'ark at 'ee
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From hark (“listen”) + at + 'ee (“variant of ye”) or he (“third-person singular”); imitative of the pronunciation used by some natives of Bristol and the West Country of England.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: ärk ăt ē IPA(key): /ˈɑː(ɹ)k æt ˌiː/
Audio (General American): (file) - Rhymes: -iː
Phrase
[edit]'ark at 'ee
- (Bristol and West Country, informal) Listen to you; listen to yourself; listen to it.
- 1995, Brian Jacques, The Outcast of Redwall: A Tale from Redwall (A Tale of Redwall; 8), London: Hutchinson, →ISBN; republished as Outcast of Redwall, London: Red Fox, 2007, →ISBN, book 3 (The Warrior’s Reckoning), page 305:
- ‘Look at that water! No wonder Duddle said he wouldn’t dare take the raft down this way; it’s dreadful!’ / Togget pointed ahead. ‘Yurr oi think et wursens yonder, ’ark at ee roaren et makes!’
- (Bristol and West Country, informal) Used to draw attention to something or someone.
- 2012 March 29, Emma Kasprzak, “Yeah but no but: Is the Bristol accent gert lush?”, in BBC News[1], archived from the original on 6 July 2017:
- Then a lady came into the shop and saw the T-shirts and said ‘ark at ee’ so that was the next one we did.
- 2014 February 4, “Jooohn Ag”, “Failed Charity Boss Announces 2014 Tour! Unionised Workers Not Invited!”, in The Bristolian[2], archived from the original on 22 October 2017:
- Ark at ee, it’s our old friend MARK ‘NOT THAT ONE’ OWEN, the moribund boss of troubled equine charity HorseWorld!
Translations
[edit]listen to you; listen to yourself; listen to it
|
used to draw attention to something or someone