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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Suffolk => Topic started by: Bob briscoe on Sunday 10 September 17 19:04 BST (UK)
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Only 3 of the 5 of us sitting here together know that a rove is another word for a scab (the crust that forms over a cut in your skin). And the 3 of us are all from Suffolk. Does rove mean scab anywhere else, or only in Suffolk? It took us ages before we found it anywhere on the Web, until we found it in this 1823 book of Suffolk words and phrases (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6BMLAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA321&lpg=PA321&dq=rove+meaning+scab+suffolk&source=bl&ots=Rw5cbYw53x&sig=rpwPp_pmOKqmCHr2jxHiR35KCVA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjVsub-j5vWAhUqJMAKHeAECbUQ6AEINTAC#v=onepage&q=rove&f=false).
I pronounce it 'roove', but the other two pronounce it rove. That might be just the way my Mum used to say it, like a Suffolk person might pronounce 'rose' as 'roose'.
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I've never heard it in Yorkshire, Scotland or Cumbria.
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Rove: A scabby, scaly, or scurfy condition of the skin. Obs.a 1400 Stockholm Med. ... y am shoue, And brouȝt abbas from al astat; My skyn is cloşed al on roue.b. A scab; the scaly crust of a healed or healing wound.1590 P. Barrough Meth
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Not heard it here in SE England either.
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The English Dialect Dictionary 1898, by Joseph Wright has it pegged as an East Anglian word, along with Rovy for scabby.
He gives the Old Norse word Hrufa as the source.
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01kpg/ (http://www.rootschat.com/links/01kpg/)
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The English Dialect Dictionary 1898, by Joseph Wright has it pegged as an East Anglian word, along with Rovy for scabby.
My wife's from Essex and has never heard it. Perhaps it's more Suffolk/Norfolk? Anyone from Essex heard it before?
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I was born in Ipswich and I can confirm that 'rove' is used in Suffolk for 'scab' - I've only ever heard it used in Suffolk so it probably hasn't travelled much.
Regards
GS
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Both me and my wife come North Essex (not far from the Suffolk border) and have never heard of the word - but then it is not one that would often crop up in general conversation.
Mike
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I also originate from North Essex but lived in Suffolk for many years and have never heard this word. My mother in Law was Suffolk born and bred and never used it, however this was West Suffolk, Bury area so perhaps it is confined to the Ipswich East Suffolk area.
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It is not in the list of Suffolk /Essex words and phrases on the foxearth.org.uk website.
It sounds the sort of word that would be said in the lovely soft accent provailing around the Beccles to Lowestoft area, especially if pronounced roove.
Mike
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To be a little more scientific about this, of the 6 of us who are holidaying together at the mo, the 3 who were brought up on rove were born around the late 1950s / early 1960s and our parents were respectively from Framlingham, Leiston and the Nacton/Gainsborough area of Ipswich.
The parents of the 3 who have never heard of it are from South Essex, Cornwall and Stoke.
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Whilst I was born in Ipswich, I didn't live there until the 1960s. My mother came from Brettenham, Suffolk and none of my relations on her side of the family ever used the word 'rove', although they did know what it meant, I'm sure. However, nearly all the people I became friends with in my teenage years, who were born in the Nacton/Gainsborough area of Ipswich, did use that word - which seems to coincide neatly with what you say, Bob. I lived all over the UK as a child (my father was in the RAF) and I never heard it used anywhere else.
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My parents came from different sides of Ipswich and we always used the word rove without exception. Often used in our house after playing out in the street in dresses and shorts, our knees were always covered in them!
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I came from Ipswich, 1951, and I thought it was a national word for scab, I have always used it in that context, little knowing it was quite possibly a local word..... My mum often said "Stop picking that rove, it will get poisonous".
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I was born in Ipswich and I can confirm that 'rove' is used in Suffolk for 'scab' - I've only ever heard it used in Suffolk so it probably hasn't travelled much.
Regards
GS
Same here! Learnt through much contact with grandparents as child
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Never heard it used in the East or West Midlands. ;D
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Following on from this, I noticed recently on a Suffolk discussion board, on another site, a query as to whether "on the huh" (ie crooked or wonky) was a Suffolk saying. It had never occurred to me that it might be confined to my home county. I still use the phrase, although I now live in Wales. So my question is - has 'on the huh' travelled, or do the locals here wonder what on earth I'm talking about? ;D
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Never heard of that, so I guess the locals are just quietly shaking their heads and muttering under their breath.
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Following on from this, I noticed recently on a Suffolk discussion board, on another site, a query as to whether "on the huh" (ie crooked or wonky) was a Suffolk saying. It had never occurred to me that it might be confined to my home county. I still use the phrase, although I now live in Wales. So my question is - has 'on the huh' travelled, or do the locals here wonder what on earth I'm talking about? ;D
'On the huh' is also a Norfolk expression but I've never heard it anywhere else ;D
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Thanks Mike and Roopat - that explains why people look askance when I say that. Not that I will change, I've been using the expression far too long!
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My family are from the five mile radius of Thorpe Morieux, I only recently discovered that "raav" (with an a sound) wasn't the correct term, growing up in a bilingual family.