Primary research into dialects!

After thinking about what theme I could possibly venture down for a long time, I have decided to just go for the theme of dialects and slang; the fact that I couldn't think of anything to draw has changed now I have some more research behind it (this was the hope and I am glad it has paid off!)

I asked classmates and friends who I have previously heard saying words and phrases that I had never heard of before to give me some of their favourites and classics from where they were from; as it were, they were all northern towns and cities (probably as I would have heard of most things from down south or even midlands). I asked people from specific cities for words and phrases as well, specifically Manchester, Newcastle and Liverpool. 

The result is a massive list of words from all over the north; Hull, Middlesborough, Sunderland, Manchester, Liverpool, smaller Yorkshire towns, Newcastle and Ulverston. Some of them are absolutely untranslatable to my southern ear and brain without being told exactly what it means, for example "Gan yem like" ("going home" in Geordie) but they are all absolutely fantastic to work with!

Personal favourites:

• "Cake oyl" "lug oyl" and "chip oyl": mouth, ears and chip shop, from Barnsley.
• "Divenna son": I don't know, from Newcastle/Sunderland
• "Gadgey": old man, from Newcastle
• "Doylum": idiot, from various places
• "Tenfoot": alleyway, from Hull
• "Maftin": very very hot, from various places
• "Pukka": great, from Manchester

I also asked my good friend from Manchester via message so I could get some written down and in better context, as it was written by a true Mancunian. Some of it is complete gold in terms of humour and for this project; he kept accidentally using Manc words while trying to explain what other Manc words meant.

I need to group together some of these words as there are quite a few different ones for the same meaning from different areas, for example "Chav". Once they are grouped I think it will be easier to see them all and work out how I could draw from them/design a book around it. I'm currently thinking I could do a sort of picture and type book featuring the words with the most different slang versions, or the funniest ones that southerners or people not from the United Kingdom would never be able to work out (like a sort of guide book?)