I was reading my West Country dialect book last night, and a certain term made me prick up my ears. It was the word udjia or udjiack, meaning a small bit of something (especially mechanical) - we might called it a thingummibob today. Udjiak is actually a technical term used in shipbuilding (it is a movable chock used in fitting the planks of a boat).
I recognized this as an expression which possibly lengthened into "oojamaflip" in our house by my Devon-bred father - as in something small and lost - "where did I put that oojamaflip?"
As I sat here, another expression - this time of my mum's - came back to me - "Fanny Fanakapan". As in "What are you doing Fanny Fanakapan". I've just looked on Google and there was a Fred Fanackerpan in a Gracie Fields song . . . I wonder if it came from that? Mum used to say I was walking around like Fanny by Gaslight too!
Oh, and before I go, my mum used to be called "Lizzy Tin-drawers" by her dad - this presumably when she was being a bit straight-laced or having what would be termed these days as a sense of humour failure . . . I don't know where it comes from, but there is actually someone called Lizzy Tindraws with a Facebook account!
