We are often told that our county’s accent is under threat – but there are still many instantly recognisable words and phrases that we still use, transporting us back to times gone by.
However, actress, puppeteer and champion of all things Suffolk Laura Bacon, says the word we keep returning to when discussing our county’s accent and dialect is “nostalgic”.
“I’m trying to figure out why it sounds nostalgic – is it because it’s dying out?” Ms Bacon wonders. “If it is dying out, that would mean it’s older people who have the dialect, so perhaps it’s a case of remembering people who are no longer with us.”
What Suffolk words or phrases aren't used anymore by the younger generations? Comment below or email SuffolkEditors@newsquest.co.uk to share your thoughts.
Ms Bacon, 45, grew up in Haverhill , one of the towns which was impacted by the London overspill in the late 1950s.
Her own father recalled his school days when children from the big city would exchange stories about life back in London, feeling envious of that their worlds seemed so much bigger and more exciting than sleepy Suffolk. Now, Ms Bacon wonders whether this influx of new people contributed to a diluting of the Suffolk accent.
“Haverhill was almost divided – a little bit Essex, a bit Cockney, but also Suffolk,” Ms Bacon explained.
However, our accent and ‘Suffolk-isms’ persist, and Ms Bacon is among many – dialect coach Charlie Haylock included – who continue to keep it alive and well.
Ms Bacon is aided in this by her trusty companion, Mavis, a fox who speaks in an authentic Suffolk accent and dialect.
How many of these Suffolk words and phrases do you know?
Chates – leftovers
That look a bit dark over Will’s mother’s - it looks like rain
Blaring – crying
Hoss – horse
Jasper – wasp
Rum – odd, strange
Squit – rubbish
Mawther – a girl or a young woman, e.g. ‘She’s a good old mawther’
Furdering – to fuss or waste time
Shew – showed, e.g. ‘I shew it you yesterday’
Do, used as an intensifier or a command, e.g. ‘Keep quiet, do!’
Mind how you go – goodbye
The character of Mavis was created by Ms Bacon several years ago, and has been influenced by Ms Bacon’s memories of her grandparents.
Ms Bacon is a professional puppeteer and character actor. She trained at the Sesame Workshop, and has also worked for The Jim Henson Company and been a puppeteer on the Star Wars and Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
Most recently, she introduced Tincy to CBeebies’ Playtime Towers, a storytelling spider with a high-pitched Suffolk accent, who Ms Bacon described as being “like a very young, sugar-Mavis”.
Series three of the show has been filmed, but a release date has not yet been announced.
As a proud flyer of the Suffolk flag, we ask Ms Bacon for a few of her favourite quintessentially Suffolk words and phrases. Most people in our county will know that ‘on the huh’ means wonky, so we ask her to dig deep for some lesser-known gems.
One Ms Bacon’s favourite phrases has to be “That look a bit dark over Will’s mother’s”, meaning that it looks like rain.
“Who was William?” Ms Bacon laughed. She has taken to adapting the phrase to wherever she finds herself, finding it looks a bit dark over Bruce’s mother’s in Australia, or Angus’s mum’s in Scotland.
However, a phrase she cannot resist using happens fairly regularly, whenever she is standing on a platform and sees her train approaching – “Here it come!”
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