Bilvertongue

Describe some common idioms and sayings from a culture in your world.

A town with a wide variety of industries will acquire through the range of technical terminology used a rich and confusing local argot. Here we look at some of the terms you’ll hear in use on their streets of Bilverton, or Billy as it's known to the locals. In this article we look at some of these terms and the unusual grammatical constructions that you my encounter here.

Geographical Distribution

Bilvertongue is widely spoken in Bilverton and the surrounding areas. It has influenced trade terms across Marivar, but the result of this is often confusing as specialists from outside the area encounter familiar terms in contexts that make no sense.

Phonology

Regardless of the terms and grammatical construction further points of confusion for the unwary are that the "t" sound tends towards a "d" and that vowels tend to shift towards "i" - it's not a replacement: there is a difference and after a few days conversation you'll not be caught out understanding it; but getting a proper local pronunctiation is difficult and getting it wrong tends to cause offence. Practice among friends and speak like a foreigner until you can get it right.

Syntax

Bilvertongue follows the normal syntax of Marivan but with a few local oddities. Firstly they have an extended plural to indicate many - “Look at those dogses” for example indicates that it is a large number of dogs, though the difference between few and many is not clear cut depending on context, expectations and the degree of sarcasm being deployed. Secondly, Bilvertongue often uses the prefix “for” to indicate the future tense: a construct familiar or at least workable to outsiders in the example of “ I foresee” (I will see in the future) but capable of great confusion - “I forgo” for I will go in the future.

Common Phrases

By Derrin

A exclamation indicating a lack of surprise at the situation described

Cold forging

Hard and unrewarding work, from basic metalworking experience

Going back of the Fronts

Doing something disreputable: the Fronts was a row of society shops behind which dealt dealers in stolen goods and prostitutes.

Headless hammer

A useless item or person

In a moment

Later, in a while, without urgency

On the wag

Shirking ones duties, playing truant

Playing for peaks

taking it seriously

Wet your whistle

Enjoy a refreshing beverage, typically beer or similar

A Few words

Annie Anvil
Ashes waste
Bap a bread roll
Draze a disreputable young man
Drazel a disreputable young women
Drazelling need I saw more?
Dunnamany an unknown quantity

Effers Cursing, bad language
Hammerfast Stuck, jammed
Hog a bucket
Innings Stomach, guts
Jerry cheerful
Polly fish of any type
Proper very, exceedingly

Quivy Uncertain, unsure or questionable
Squeeze a passage between two houses, or a close relationship
Slummocking Slouching
Tussel dried out
Yozzer a violent man
Wine belonging to us (me/mine, we/wine)

Bilvertongue and Non-Bilvertonians

As few outside the Bilverton area know much of Bilvertongue it is often a cause of confusion and sometimes deliberate obfuscation when merchants and others are plotting. This means that its use is often seen as a marker of poor moral character or honesty and the wise take care to limit their uses of the future tense construction and specific terms though their accent still marks them out. Despite this some of the terms have caught on in wider use in some areas, notably the insult of "headless hammer" which is pretty intelligable to most people and the term "drazelling" though outside Bilverton the connotation is more of general dishonesty than the more ... rakish original meaning.
Unlike some local dialects it is seldom used by natives deliberately to confound visitors to the area, for Bilverton has long relied on outsiders as part of the trade network and also for labour in the mines and workshops of the town and its surrounds. Thus it is generally safe to admit to confusion and ask for clarification - there will be banter at your expense but seldom ill humoured, and as long as you are not too cloth eared you should be OK if you are seen to be making a bit of an effort to keep up.