The term "wool"

[BlackToffee]

I hope that nobody takes offence at the subject matter.

I am an Evertonian who was born outside of the City of Liverpool and who has no family connections with the Merseyside area.

The term i've heard used is "wool", as in "you wouldn't understand, you're a wool" which has been said to me in the past. As a Londoner, I don't know how to react. Am I being insulted? Is it an endearing term?

I was wondering if the terms is on the same level of when us southern folk talk about "Northerners" ~ used sometimes to denote someone not as sophisticated as southerners, or does the word have a much stronger association with such terms used for ethnic minority groups?

Can anyone help?

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

wool=woolyback=sheep
basically if you're not from scotty road or up the valley then you are considered to be some country bumpkin from the sticks, i live 15 mins drive and therefore i am a wool.

 

[Walter Ego]

It may be the term woolyback. This is what Liverpudlians call people outside liverpool in the surrounding areas cause they think its all sheep out there. Im from st helens originally. Its about 5 or 10 miles outside Liverpool and scousers take great take pleasure in calling us woolybacks, but we dont really mind cause i dont if youve noticed but its quite common for a scouser to smell of wee a bit anyway!

 

[Vim Fuego]

It may be the term woolyback. This is what Liverpudlians call people outside liverpool in the surrounding areas cause they think its all sheep out there. Im from st helens originally. Its about 5 or 10 miles outside Liverpool and scousers take great take pleasure in calling us woolybacks, but we dont really mind cause i dont if youve noticed but its quite common for a scouser to smell of wee a bit anyway!

My aroma is particularily pungent, a blend of stale piss and bollock sweat which has matured for several months.

 

[Nebbiolo]

I've never understood why anyone would relate St. Helens to sheep farming. The only bit of open land near it is actually that strip between Knowsley and Eccleston Park. Feck me, St. Helens is concrete personified. It's one huge urban sprawl of semi-detatched and terraced housing. I would think you had more chance of finding sheep, and therefore, Woolybacks, within the city of Liverpool rather than in its neighbouring borough. In fact, if we do move to Kirkby we might really be woolybacks seeing as not far away from it there really is countryside of sorts (well, a few fields anyway).

 

[Cahill's Metatarsal]

In the context it is being used it wont be an endearing term. It'll either be a light-hearted joke because you're not from the City or just a reason for some lids to big themselves up as better Evertonians than you because they happened to be raised within the boundaries of the City & you haven't, just depends on how it's said really.

I went to secondary school in St Helens & have always considered it as term to describe people from St Helens in the same way that Scouser refers to people from Liverpool, Cockney refers to people from London, Geordie refers to people from Newcastle etc. I was never aware of anyone taking offence to being called a woolyback at any point of the 5 years I was there.

It's only since I've started going to regular away games that I've heard it used to describe people who aren't from St Helens. Now it seems to be described as anyone not from Liverpool which is plainly wrong in my opinion

 

[coyney]

wool=woolyback=sheep
basically if you're not from scotty road or up the valley then you are considered to be some country bumpkin from the sticks, i live 15 mins drive and therefore i am a wool.

honesty at last:dancing::dancing::dancing::dancing::dancing::dancing::dancing::dancing::dancing::dancing::dancing::dancing::dancing::dancing:

 

[Jez]

Its about st helens people using sheeps wool on there backs to stop the pain when carrying heavy stuff years ago

 

[coyney]

To behonest where Im from its used rightly or wrongly by the accent the person has if its not scouse its nearly always wooly.but I dont think its meant as a real insult just a piss take ,Kirkbyites would get the same but they sound more scouse than us When I lived in Maghull my mates had a go at me with it.and belive me after living in Wavertree for thirty years at the time my accent is scouse

 

[Walter Ego]

I've never understood why anyone would relate St. Helens to sheep farming. The only bit of open land near it is actually that strip between Knowsley and Eccleston Park. Feck me, St. Helens is concrete personified. It's one huge urban sprawl of semi-detatched and terraced housing. I would think you had more chance of finding sheep, and therefore, Woolybacks, within the city of Liverpool rather than in its neighbouring borough. In fact, if we do move to Kirkby we might really be woolybacks seeing as not far away from it there really is countryside of sorts (well, a few fields anyway).

Thats were i come from, those fields down the east lancs. Its the first place the scousers see when they leave their city. They used to come to Windle and steal our cars or burgle our houses. Ah they were the days. It was like christmas day, coming down the stairs in the morning and seeing if we still had a telly and if there was a smell of piss or not. Cheeky monkeys, great sense of humour though so im told.


*grabs coat, legs it*

 

[Vim Fuego]

Thats were i come from, those fields down the east lancs. Its the first place the scousers see when they leave their city. They used to come to Windle and steal our cars or burgle our houses. Ah they were the days. It was like christmas day, coming down the stairs in the morning and seeing if we still had a telly and if there was a smell of piss or not. Cheeky monkeys, great sense of humour though so im told.


*grabs coat, legs it*

I'd check your kettle for turds too mate if i were you

 

[Bainsey]

to many idiots believe you can't support Everton if your not from Liverpool.

 

[Bluelass]

I always thought it was about sheep shagging. Am I allowed to say shagging?

 

[SuitsBlue]

I always thought it was about sheep shagging. Am I allowed to say shagging?

no, you cant say shagging, but i can

i always though 'wool' had welsh connotations. but have since heard all sorts of possibilities, from certain dockers that unloaded cotton or something that would leave remnants on their backs, to a sheep slur in terms of following a crowd not actually born into.

all a bit strange really.

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

i used to hear it as a kid, and was told it was 'cos of all of the fields.
my family are from st.helens and liverpool, my arl fella's mates used to say it when they found their way to us along the outback track that is the east lancs rd.
it's weird cos in liverpool and manchester people think your a bit wet behind the ears, yet where i am is only 17 miles to liverpool, 17 miles to manchester. st.helens, warrington, wigan and bolton are all within 6 miles so you dont exactly grow up not experiencing the same things (with some fields). living between the 2 city's meant you spent as much time in each when going out, although in the 80's the accent was a problem when going into liverpool (until the quad came along, and everyone fell in love).
when we were on about accents, and how the very broad scouse accent is difficult to understand, round here there's an accent thats like a step back in time, my mrs still struggles to understand it sometimes still.