NO doubt you recall the dialect story I used a couple of weeks ago, and that I did not know what the term 'Yer thi' meant. I printed a couple of answers from readers a few days later, and since, I have received a letter from Mr Fred Sharples, of Lee Bank, Westhoughton.

He again says that 'Yer thi' is a very basic term in local dialect - it is simply "hear you" if used in a sentence, e.g. "Ah cawn't yer thi, speik a bit loyder". "Yer thi" on its own is a somewhat derogatory comment on something said which causes a degree of upset, or which is considered silly, e.g. "Weren't Maggie Thatcher naase (nice)". - "Yer thi! Thae weren't on't pension - or more likely "dole".'

Another letter came from 'A reader from Deane', who tells me: 'I am old enough to remember when people actually did talk like this, so I had no difficulty in understanding the article, and did not need to read the translation!

'However, as far as "Yer thi" is concerned, can I explain that "Yer" means "Hear" and "Thi" is "Thee", so "Yer thi" means 'Hear thee", or "Listen to you", said in a very sarcastic manner! "Yer 'im" and "Yer er" are similar -"hark at him", "hark at her!" '