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Are you a cuddie or a cully? Well, if you're left handed you're both! That is, at least, according to residents of the Alwynne Freeman Court residential home in Keresely.

Amy Donnelly spoke to Matt Robson, Wal Haley, Margaret Black and Ethel Mather about their experiences with language in the old days and it's perhaps surprising to discover that slang was as prevalent then as it is now.

Some of the phrases that came out of the interview, though, were nothing like we'd ever heard before - like Playing the Dolly for truancy or a Cuddie for a left-hander.

Ethel and Margaret get their voices hear

It's perhaps not that surprising that the colloquialisms used by the group were unusual and - in one case the cause of conflict as Matt and Ethel argued over cuddie and cully!

Although Matt, Wal, Margaret and Ethel have lived in Coventry for many years, only Wal was born and bred in the area. Ethel originally hails from Darlington, Margaret from Glasgow and Matt from Northumberland, so their voices are a mix of dialects.

You can hear what they said by using the links on the top right of this page. There are four conversations, one about words for pre-decimal currency, one on parents, one on left handers and one on truancy.