General Chat

I've just been looking up a list of words that have a different meaning in Cornwall to the rest of the UK. I realise this happens with all dialects, but it has explained some things to me.
My Cornish gran had a wonderful Old English Sheepdog, called 'Buster', which implies a bit of a bully (which he wasn't)
However, in Cornish, 'Buster' means 'someone full of fun and mischief' - which was gran's dog!
My dad was brought up in Cornwall, and occasionally used Cornish words.
For example, he didn't say 'Chimney' - he said 'Chimley' - which I used until mocked.
They use the word 'Turnip' for a swede - which explains why, when, as a child, if someone asked if I like Turnip (I don't - but I like swede), I said yes!

There are quite a few words I still use in the Cornish context.

Big Head here.

The swede was introduced to Britain in the Agricultural Revolution when it was known as a Swedish turnip.

Can anybody explain why I might have retained a piece of knowledge like that?

..so the Cornish kept the second part of the name :-S

You may have retained that piece of knowledge because it's so odd! :-D

well up here, they call what we know as a swede, a turnip. When I said a turnip is smaller and more white as the swede is orangy in colour, they wont have it.
Burns night is neeps and tatties but is not really its swede and tatties. Even when we were in a local shop and I pointed out the turnips and swede, they just said we call them swedes!!

Florence in the hebrides

Yes, I remember that problem too! :-D :-D
By then I was old enough to realise and just said I didn't like it!

'Devon Dialect' by Ellen Fernau is a purty little book often used by Grockles. :-)

Ah - but the Cornish dialect is different to the Devon one, Dermot - as I found out when we moved from Cornwall to Devon :-S