How do you acknowledge cyclists you pass?

tbessie · Post by **tbessie** » 10 Jun 2016, 9:00pm

As I've been doing this ride, I've acknowledged opposite direction riders by saying "Hey!" or "Hi!"

As I've gotten more northerly, though, I've gotten back something like "Oi" or "Ight" or "Aight" or "Alright".

What exactly do you suppose they're saying? We don't say anything like "alright" to each other when passing in the states, so I'm curious about the sense of what I'm hearing.

- Tim

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my D5803 using hovercraft full of eels.

Paulatic · Post by **Paulatic** » 10 Jun 2016, 9:13pm

"Alright" It's a greeting like Hello how are you? Just shortened from "Are you all right"?,
Some dialect up north it is "Ista fit"? Or shortened to "fit"

Are you enjoying your ride, and where have you got to ?

NATURAL ANKLING · Post by **NATURAL ANKLING** » 10 Jun 2016, 9:23pm

Hi,
Agree, I always say "Alright" or "OK"................its got to be quick and understandable the speed I go at :mrgreen:

But "OK" unfortunately was not OK for a dog walker who shouted " THANKYOU" as they controlled their dog in a public place after I slowed etc....................they said that I had bad maners.........which led to them threatening to report me...........for bad maners......which then led to them swearing five times so they could be heard.........................................

.................now in that area I say zilch.............

Post by **Vorpal** » 10 Jun 2016, 9:42pm

People in some parts of Essex say that. It often comes out sounding a bit like 'oight' or 'wight', there. It took me a while to figure it out when I first heard it.

tbessie · Post by **tbessie** » 10 Jun 2016, 9:53pm

Vorpal wrote:People in some parts of Essex say that. It often comes out sounding a bit like 'oight' or 'wight', there. It took me a while to figure it out when I first heard it.

Yeah, it's a funny sound. I thought it might be something like Yorkshire "et'up" etc. That is, a local dialect thing. Glad it's an actual word (though slightly modified)

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my D5803 using hovercraft full of eels.

tbessie · Post by **tbessie** » 10 Jun 2016, 9:57pm

Paulatic wrote:"Alright" It's a greeting like Hello how are you? Just shortened from "Are you all right"?,
Some dialect up north it is "Ista fit"? Or shortened to "fit"

Are you enjoying your ride, and where have you got to ?

Thanks for explaining - I was a bit confused.

I'm in Newcastle, waiting 2 days as I couldn't find much weekend accommodation on the Northumberland Coastal Path. Just going to Edinburgh and staying there a couple of days to see a friend, then back South on the train. I'll do a separate highlands tour (with accompanying whiskey tasting) in a year or two.

Bringing 50 pounds of gear, and taking the scenic route, and visiting places I was curious about, has taken its toll. I purposefully went though Exmoor and the highest parts of the Yorkshire Dales, for example. Interesting, but slow.

Post by **Mick F** » 11 Jun 2016, 11:06am

I was cycling from Skipton down to Manchester some years ago, Bury? or was it Nelson? somewhere like that anyway.
I'm originally from Lancashire but some accents and idioms are quite different to what I was brought up with.

There was a chap standing at a bus stop to my left. It was mid afternoon. As I passed, I said, "Hi-ya!" in as much of a northern accent as I could muster.
He replied, "Howareyouareyoualright?" All in one single word.

I smiled about that encounter for the rest of the ride.

tbessie · Post by **tbessie** » 11 Jun 2016, 11:24am

Mick - ha! So I'm not imagining it - good to know! ;-)

Speaking of amusing encounters...
I was told that folks in Newcastle are friendly and have a good sense of humor. As soon as I left the hotel to walk to a store, while waiting for a "walk" signal, a funny old man walking with his wife said to me "Shall we rush it as a crowd, then?" (i.e. go against the "don't walk" signal). I said "Power in numbers, eh?" And he said "They'll still get ye though". Ha!

- Tim

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my D5803 using hovercraft full of eels.

rareposter · Post by **rareposter** » 11 Jun 2016, 11:32am

tbessie wrote: I'm in Newcastle, waiting 2 days as I couldn't find much weekend accommodation on the Northumberland Coastal Path.

I'm surprised you can understand ANYTHING that's being said in Newcastle! :wink:

tbessie · Post by **tbessie** » 11 Jun 2016, 1:37pm

Not everyone talks like that luckily. Met a guy 25 years ago in France who did, though. I only understood about a quarter of what he said. You'd think, traveling around Europe, he'd modify his speech so people could understand him. :-)

Service people (restaurants, etc) here have been saying "Hiya" to me.

- Tim

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my D5803 using hovercraft full of eels.

tbessie · Post by **tbessie** » 11 Jun 2016, 1:37pm

Not everyone talks like that luckily. Met a guy 25 years ago in France who did, though. I only understood about a quarter of what he said. You'd think, traveling around Europe, he'd modify his speech so people could understand him. :-)

Service people (restaurants, etc) here have been saying "Hiya" to me.

- Tim

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my D5803 using hovercraft full of eels.

100%JR · Post by **100%JR** » 15 Jun 2016, 10:33am

"ORreyt" (Local dialect for "Alright") or "Ey-up"around here(South Yorkshire)
Both are just local greetings along the lines of "Hello" or "Hi"
The exact way the are pronounced will change depending on where you are in the County.The Sheffield,Barnsley,Doncaster and Rotherham dialects are all very different despite their close proximity to each other

Audax67 · Post by **Audax67** » 15 Jun 2016, 11:16am

It's positively boring here by comparison: either "bonjour" or "salut", or merely 3 fingers lifted off the brake hood. Haven't heard anything else from one end of France to the other. Very often, though, there's no acknowledgement at all, esp. from self-important younger cyclists with their noses down for old buffers with handlebar bags. Or else an explosive "BONJOUR ! ! !" from behind that really means "get out of the way, fellow" and is only uttered because bells make bikes too heavy for serious cyclists.

al_yrpal · Post by **al_yrpal** » 15 Jun 2016, 11:39am

I dont pass other cyclists (except those coming from the other direction :lol:

). They usually pass me. My greeting - "Hiya!"
Stradageeks and Mamils are the least friendly unless they are struggling with fixing a puncture.

Al

Heltor Chasca · Post by **Heltor Chasca** » 15 Jun 2016, 12:45pm

I was on a track in the Medips this weekend on my Big Dummy. 3 MTBers passed me and then stopped further on. My greeting was, 'Mate we have got a major case of bike-envy. Respect!'

I was proud. In those 5 minutes it was like being at the birth of one of my children [emoji4]

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