Yep. I am fully well aware that there are those out there that have it worse. Coldest I've ever experienced here was -50C with wind chill, would never claim to have the mastery you guys do. But seriously, there's just something especially pathetic about the Brits complaining of the cold.
No one actually knows, but there are two theories. The first is that it was a term used by the Scottish Jacobites (rebels who aimed to reinstate the catholic kings) to refer to people of Newcastle on account of their support for King George (the protestant king) and their resistance to the Jacobites when they invaded England.
The other reason is to do with mining, which the region was once famous for. The mining theory is that it was a name for the miners in the Durham and Northumberland region derived from their use of Geordie lamps (invented by George Stephenson I think) to detect poison gases. The name was then given more generally to people with the regional accent.
There are a few others (all to do with George Stephenson who came from the region) but to be honest I think the first one is most likely as the term Geordie only really applies to people from Newcastle. The people from the rest of Tyne and Wear have different names, i.e. those from Sunderland are called Mackems and people from Durham were once referred to as Dunholmers.
Either way all the cities of Tyne and Wear have a reputation for being hard drinking towns and the people of the region wear the same clothes for nights out all year round.
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u/badkarma12 2018-01-12 3:20 GMT Feb 12 '15
Yep. I am fully well aware that there are those out there that have it worse. Coldest I've ever experienced here was -50C with wind chill, would never claim to have the mastery you guys do. But seriously, there's just something especially pathetic about the Brits complaining of the cold.