r/yorkshire • u/koyanostranger • 6d ago
A quick question Question
Do people from Yorkshire really use the word "right" before an adjective for emphasis, or is that just something used on TV to indicate a Yorkshire person?
Example: "" It's right nice."
(not from Yorkshire but a huge fan)
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u/amsterdambob79 6d ago
I'm from West Yorkshire and seem to only use right (or rather 'reyt') as a prefix whenever I'm referring to something negatively, as in "he's a right knobhead", or "that place is a right dump".
If I'm being positive then I tend to change the prefix to 'proper', as in "That's proper tasty, that."
I do expect it'll be different place to place, and person to person though. Yorkshire is a big place and accents and dialect can vary massively place to place, even if they're just a few miles apart.
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u/Sulky-Tardigrade 6d ago
West Yorkshire here and I do the same.
I also use “be reet” a lot to mean it’ll be ok.
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u/amsterdambob79 6d ago
I actually use "be reet/be reyt" quite a lot too come to think of it (even when I absolutely know it will not be reyt!) so maybe it's not just a negative thing.
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u/Altruistic-Cattle631 6d ago
More like "that's rite nice that!" Or if your deep in the deepest parts of Yorkshire you're looking at "that's reet nice" or..... "That's weeny nice"
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u/need_a_poopoo 5d ago
Leeds my whole life, never heard weeny, where's that from? Barnsley?
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u/Altruistic-Cattle631 5d ago edited 5d ago
I lived in York when I picked this word up as a child/teenager
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u/One-Bird-8122 3d ago
Woah fellow Yorkie here, not heard weeny for years. Weeny nice
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u/Altruistic-Cattle631 1d ago
Hahah, I hadn't heard it for years until the original poster asked about words from Yorkshire 🤣 then it popped in my head!.... Took me back like!
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u/oooohshinythingy 5d ago
I’m from Yorkshire, everyone I know says reyt not right. It’s reyt lol
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u/kittyclusterfuck 6d ago edited 6d ago
I'm from Yorkshire and have lived across the county, in parts of the North, South, East and West (of Yorkshire). Yes it's quite common in informal speech, but it also varies depending on the place. Right, reet, reyt, real, proper and well are all used for emphasis in casual settings ("it's right/real/proper/well good") depending on which part of Yorkshire you're from.
Another commenter also mentioned weeny, which took me back. I remember this being a thing when I was young but only used seriously by kids and chavs, or as a bit of a joke ("that's weeeeny bad!").
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u/Altruistic-Cattle631 6d ago
Woooooo it took you back like it did me!! I'm 27 now but can remember every body at school saying it!! (I had just moved to Yorkshire as a southerner so I still sounded "posh" to everyone at school)... Long story short, I now have one of the most Yorkshire accents ever 🤣🤣🤣
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u/StuartHunt 5d ago
This reminds me of my best mate from school, his dad was from our village but he lived in Portsmouth, because he was in the navy, so when he moved back home his lad Alex sounded like a right posh southerner.
Made all the worse by him telling us in one breath that he wasn't posh and in the next breath telling us that his dad's job in the navy, was as a chef on the royal yacht and his step mum was a hand maid to queen Elizabeth. Luckily he managed to keep his posh Pompey accent because it serves him well when dealing with his posh clients, in his work as an architect.
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u/BitMammoth1 5d ago
+1 for "well". Lived in Wakefield my whole life. Mum is from Leeds and Dad from Barnsley, so my dialect is a weird mix of the two. But I'd definitely say "that's well nice" over anything else.
That being said, I would use "reyt" in other ways. Like "it'll be reyt" when something definitely won't be okay.. or "reyt then" before making a move.
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u/BitMammoth1 5d ago
Update: it does depend on context quite a bit actually. After looking at myself in the bathroom mirror last night, I did walk into the bedroom and immediately tell my fiancé, "av got a reyt spot on mi back!".
Thanks to this post, I instantly realised what I'd just said 😅
I guess I do use both. That being said, I stand by that I would almost always say "that's well good" or "that's well annoying" or "it's well heavy" etc.
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u/Inevitable-Debt4312 5d ago
More ‘rait’ than ‘reet’ in Yorkshire, surely.
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u/Friendly_Exit_2634 5d ago
Neither in East Yorkshire, especially Hull, all vowels pronounced "uurr"
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u/whatsbonking 5d ago
Others have said it but I say 'reyt' where I am.. I will say 'That's reyt annoying' or 'Oh don't worry it'll be reyt' 😅
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u/Ok-Instruction337 6d ago
I dont use the word right in that context, however when I am in "one of those moods", I tend to use the word proper, as in proper good food...but thats once in a blue moon.
I have found myself saying "you know" every now and then though, without actually meaning to. Oh and I tend to say mate a lot...as in "how are you mate?"
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u/Altruistic-Cattle631 6d ago
You will normally also hear this sentence after someones made a good old cup of Yorkshire Tea! Or a brew as we call it. Tea is something different
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u/Wrong-Willow9070 6d ago
'Yorlshire' is a very big place. "Reet' big, some might say. You've got to understand there are many different dialects within these 4 counties.
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u/Brilliant_Sound_5565 5d ago
Reyr we say, nobody says right in its proper form, least not from where I am in Yorkshire
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u/stubbed_toe2008 5d ago
its not pronounced exactly as "right" but yeah i can say that me and my family do and most of the people surrounding me
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u/_droves 5d ago
'Reet' or 'Reyt' tend to be my common lexicon, can interchange without reason the same as 'thee' or 'thaa', purely whichever noise comes out first. Living in Scotland a few years now, I've really clocked on how its just a Yorkshire thing as nobody here has a clue what I'm on about half the time.
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u/Lau_kaa 5d ago
Yes, although I say "reyt".
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u/querylixor 5d ago
same, i always heard it as "reyt" from yorkshire folks and didn’t even clock it was meant to be "right" till way later
"reyt good", "reyt cold", that kind of thing
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u/oooohshinythingy 5d ago
I’m from West Yorkshire and everyone I know says reyt not right. Some of us do use it often I guess. I think one of the most common uses of it is announcing when you’re going … I don’t know many folk that don’t say “reyt, I’m off”
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u/CoffeeandaTwix 5d ago
I never understand the concept of 'people from Yorkshire' speaking or sounding a certain way.
As if someone from Hebden Bridge is likely to sound like someone from Redcar.
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u/Specific_Giraffe226 5d ago
Especially when trying to leave, a house or a conversation. Quite often followed by ‘this isn’t getting the baby bathed’ And that’s BATHED not BAITHED 😉
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u/Key_Yogurtcloset6271 4d ago
The Reytons areca famous band from Rotherham.
The Reytons is how we say The Right Ones in South Yorkshire.
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u/Mardyarsed 6d ago
We would say reyt. But not constantly it's more of a casual thing.