Nowt and Summat
And now we know ...
"Nowt and summat."
I saw someone today poking fun at people who didn’t know the phrase.
I’d rather do the opposite. I’d rather whisper a welcome. Because learning a turn of phrase, especially one full of salt and soul, is an invitation—not a test.
What I learned about Nowt and Summat:
It’s from Northern English—plain as a cup of tea, rich as all the sky behind it.
"Nowt" means nothing.
"Summat" means something.
But between those two, there’s a whole life.
To those new to nowt and summat, like me, you’ve just learned a phrase rooted in the rhythms of real people, old hills, and stubborn hearts.
Use it kindly. Let it sit on your tongue.
It means more than it seems.
And so do you.
And, of course, I drifted into a poem for my new words.
Nowt and Summat
by jlynn
Some speak of nowt,
as if it’s less than air—
the hush between the sentences,
the pause that feels like prayer.
Some speak of summat,
a whisper shaped like weight—
a seed, a thought, a quiet flame,
or chance dressed up as fate.
To know both nowt and summat
is to feel the world in kind …
the silence that says nothing—
and the something we must find.
