What it means
Means dirty, muddy, or generally mucky. A proper Geordie word for when something is covered in filth, whether that is a pair of boots after a walk on the moors or a bairn who found a puddle and committed fully. Can also describe the weather when it is that grey, drizzly, claggy kind of day that makes everything damp. The North East has about forty words for dirty and this is the champion.
Usage examples
"The bairn came back from the park absolutely clarty from head to toe, looked like he'd been wrestling in a bog, straight in the bath with him."
"Take your boots off, they're absolutely clarty after that walk through the field."
"The kids came in proper clarty, head to toe in mud from the park."
"Gan canny through that lane unless you fancy getting your jeans all clarty."
"Aye, the dog's been out five minutes and he's come back clarty as owt."
Where it comes from
Clarty is a real North East and Scots word with older roots in Scots, tied to clart or clorty, meaning to smear, mess up, or cover something in mud and muck. It’s been around in regional speech for ages, long before it got treated as a cute dialect word online.
