Some Good!

If you go Down East and ever want to sound as if you belong, learn to say “Some good!”

Better still, learn to say, “Right some good!” The first means excellent, the latter means “the very best”. Now, to be sure, your “good” has to sound more like “gooooood”, and “right” falls somewhere between “rite” and “roite”. But that’s for another lesson– for now, “right some good” will make you accepted.

There’s nothing so much fun as regional expressions, is there? Everywhere on the planet says things “funny”, except us, of course (whoever “us” may be). But right across the English speaking world, expressions which are everyday in one region are a novelty in another.

One of our nieces came back from a stint in New Zealand, and everything was “Sweet as!” Which was fine until she was exuberating about one thing while the postman thought she was looking at his posterior. But I still love the term.

South Africans have the famous “Ja, no”, (ya, no) which literally means “yes, no”, but just throws you a delightful ambiguity letting you know they’re somewhere on the spectrum between wild enthusiasm and full refusal. Love it.

For the Welsh, especially in the south, everything nice is “tidy”, not meaning organized or housecleaned, but really, really nice. In South African English (borrowed from Afrikaans), “lekker” is a similar expression of approval. Irish “Grand!” similarly notes high approval.

To the Australian ear, “mate” is generally a term of inclusion and endearment, somewhat akin to the American “bro”, but richer and more inclusive. Other English speakers are a little more edgy about the term.

I recall my Mum often using a West Country expression, “proper”, as in “that’s proper silly!”, more or less the way of Down East “some” or “right”.

Here in Canada, amongst francophones, one hears “Tiguidou!” and “ben coudon”, expressions you won’t hear anywhere else in the world, meaning respectively, “amazing, wonderful, perfect!” and “well, alright then, OK”.

Language! A powerful tool, a baffling master, and an intriguing study!