Egremont |
(vt) |
Clean a saucepan overlooked before going on holiday |
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Eskmeals |
(n) |
Left-overs hastily heated up for an unexpected visitor |
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Flookborough |
(n) |
Community that won the "best kept village" competition |
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Frizington |
(n) |
Hair style favoured by West Indians proud of African origin |
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Furness |
(n) |
State of the best armchair after the cat has been on it |
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Gawthwaite |
(n) |
Expression of total ignorance adopted by native when asked for directions |
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Glenridding |
(v) |
Playing the bagpipes |
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Gosforth |
(vt) |
Slander a neighbour in public |
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Grange |
(vt) |
Misjudge parking the car by a crucial half inch |
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Grasmere |
(vt) |
Accuse without foundation |
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Greenodd |
(a,n) |
Pejorative term for conservationists |
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Grizebeck |
(vt) |
Call to a Trade Union meeting (from "grize", an archaic plural of "grouse") |
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Gutterby |
(n) |
Extract from a tabloid newspaper |
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Haverigg |
(vi) |
Delay announcing an election result for a spurious re-count |
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Haverthwaite |
(n) |
Time taken by a pedestrian deciding whether to cross the road |
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Hensingham |
(n) |
Women’s choir |
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Heversham |
(adj) |
Pretending unsuccessfully to social refinement |
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Holker |
(n) |
Burly bodyguard |
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Holmrook |
(vi,t) |
Act as a dubious estate agent |
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Honister |
(n) |
Peripatetic knife-sharpener |
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Howgill |
(adj) |
Feigning sickness |
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Ireleth |
(adj) |
Spinelessly uncombative |
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Irton |
(n) |
Small child mistakenly taken to a concert |
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Keekle |
(vi) |
Hold up a line of traffic by dithering at a junction |
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Kells |
(n) |
Unidentifiable objects found on the beach |
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Kendal |
(n) |
Someone who already knows the story one is bursting to tell |
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Kinniside |
(n) |
(arch.) Character assassination on the Leader of the Opposition |
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Lamplugh |
(n) |
Emergency light kept in a strategic position |
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Levens |
(n) |
One biscuit (usu. pl.) |
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Lowca |
(n) |
Vehicle favoured by men in flat hats and wide moustaches |
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Lowick |
(adj) |
Contemptible, but not quite ponsonby (q.v.) |
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Loweswater |
(n) |
Spurious excuse for drinking spirits |
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Mardale |
(n) |
Stale beer |
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Millom |
(n) |
Waste from a machining operation |
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Milnthorpe |
(n) |
Decoration on a woman’s hat |
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Miterdale |
(n) |
(obs.) Ritual for consecrating a bishop |
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Mockerkin |
(n) |
Disruptive in-laws |
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Moota |
(n) |
Cattle transporter |
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Moresby |
(adj) |
Censorious of current values |
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Netherwasdale |
(n) |
Dregs from a brewery |
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Nibthwaite |
(n) |
(arch.) Skill in making quill pens |
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Orgill |
(adj) |
Suffering from previous over-indulgence |
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Patterdale |
(vi) |
Suffer laryngeal fatigue after over-exertion in G&S |
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Ponsonby |
(adj) |
Utterly despicable |
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Penrith |
(n) |
(arch.) Right of a clerk in Holy Orders to gather goose quills from common land to make writing implements |
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Penruddock |
(n) |
Scrawler of graffiti on a newly-painted surface |
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Portinscale |
(vt) |
Climb over (e.g. a security fence) |
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Ravenglass |
(n) |
Distorting mirror |
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Rosthwaite |
(n) |
Hiding place for a radar trap |
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Rothersyke |
(n) |
Sudden deceleration induced by the sight of a police car |
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Rottington |
(n) |
Load of manure |
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Rowrah |
(n) |
Pest with a loud portable radio |
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Scalderskew |
(adj) |
(Hymns) offending against rules of rhyme, scansion or syntax |
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Satterthwaite |
(n) |
Interval between the time agreed for meeting and the lady’s actual appearance |
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Seathwaite |
(n) |
Time taken for a kettle to boil |
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Shap |
(n) |
Bits of wool caught in a hedge |
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Stavely |
(adj) |
(Paved) with transverse logs to limit erosion |
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Silecroft |
(n) |
Art of spreading agricultural refuse on the highway |
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Silloth |
(n) |
Accumulation of dead insects on a window ledge |
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Skiddaw |
(n) |
Deposit left on a road by a farm tractor |
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Tallentire |
(n) |
Annoyance at someone who does a job twice as quickly and effectively as one can oneself |
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Tebay |
(n) |
Beverage section of a supermarket |
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Thornhill |
(n) |
Snow slope liable to avalanche |
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Thursby |
(adj) |
Looking forward to Friday evening |
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Torver |
(n) |
Peat-cutting tool; hence a particular design of ice skate |
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Ulpha |
(n,vi) |
Sound like an undrained euphonium |
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Ulverston |
(n) |
Boulder placed in a river bed in the vain hope of creating a lair for fish |
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Waberthwaite |
(n) |
Road space to be allowed for an unskilled cyclist |
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Wellington |
(n) |
Amount of good-will cards on a hospital locker |
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Wigton |
(adj) |
Wearing a toupee |
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Windermere |
(n) |
Minor success in a lottery |
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Windscale |
(n) |
(math.) Integer greater than 5 |
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Winscales |
(n) |
Student pianist |
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Yealand |
(adj) |
Of a small dog, protesting vociferously how it would demolish the Alsatian over the way if only it were let off the lead |
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Yottenfews |
(n) |
Six-inch nail put to improper use |
Peter D. Wilson
Seascale
Current revision November 2000
Copyright © 2001
This page has been visited times since reset in March 2003