West Midlands dialect - "Perla"

[brendanandsarah%...@gtempaccount.com]

My dad uses the word "Perla" as in he "he came a right perla" meaning he came to some harm.
Please can anyone explain where this comes from?
Thanks

[John Ritson]

In article <0fc5343a-8c6f-47a9...@googlegroups.com>,
brendanandsarah%blueyond...@gtempaccount.com writes

>My dad uses the word "Perla" as in he "he came a right perla" meaning he came to
>some harm.
>Please can anyone explain where this comes from?

It's "purler", and is not confined to the West Midlands.
To "come a purler" means to fall headlong. Thought to derive from a
Nordic word describing unstable, eddying, rippling flow of water.

'Purl' is also used in knitting, describing a looping stitch.

--
John Ritson

---
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[Whiskers]

On 2017-10-28, John Ritson <j.ri...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <0fc5343a-8c6f-47a9...@googlegroups.com>,
> brendanandsarah%blueyond...@gtempaccount.com writes
>>My dad uses the word "Perla" as in he "he came a right perla" meaning
>>he came to some harm. Please can anyone explain where this comes
>>from?
>
> It's "purler", and is not confined to the West Midlands. To "come a
> purler" means to fall headlong. Thought to derive from a Nordic word
> describing unstable, eddying, rippling flow of water.
>
> 'Purl' is also used in knitting, describing a looping stitch.

Sometimes spelt 'pearler' (or 'pearl' for the stitch).

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~

[Hen Hanna]

On Saturday, October 28, 2017 at 6:48:37 AM UTC-7, Whiskers wrote:

> On 2017-10-28, John Ritson <.....hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
> > In article <0fc5343a-8c6f-47a9...@googlegroups.com>,

> > brendanandsarah%blueyonder.co.uk......... writes

> >>My dad uses the word "Perla" as in he "he came a right perla" meaning
> >>he came to some harm. Please can anyone explain where this comes
> >>from?
> >
> > It's "purler", and is not confined to the West Midlands. To "come a
> > purler" means to fall headlong. Thought to derive from a Nordic word
> > describing unstable, eddying, rippling flow of water.
> >
> > 'Purl' is also used in knitting, describing a looping stitch.
>
> Sometimes spelt 'pearler' (or 'pearl' for the stitch).
>
> --
> -- ^^^^^^^^^^
> -- Whiskers
> -- ~~~~~~~~~~

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/purler


a knitting term I learned recently was Nep. (nep yarn)


HH

[Hen Hanna]

Interestingly, Chambers Dictionary has as its first definition of "purl" - "To flow with a murmuring sound; to flow in eddies" and (n) "A trickling brook (obsolete). What a lovely word. I shall be using it all week.


"The purling river"
"The purring cat"


Purler: Noun.
1. A forceful punch or hit.
2. Something that is excellent. E.g."It was worth paying twice the entry fee just to see that purler of a goal." [Orig. Aust.] A Dictionary of Slang


In the World Cup, Italy vs Ghana the Italian player, Pirlo, has just scored and the commentator has issued these immortal words: "That's a purler for Pirlo"




In Australian slang, purler has two meanings.

--- The first is a headlong or spectacular fall, ...
The usual phrase is to come a purler.
The sentence [She nearly did/came an absolute purler] would definitely mean She nearly had a spectacular fall.

--- The second meaning is something outstanding in its class.

[Hen Hanna]

What an amazing word!


Etymology 1 --- Unknown; apparently related to Scots and dialect pirl ("twist, ripple, whirl, spin"), and possibly to Older Scots pyrl ("thrust or poke at"). Compare Venetian pirlo, an embellishment where the woven threads are twisted together. May be unrelated to purfle, though the meanings are similar.


Etymology 2 --- from Middle English pirle ‎(“whirligig”‎), Middle Italian pirla ‎(“whipping top”‎)


Etymology 3 --- From Old Norse purla ‎(“to babble”‎)



Etymology 4 --- Possibly from the pearl-like appearance caused by bubbles on the surface of the liquid.


Etymology 5 .........