Tozzin - the 'fantastic', 'amazing', 'proper reyt' Sheffield word which half the city's never heard of

Sheffield is blessed with a rich dialect, with many words and sayings you’ll probably only understand if you’re from here, like nesh, crozzled and mardy.
By Robert Cumber
Published 29th Mar 2023, 06:06 BST

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But one word has sparked a huge debate within the city about its origins and whether it can truly be called part of the Sheffield lingo, with people divided on the subject.

Linda Lanigan didn’t know what she was starting when she asked about the word ‘tozzin’ or ‘tozzing’ – which, according to those who use it, means 'fantastic', 'amazing' or, in Sheffield speak, 'proper reyt' – on the public Facebook group ‘It’s all about Sheffield In’it’.

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She described how when she called her young grandson’s den ‘tozzin’ she was met with a blank face, and neither her daughter nor her son-in-law had heard of the word, so she asked who else knew what it meant and how many people in Sheffield use it.

Do you use the word 'tozzin' or have you heard other people use it in Sheffield? Many people said they heard it used a lot when they were younger but it was less common today. Photo: Sheffield City CouncilDo you use the word 'tozzin' or have you heard other people use it in Sheffield? Many people said they heard it used a lot when they were younger but it was less common today. Photo: Sheffield City Council
Do you use the word 'tozzin' or have you heard other people use it in Sheffield? Many people said they heard it used a lot when they were younger but it was less common today. Photo: Sheffield City Council

Her post had nearly 200 replies, with many people familiar with the term, others saying they’d lived in Sheffield all their lives and never heard of it and some people suggesting it’s actually a Manchester term, despite some people from Manchester having never come across it either.

One person told how she was born in 1947 and grew up in Walkley before moving to Leicester 10 years later. She said she used ‘tozzin’ a lot when she was younger before losing the Sheffield accent and using the dialect less as she lost touch with her friends from the city.

Another person told how her ‘mam’ used that word all the time, a third said she was Sheffield ‘born n bred’ and used the word ‘tozzin’ a lot. “Means great, fab, super, well done,” she added. Someone else commented ‘we’ve used that word for as long as I can remember’, while another person said they ‘used it all the time in the 60s/early 70s growing up’.

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But several people, from various parts of the city, said they’d never heard of the word ‘tozzin’ despite being born and bred in Sheffield and one person said it was a slang term from Manchester and not a Sheffield saying.

Some people said they’d heard the word used more when they were younger and it was less common today, though one person insisted ‘it was and still is a tozzin word’.

Related topics:SheffieldFacebookManchesterLeicester