Essential English phrases

Come on, hurry up, or an expression of disbelief — 'howay man!'. Note the spelling: Newcastle writes howay and Sunderland writes haway, and people notice which one you use.

Two jobs at once. Of a person it means nice or decent — 'he's canny'. As an intensifier it means quite or fairly — 'a canny few', 'canny busy'. Context does all the work.

Term of endearment, used to more or less anyone by more or less anyone. Not condescending, not gendered as strictly as outsiders assume, and not flirtatious. A bus driver will call you pet.

Yes, obviously. The full form is 'why aye man'. It is genuinely used, not just performed for television, though rather less often than the television suggests.

Extremely drunk. Not 'a bit tipsy' — mortal is the end state. The Bigg Market's international reputation rests almost entirely on this word.

Someone from Sunderland, and someone from Middlesbrough. Geordies are from Tyneside only. The North East is three or four distinct places with distinct accents, and collapsing them into one is the local equivalent of calling a Scot English.

A child. From Old Norse and Old English, and one of a long list of Geordie words that survived here after dropping out of southern English entirely.

The city centre, and also Newcastle United. 'Gannin' doon the Toon' is a night out in town; 'the Toon' on a match day is the football club. Both meanings are live.

To throw. 'Hoy it ower here'. Also used for chucking something away — 'hoy it out' — which is worth knowing before someone offers to hoy your boxes for you.

The local property tax, paid by the occupier and billed separately from rent. Most Newcastle housing sits in the lowest bands, but the charge per band is at the higher end for England, so the bill still lands.

Since 1 May 2026 every private tenancy in England rolls month to month with no fixed term. You can leave on two months' notice and there is no end date for a landlord to evict you at.

A large, flat, round loaf with a dimple in the middle, baked on the oven floor. The canonical filling is ham and pease pudding. It exists nowhere else in England and every bakery here has one.

999 for a genuine emergency. NHS 111 for urgent medical help that is not life-threatening. Both free from any phone, including a locked one.