What it means
Means sulky, moody, and acting like you've taken personal offence at something tiny. If someone's being mardy, they're huffing, pulling a face, and making the mood in the room go a bit soggy. You hear it a lot as mardy arse, often half-taking the piss and half-affectionate. Very Northern, very everyday, and perfect for a proper little sulk over nowt.
Usage examples
"We only ran out of gravy and he's sat there arms folded like a toddler. Pack it in, lad, you're being proper mardy over nowt."
"He's been mardy all morning just because we ran out of his favourite cereal."
"Don't go all mardy on me, we can watch your film straight after this one finishes."
"Stop being mardy just 'cause we missed one bus, we'll get the next one."
"She went proper mardy when they moved her chips off the plate, all sulking for ten minutes."
Where it comes from
It’s a real Northern English dialect word, especially tied to Yorkshire and the East Midlands. It goes back to older regional use where mardy could mean spoiled or pampered, often about children. From there it shifted into the modern sense of sulky, touchy, and full of little huff-cloud energy.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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