Spreathe/spreathing - use of the words
Benjamin’s fingers have become rather red which I attribute to him sucking or chewing them and then probably exposing them to the air, undried. I said to Rachel that they were spreathed “as my Mum would have said”.
I was thinking that perhaps I had never heard anyone else using the word.
Anyway I have been looking around on the net and found that people say it seems to be a West of England or Welsh word.
The funny thing is that my Mum is from East Kent, though she can’t remember whether she learned the word from her parents or when she was evacuated to Caerleon (near Newport, Monmouthshire) during the Second World War. My dad also knows the word as being perfectly normal. He is from Bristol/Gloucestershire.
Through the Open University I have access to online archives of the journal “Notes and Queries”. In 1879 someone said “In my younger days I should have used it [an unrelated dialect word] as I did the word “spreathe” (a West-country verb to express the effect of cold on the skin) without a thought of its being unintelligible in the East”. Other correspondents replied (1) “Spreathe does not appear to be in use west of Dorset and Somerset shires (see Barnes and Williams and Jones). In Devonshire and South-East Cornwall the equivalent appears to be spray.” (2) “… also the word spreathe, or more frequently spree, when speaking of chapped hands [is still commonly used in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire]“. (But then again in the present day someone on another site suggests that it appears in a Devon dialect dictionary)
A blogger says:
“”Spreathed” is like nappy rash. It’s a Welsh word for something English doesn’t have a proper word for. It’s something that can happen to sklin if not dried properly and kept damp against something, under breasts with no talc, wrists that aren’t dried after hand-washing, babies’ bottoms. Chafe and chap are English words that cover parts of it. I didn’t realise spreathe wasn’t an English word until I used it to an English mid-wife and got an incomprehending reaction, and then tried it on Zorinth’s dad and other people who were happy to adopt it but hadn’t known it before.”
Her blog post received the comment:
“I’m a retired man and have had the word “spreathing” running around in my head for 24 hours and decided to just see if there are any references on the net. I was impressed to find your references and from my reading of your note the description is just right from my experience of “spreathing” - as a kid growing up in the West Country wearing short trousers I used to describe a soreness between the upper parts of my legs - above the knees - where the two legs rubbed together , particularly in winter, as spreathing.
Very tender. I have never found any reference to the word. If we continue to use the word it may be that the oxford Dictionary will eventually include it.”
There’s also a forum discussion of this and related words at Wordwizard clubhouse : apparently it appears in Chambers.
“spreathe, spreethe; spreaze, spreeze (S.W. dial.) vs.t. and vs.i. to chap, roughen — usu. in pa.p. sprayed, spraid, etc. [Origin obscure].”
It’s also mentioned in the OED, but only as part of the etymology of “sprayed”(=Roughened or made sore by exposure to cold), namely: [f. spray (also spry, spreathe, etc.), of obscure origin, common in south-western dialects, chiefly in the pa. pple.]
Anyone else from outside Wales and Gloucestershire to Devon know the word ?
I’m in my early 30’s, and from Hastings- (currently living in Kent) I’ve always used the word ‘Spreethed/ Spreathed’ (but I’ve never had to spell it before!)- as did my Mum, and I didn’t realise that it wasn’t commonly used!! It was only when I was trying to diagnose a rash my daughter had that I realised that however I spelled the word on Google, very little came up!
I wonder if my Mum inherited the word from her family? Her grandparents lived in Wales, but most of the family were from the Kent region….
Interesting!..
Léonie (Rochester)
Interesting discussion on this rather obscure word. I picked the word up from my mother who used it quite a lot when I was growing up (am now mid 40s). My own daughter has eczema and in this modern era of internet thought I would find out what spreethe/spreathe etc was or meant or where it come from. Like Leonie above, we lived in Monmouthshire and my mother always used ’spreathe’ when you either didn’t dry properly or when drying got too near the fire! and dried too quickly. Spreathe wasn’t very pleasant and my mother did suffer herself but the word fascinates me now as like Leonie never had to spell it before. Not a lot on google but picked up this thread of comment. Interesting…
Gareth(Monmouthshire)
Hi, I am also from the Newport, Gwent(Monmouthshire) area, and spreethe (as I would spell it) is a word I know well from my childhood. To my mind it means a raw area of skin, like a sore nappy rash, or wet skin that has been rubbed raw, that sort of thing…usually sorted out with some vaseline, for what it is worth…
All the best.
Teresa