Maze and dretly

[kags]

My grandmother (who was born in Exeter and lived most of her life in Plymouth) used to say to me 'you'm maze me luvver ' meaning 'you're mad and I love you!!' Has anybody else ever heard the word 'maze' used in this respect? Also, she used to say 'dretly' meaning soon - I guess it comes from 'directly' - anybody else heard this?

[Quizmonster]

The verb 'to maze' was in use at least 700 years ago, meaning 'stupefy' , 'perplex' or 'craze'. It was just a somewhat older version of 'amaze' and no doubt lasted in the dialects of certain regions - probably as an adjective, too - until comparatively recent times.

There seems very little doubt but that 'dretly' is just a local pronunciation, as you suspect.

[Janetex]

My well-spolen Irish mum always says "dreckly", maybe just to drive her pedantic sister mad (the sister now has alzheimer's, but recently scolded her for saying it!) I also heard a chap use this when I was on holiday in Sydney, Australia.

[Janetex]

And yes, when she says it she does not mean directly, she means later.