Coor, blust me, Boor! They’ve oonly gorn an’ put tha “Sloightly on th’ huh” in the owd Orxford Dicshunry!
Suffolk author Charlie Haylock is today celebrating a significant treble – and can even have a special cuppa to celebrate his success.
Today is the day that the Suffolk phrase, “on the huh,” officially enters into the Oxford English Dictionary.
Charlie’s first book, “Sloightly on th’ Huh,” a book about the Suffolk dialect, has exceeded 31,000 copies sold. It is believed to be one of the top ten books sold in Suffolk during the new millennium. The author believes that the success of the book helped popularise the phrase ‘on the huh’ and is one of the reasons why it has entered the OED.
Charlie’s latest book, “In a Manner of Speaking”, an easy to read history on spoken English, from Anglo-Saxon to the present day, has proved to be another success.
Amberley Books, who first published “In a Manner of Speaking” in the spring this year, has completely sold out and ordered a reprint.
To celebrate this treble, Charlie approached Brett Hawksbee, owner of Carter’s of Suffolk, the hand crafted teapot pottery in Stonham Barns, to commission an ‘on the huh’ teapot, featuring all of Charlie’s publications including “Sloightly on th’ Huh” and “In a Manner of Speaking.”
The phrase has made it into the dictionary after a link up between BBC local radio stations across the country and the OED.
The radio stations asked their listeners, what dialect word or phrase, from their area, they would like to see enter the OED. Radio Suffolk’s listeners’ choice was “on the huh” which was submitted with all the other local radio stations. The OED then whittled the long list down to 12, of which “on the huh” was one, to be entered in the dictionary itself.
The new edition is being published today to tie in with National Poetry Day
‘Sloightly on th’ huh’ was the best selling book in Suffolk 2004 – 18,500 copies sold between October and December alone – and it has continued to sell well in the county to local people and visitors over the last 13 years.
Now the souvenir teapot with a lid that isn’t entirely straight has gone on sale as a limited edition at Carter’s of Suffolk at Stonham Barns to commemorate Suffolk’s great day.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here