Why do Sheffielders call sweets "Spice"

[Fantomas]

'Spice' as a term is (was?) definitely used in the dales and West Yorkshire too, but again generally by the older generation- shame to lose the richness of local dialects really. And I can remember my Auntie Mavis (who was from the other side of the hills) offering me a 'toffee' when I was a little lad.

 

I'm from over the hill and toffee and kaylay (sp?) is definitely the way we refer to spice and sherbet/sugar crystals. It's only through reading this thread I've realised that it sounds strange to people outside of the area I grew up in.

 

I guess it's in the same way as saying 'I'll be there 7 while 10' doesn't grate at all on my ears but I know it winds up some people (southerners especially) summat chronic.

[artisan]

I think the word 'while' must be the most confusing one.

Where as we mean it as 'until' eg. 8 while 12 meaning a period of time, others seem to see it as meaning something else. In that sense what else could it mean?

As I have said 'its them as is wrong not us'

[abigaler]

lots of interesting replies thanks!but still no definite reason why they are called spice.

I bet the Arctic Monkeys know what spice are !

btw. in my home town they don't call them sweets either - they call them tuffees - is that weird .

abi

[Yellowrose]

In Rawmarsh, Rotherham, the term "spice" was used to denote sweets by the older generation. We used to buy Kali too, and I thought my Sheffield partner was posh when he called it Rainbow Crystals!

[cloudybay]

Spice is purely a colloquialism, rather the same as calling chewing gum spidge

[warriormonk]

Don't think that Spice is a Barnsley term - I've only lived there for about 5 years though but they call food "snap", pronounce don't "dunt" and instead of playing they say "laking" (as in lake?!) It takes a bit of getting used to but i'm a Sheffield lass at heart and we 'av the weird ones! Anyone else call a small outside passageway a Jennel? Everyone who comes from anywhere else seems to say Ginnel?

 

Having grown up in Barnsley I can confirm 'spice' was indeed the favoured term for sweets among kids during the 70's. Probably died out now. Nice to know 'snap' and 'laike' are still about though. We also used to call grown up men 'mester'...which you don't hear as much nowadays. We said 'ginnel' with a hard g...rather than gennel...with a soft g. In the midlands it's often a 'jitty.' A 'snicket' though...that's something totally different again!

[8balltiger]

if tha sups too many sherbets, tha'll bi kayli'd

[climaxchick]

I have never known sweets to be called spice. Thats weird.

[matsalleh]

When I was a kid in hillsborough in the 70s all the rough kids called sweets spice but I thought it sounded scruffy and childish even then. I got the impression that they used to purposefully use the term rather than sweets because they thought it made them look hard.

I however, made up my own words. and still do.

 

harazbunda hn fer !

Snob post of the decade ?

[Dick_Turpin]

Do many people use Chud or Chuddy for Chewing Gum