U

ugsome (adjective)

Northumberland, Scotland, Yorkshire

Disgusting, loathsome, nauseating; frightful, horrible, ghastly. From Scotland: ‘An auld dog that trails its useless ugsome carcass into some bush’. ‘An ugsome dream’. Loathsomeness was ugsomeness. A horrible sight would appear ugsomely. The basic element was ug, a verb meaning ‘feel or cause disgust’, derived from one of the common exclamations of distaste. As an object of disgust, one could also be an ug. From Northumberland: ‘What an ug ye’ve myed yorsel’.

unfeel or onfeel (adjective)

Ireland, Northumberland, Scotland

Uncomfortable, unpleasant; coarse, rough. From Roxburghshire: ‘An onfeel day’. ‘Onfeel words’. A stronger form was unfeelsome. In Northumberland, the word was usually used when talking about the weather.

upping (noun)

Lancashire, Yorkshire

The conclusion, upshot, crisis. From Yorkshire: ‘T’upping on’t wor, he hed to goa’ – the upshot was, he had to go. It was also used for the last hours of life, as in this old Yorkshire saw: ‘We’st all ha’ to come to us last uppings, if we live long enough’.

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