Mither

[deso]

Has anybody ever seen the word "mither" in a dictionary? I haven't, yet it's in common use, at least here in NW England. Maybe the compilers couldn't be ... bothered?

[jno]

it's in my New Oxford

[deso]

Hallelujah! It's not in my old New Oxford.

[jno]

my New Oxford isn't very new - 1998.

[shaneystar2]

It's in my Chambers dictionary.Ninth edition.

[shaneystar2]

And...it's also in my Collins 21st century edition.

[Quizmonster]

Deso, try checking 'moider' in your dictionary, as 'mither' is just a variant of that. (And no, 'moider' is not really only an American gangster's version of 'murder'!)

[{Dakota}]

LOL @ Quiz!

It's in the Collins 2003 edition twice - 1st meaning Scots meaning for mother and 2nd meanng is Northern English slang for a fuss or moan about something.

:)

[Narolines]

Blimey - the North comes down a long way, then; it's in common use here in the West Midlands as well, and has been for many generations. But I suppose we are well north of Watford........

[deso]

Glad to hear it Narolines - I must get a new dictionary !???

[Quizmonster]

So...is 'moider' in your old New Oxford, Deso?

[deso]

I'm between 2 houses at the moment so I don't have my old New Oxford handy, but I do have the Oxford Illustrated which includes "moither" (Def: worry, perplex, be incoherent or wandering), and the Readers Digest Universal which also includes "moither" (Def: - also moider - to confuse, baffle or bewilder). Intersting, as the common usage up here means to hassle or complain - as in "stop mithering" - or in another sense, to worry (or more specifically not care or be bothered either way) - as in "I'm not mithered".

[Narolines]

Yes, deso - that's what it means round here too. The lexicographers must be southerners......:-)

[Quizmonster]

Both Chambers and The Oxford English Dictionary list 'mither' as a dialectal variation of 'moider', as I suggested above. Chambers offers the following meanings...confuse, stupefy, overcome, pester and hassle. The last two are the commonest usages in Scotland and - judging by comments above - the north of England, too, but I don't believe the lexicographers are biased! After all, they give the whole range of meanings.

[deso]

I think that one's resolved then. You seem to have the most complete dictionary quizmonster, at least for this particular word. Thanks to all for your contributions.