Lanky

See also: lanky

English

Etymology

Clipping of Lancashire with -y.

Proper noun

Lanky

1. The dialect of English spoken in Lancashire.
   • 2008 September 4, Stuart Maconie, Pies and Prejudice: In search of the North, Random House, →ISBN, page 167:

     The rest of us , whether we spoke Lanky or Urdu, whether we were born in Karachi or Keighley, could go to hell.

2. (colloquial, historical) The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.
   • 2009 April 2, Andrew Martin, The Blackpool Highflyer, Faber & Faber, →ISBN:

     The Lanky was 'The Business Line' – cotton, wool and coal – but a lot of northern towns now had their own 'wakes' or holiday week, and the Lanky was all for that, because then people wanted to pack up, and they wanted to be off.

   • 2012 July 1, Kenn Pearce, Shed Side in South Lancashire and Cheshire: The Last Days of Steam, The History Press, →ISBN:

     We had an extra pilot [engine] on summer Saturdays for excursion traffic and on this particular day we had a Lanky ' A ' class.

Noun

Lanky (plural Lankies)

1. Someone from Lancashire.
   • 1878, Henry Mills Alden, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, page 320:

     It is often observed that Lankies (Lancashire folk), on entering a room, whether in the heat of summer or the cold of winter, invariably rush to the fire-place.

   • 1884, Benjamin Brierley, Tales and Sketches of Lancashire Life, page 25:

     I am what a Yorkshireman would call a 'Lanky', and perhaps as poor a specimen of the cotton county's human produce as ever trounced barefoot through its lanes, or shuddered at the sound of its factory bells.

Adjective

Lanky (not comparable)

1. From Lancashire or having distinctive Lancashire traits.
   • 1909, Harry Lindley, Merely Players ..., page 21:

     Despite several stellar features - amongst others Phelps - he was Lanky, too

   • 1992, Bill T. Jones, Liz Andrew, Homo Northwestus: A Quest for the Species, North-West Man : Based on the Granada Television Series with Ray Gosling:

     In any case, Butch spoke the Yankee way, not the Lanky way and, no matter where you look, it's not until the football age of industry and terraces that Homo Northwestus gets heroes.

   • 2015 October 22, Stewart Binns, The Darkness and the Thunder: 1915: The Great War Series, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

     Burnley's deputy mayor, Alderman Keighley, sent them on their way with a brief address, which concluded with a Lanky send-off for Lancashire lads

Anagrams

• Kylan