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Last week I learnt a lovely new word – huffkin<\/strong> – which is apparently<\/a> a traditional type of bread roll from Kent<\/a> in the southeast of England (see photo). <\/p>\n According to A Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect and Provincialisms<\/em><\/a>, a huffkin, or hufkin, is “A kind of bun or light cake, which is cut open, buttered, and so eaten.” Such rolls were traditionally served at a hopkin<\/strong>, a supper for hop pickers.<\/p>\n Kent is an area of the UK I know quite well, as some of my relatives live there, and my dad grew there. However, I didn’t know anything about the local dialect, until now. <\/p>\n I couldn’t find any etymology for huffkin<\/strong>, but guess that the -kin<\/strong> part is a diminutive. It comes from the Middle Dutch -ken<\/em>, and is used in words like catkin, bodkin, manikin, munchkin, pumpkin and napkin, and can also used with names – Jenkin(s), Simkin(s), Hopkin(s), Watkin(s) [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n Other interesting Kentish dialect words I found include:<\/p>\n – joskin = a farm labourer (particularly a driver of horses, or carter’s mate), engaged to work the whole year round for one master Few people speak Kentish dialect anymore. You can hear a sample on the Survey of English Dialects<\/a>, and on the video below:<\/p>\n
\n– galligaskins = trousers
\n– strooch = to drag the feet along the ground in wallking
\n– hopkin = supper for the work-people, after the hop-picking is over
\n– huffle = a merry meeting; a feast<\/p>\n