A Kentish Word-bot
@kentishwordbot.bsky.social
A word once an hour. From A Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect and Provincialisms in Use in the County of Kent, by WD Parish, 1888. Created by @grouchomerckx.bsky.social. Built with https://bluebotsdonequick.com/
NATIVE [nai•tiv] sb. Native place; birthplace.
'Timblestun (Tilmanstone) is my native, but I've lived in Eastry nearly forty years come Michaelmas.'
'Timblestun (Tilmanstone) is my native, but I've lived in Eastry nearly forty years come Michaelmas.'
February 18, 2026 at 2:35 AM
NATIVE [nai•tiv] sb. Native place; birthplace.
'Timblestun (Tilmanstone) is my native, but I've lived in Eastry nearly forty years come Michaelmas.'
'Timblestun (Tilmanstone) is my native, but I've lived in Eastry nearly forty years come Michaelmas.'
MINT [mint] sb. The spleen.
February 18, 2026 at 1:35 AM
MINT [mint] sb. The spleen.
BURR [bur] (3) sb. The blossom of the hop.
'The hops are just coming out in burr.'
'The hops are just coming out in burr.'
February 18, 2026 at 12:35 AM
BURR [bur] (3) sb. The blossom of the hop.
'The hops are just coming out in burr.'
'The hops are just coming out in burr.'
GRATTAN [grat•un], GRATTEN [grat•un], GRATTON [grat•un] sb. Stubble; a stubble field, otherwise called ersh, or eddish, grotten, podder-grotten.
February 17, 2026 at 11:36 PM
GRATTAN [grat•un], GRATTEN [grat•un], GRATTON [grat•un] sb. Stubble; a stubble field, otherwise called ersh, or eddish, grotten, podder-grotten.
SOCK-LAMB [sok-lam] sb. A pet-lamb brought up by hand.
February 17, 2026 at 10:35 PM
SOCK-LAMB [sok-lam] sb. A pet-lamb brought up by hand.
BINDER [bei•ndur] sb. A long stick used for hedging; a long, pliable stick of any kind; thus, walnuts are thrashed with a binder. Also applied to the sticks used in binding on the thatch of houses or stacks.
February 17, 2026 at 9:35 PM
BINDER [bei•ndur] sb. A long stick used for hedging; a long, pliable stick of any kind; thus, walnuts are thrashed with a binder. Also applied to the sticks used in binding on the thatch of houses or stacks.
CHUCK [chuk] sb. A chip; a chunk; a short, thick clubbed piece of wood; a good thick piece of bread and cheese; the chips made by sharpening the ends of hop-poles.
February 17, 2026 at 8:35 PM
CHUCK [chuk] sb. A chip; a chunk; a short, thick clubbed piece of wood; a good thick piece of bread and cheese; the chips made by sharpening the ends of hop-poles.
FRORE [froa•r] pp. Frozen.
'The parching air
Burns frore and cold performs the effect of fire.'
Milton, Paradise Lost, ii. 595.
'The parching air
Burns frore and cold performs the effect of fire.'
Milton, Paradise Lost, ii. 595.
February 17, 2026 at 7:36 PM
FRORE [froa•r] pp. Frozen.
'The parching air
Burns frore and cold performs the effect of fire.'
Milton, Paradise Lost, ii. 595.
'The parching air
Burns frore and cold performs the effect of fire.'
Milton, Paradise Lost, ii. 595.
CHEF [chef] sb. The part of a plough on which the share is placed, and to which the reece is fixed.
February 17, 2026 at 6:35 PM
CHEF [chef] sb. The part of a plough on which the share is placed, and to which the reece is fixed.
LISHY [lish•i] adj. Flexible; lissome. Spoken of corn, plants and shrubs running up apace, and so growing tall and weak.
February 17, 2026 at 5:35 PM
LISHY [lish•i] adj. Flexible; lissome. Spoken of corn, plants and shrubs running up apace, and so growing tall and weak.
FOAL'S FOOT, sb. Colt's foot. Fussilago farfara.
February 17, 2026 at 4:35 PM
FOAL'S FOOT, sb. Colt's foot. Fussilago farfara.
PLAGUESOME [plai•gsum] adj. Troublesome.
February 17, 2026 at 3:36 PM
PLAGUESOME [plai•gsum] adj. Troublesome.
MINUTE [min•it] sb. A Kentish man would say, 'a little minute' where another would say, 'a minute.' So, 'a little moment,' in Isaiah xxvi. 20, 'Hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.'
