A glossary of words used in the County of Chester

A cake walk is a simple undertaking. 110 keep my fingers crossed: the reference is to the traditional belief that crossing ones fingers is a way of guarding against bad luck 111 a bit of a bind: a nuisance 112 the moors: вересковая пустошь, охотничье угодье (there are a great deal of open moorland in Yorkshire within easy reach of the large towns, and Sunday mornings walks there are popular) 113 steady on: a means of asking someone to be slower or more cautious in their behaviour or statements 114 pop out: go out 115 the Home Counties: the counties adjacent to London 116 turn in: go to bed 117 within reason: not beyond ones possibilities 118 to be up to something usually implies something not altogether permissible, or at least surreptitious. What have you been up to this time? implies something likely to involve punishment. So the phrase is used jocularly, from one friend to another, implying that he or she must have been doing something out of the ordinary or at least interesting. 119 Im afraid implies no fear, only regret that she has nothing more interesting to tell. 120 Just the usual grind is a way of describing monotony; nothing severe or otherwise unpleasant is implied. 121 come up: two idioms with come come up meaning to arise, to occur and come off meaning to take place 122 play hostess: play is often used as here to mean fulfil the function of. 123 this do at Turin : do, used as a noun, is one of the many colloquial words for a social occasion. 124 Well, look here is more emphatic than I say, to begin a new statement. 125 Why dont I come and look after: this is a more forceful phrase than Why shouldnt I? ...»