"demic"

[Eve]

Has anyone come across the use of this word and the meaning of it?

Maybe some kind of northern colloquial word?

Thanks for any help.

[Buenchico]

The Oxford English Dictionary refers to it as a nonce-word (i.e. coined for just one occasion), meaning 'belonging to or characteristic of the people', and cites the source as 'The angler in Wales; or, Days and nights of sportsmen' by Thomas Medwin, 1834. ("Perhaps beauty is demic or epidemic here").

Whether your hearing of it is related to the origin and meaning is, of course, unsure. There might be a similar dialect word (with a completely different meaning) that has, as yet, escaped the attention of the OED's compilers.

[bibblebub]

Tt is also in the urban dictionary as: Not fit for purpose. Applies to both people and objects.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=demic

[Mamyalynne]

I grew up with the word, always used to imply a useless person or thing.


Lancashire.

[Graham-W]

Certainly used by my family to mean useless, reject, not up to scratch.
As in: The last car I bought was a right demic. They sent Joe to help me clear the garden but he turned out to be a real demic.
On the border of what was the West and East Ridings of Yorkshire. Now N. Yorks.

[Eve]

Thanks all, that's really helpful.

[Buenchico]

A bit of googling shows 'demic' (in the sense referred to by the northerners above) used in Stockport:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/have_your_say/2002/11/06/manc_words_3.shtml
and in Barnsley:
http://stevewetherill.com/category/yorkshire-slang/
(which is odd because I lived just a few miles from Barnsley for many years, yet I don't recall hearing it!)

I suspect that whoever registered the name 'Demic Limited' with Companies House (for a Leeds-based business) was probably not aware of the image it would portray to many people in the area ;-)

[jno]

mentioned in here too (spelt demick)

http://www.troubleatmill.com/comms.htm

[Eve]

Thanks for those, so glad I came on here to ask now.

Just seen the old posts underneath too.

I've lived round Manchester/Salford for over 10 years and I don't think I've ever heard the word used before.

[Eve]

Haha, probably not Chris :) I lived in Leeds a while too and can't remember hearing it there either!

[jno]

I found a reference to it in an old dictionary suggesting it was a Yorks/Lancs/Notts word for potato disease, coming from epidemic; I can see how the current meaning might have developed from that.

[MikeStone89]

It is widely used in the railway industry to indicate that a locomotive or vehicle is defective - I am certain however that I once heard Mark Fowler in East Enders use it to refer to some item of fruit or veg that was no longer saleable.

[jestrain]

I came accross it being used by railwaymen and I was told this is where the term originates from - it is certainly in widespread use in rail yards and offices and the related container industry (especially rail terminals)

[KellyLeeds]

I 1st heard the word demic 40yrs ago when i was 13 and had a part time job in Castleford West Yorkshire working for a man who sold carpets and toys in different shops. . It was used when referring to goods that were what we would call seconds these days, Often the boss would refer to carpets that the print/pattern/colour had gone askew on during the manufacturing process as demics. Same with toys that were nt up to scratch too. Hope that helps a little foks.