February 17, 2026 at 2:35 PM
MINUTE [min•it] sb. A Kentish man would say, 'a little minute' where another would say, 'a minute.' So, 'a little moment,' in Isaiah xxvi. 20, 'Hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.'
DOLING [doa•ling] sb. A fishing boat with two masts, each carrying a sprit-sail. Boys, in his History of Sandwich, speaks of them as 'ships for the King's use, furnished by the Cinque Ports.'
February 17, 2026 at 1:35 PM
DOLING [doa•ling] sb. A fishing boat with two masts, each carrying a sprit-sail. Boys, in his History of Sandwich, speaks of them as 'ships for the King's use, furnished by the Cinque Ports.'
GRIPING [grei•pin] vb. The name given in North Kent to the operation of groping at arms' length in the soft mud of the tidal streams for dabs and flounders.
February 17, 2026 at 12:35 PM
GRIPING [grei•pin] vb. The name given in North Kent to the operation of groping at arms' length in the soft mud of the tidal streams for dabs and flounders.
OAST [oast] sb. A kiln for drying malt or hops, but anciently used for any kind of kiln, as a bryk-host, i.e., brick-kiln.—Old Parish Book of Wye, 34 Henry VIII.
February 17, 2026 at 11:35 AM
OAST [oast] sb. A kiln for drying malt or hops, but anciently used for any kind of kiln, as a bryk-host, i.e., brick-kiln.—Old Parish Book of Wye, 34 Henry VIII.
SMICKERY [smik•ur'i] adj. Uneven; said of a thread when it is spun.
February 17, 2026 at 10:35 AM
SMICKERY [smik•ur'i] adj. Uneven; said of a thread when it is spun.
HAMPER [hamp•ur] vb. To injure, or throw anything out of gear.
'The door is hampered.'
'The door is hampered.'
February 17, 2026 at 9:35 AM
HAMPER [hamp•ur] vb. To injure, or throw anything out of gear.
'The door is hampered.'
'The door is hampered.'
MATCH-RUNNING, MATCH-A-RUNNING, sb. A game peculiar to Kent, and somewhat resembling prisoner's base. (See also Stroke-bias.)
February 17, 2026 at 8:35 AM
MATCH-RUNNING, MATCH-A-RUNNING, sb. A game peculiar to Kent, and somewhat resembling prisoner's base. (See also Stroke-bias.)
RADDIS-CHIMNEY [rad•is-chim•ni] sb. A chimney made of rods, lathes, or raddles, and covered with loam or lime.
February 17, 2026 at 7:36 AM
RADDIS-CHIMNEY [rad•is-chim•ni] sb. A chimney made of rods, lathes, or raddles, and covered with loam or lime.
FORICAL [for•ikl] sb. A headland in ploughing. (See Foreacre.)
February 17, 2026 at 6:35 AM
FORICAL [for•ikl] sb. A headland in ploughing. (See Foreacre.)
SPOTTY [spot•i] adj. Here and there in places; uneven; scattered; uncertain; variable. Said of a thin crop.
'The beans look middlin' spotty this year.'
'The beans look middlin' spotty this year.'
February 17, 2026 at 5:35 AM
SPOTTY [spot•i] adj. Here and there in places; uneven; scattered; uncertain; variable. Said of a thin crop.
'The beans look middlin' spotty this year.'
'The beans look middlin' spotty this year.'
'LOW [lou] vb. To allow; to suppose, e.g., 'I 'low not,' for 'I allow not.'
February 17, 2026 at 4:35 AM
'LOW [lou] vb. To allow; to suppose, e.g., 'I 'low not,' for 'I allow not.'
ANOINTED [unoi•ntid] adj. Mischievous; troublesome.
'He's a proper anointed young rascal,' occasionally enlarged to: 'The devil's own anointed young rascal.'
'He's a proper anointed young rascal,' occasionally enlarged to: 'The devil's own anointed young rascal.'
February 17, 2026 at 3:36 AM
ANOINTED [unoi•ntid] adj. Mischievous; troublesome.
'He's a proper anointed young rascal,' occasionally enlarged to: 'The devil's own anointed young rascal.'
'He's a proper anointed young rascal,' occasionally enlarged to: 'The devil's own anointed young rascal.'
WATER-GALLS [waa•tur-gaulz] sb. pl. Jelly-fish.—Dover.
February 17, 2026 at 2:35 AM
WATER-GALLS [waa•tur-gaulz] sb. pl. Jelly-fish.—Dover.