‘Cruckled’ ... is it a Rochdale thing?

THERE are probably few parents whose children haven’t come out of school with an accident slip.

But when dad Andy Rees’ seven-year-old daughter came home with a note, it left him somewhat baffled.

The slip said: “Holly cruckled while running” and he had no idea what it meant.

He took to social media to search for an answer and was firmly told – ‘it’s a Rochdale thing’.

Apparently, as many of you will already know, it means ‘going over on your ankle’.

Andy, 46, shared a picture of his daughter’s note from St Andrew’s Primary in Dearnley and said: “As a southerner can someone tell me what cruckled means.”

And the dad-of-three was inundated with responses.

Mum-of-one Vicky Butler, 30, replied: “My husband is from Tottenham and even now every time I say it he looks at me and laughs.”

She said: “My husband Simon doesn’t get any of our lingo. I am Rochdale born and bred. We have been together six years and he still doesn’t get half of the things I say like having black peas and parkin on Bonfire Night ●●Andy Rees’ daughter, Holly, got an accident slip from school saying she had ‘cruckled while running’ and didn’t know what it meant and ‘a bonny baby’, meaning a cute baby.

“These are all things he had never heard of. It’s so funny when it’s just your everyday vocabulary.”

Natalie Clegg replied, saying: “Cruckled is a Rochdale-only saying. I think it’s ingenious, much quicker than saying ‘gone over on my ankle’, unless of course, the person you’re talking to needs you to explain cruckle.”

And Wendy Wrigley said: “It’s a Rochdale saying, I say it often in heels.”

Another person shared a picture of the word cruckle from the Urban Dictionary, which states: “To cruckle is to go over on one’s ankle. A common phrase in Rochdale but apparently nowhere else in the world”. Andy, married to wife Vanessa and also dad to Finley, five, and Carter, one, told us he decided to share the note to see how much of a common saying it was.

He said: “I’m from north west London and have never heard of cruckled. One of Holly’s friend’s mums from school is from down south and had never heard of it either.”

Thankfully, all was well after Holly’s cruckle and she’s looking forward to celebrating her birthday next month.