Re: Queer as folk

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on June 09, 2005

In Reply to: Re: Queer as folk posted by Bob on June 08, 2005

: : : Hello,

: : : Has anyone ever heard the saying or phrase, "queer as folk?"
: : : Please let me know.
: : : Thanks

: : Yes, I have heard it.
: : "Queer As Folk" is the name of a drama on TV revolving around gay relationships.

: Check our archives at http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/6/messages/1196.html
: and you'll find a question I asked 5 years ago, and I'm still waitin' for an answer.

I wasn't around then! "Nowt" is just the northern English pronunciation of "naught". It's often thought of as typically "Yorkshire" but is common to most of Northern England - Cumberland, County Durham, etc - it's the dialect of the ancient Kingdom of Northumbria. The opposite of "nowt" is "owt" (= Standard English "aught")as in the phrase "Nivver do owt for nowt".
The Yorkshire saying "There's nowt so queer as folk" just means "People are weird, there's no accounting".