People of Liverpool: how do you identify?
What would you call a native or inhabitant of Liverpool, and how do you refer to yourself? It wasn't until the mid-20th century that 'Scouser' became popular. Before that, a number of different names were used to describe us Mersey natives. Are you Scouse, Liverpudlian or something else altogether?
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00:00Identity is something we hold in high regard here in Liverpool. No matter what colour your wheelie bin is, we have been on the streets of the city to ask how you self-identify.
00:10Well they normally just call us Mickey Mouses. That's about it. I'm a Mickey sometimes I say. But most people know us just as Scousers.
00:22I'd say Scouser.
00:24I call myself a Lancastrian because when I was born, Liverpool did not become Merseyside until 1975. It was always under Lancashire before then.
00:34It wasn't until the 1950s that Scouser became popular. Before that, people would describe themselves as Liverpudlian, Liverpollitans or something else altogether.
00:43I've never heard of Liverpollitans, but all the others you know. And you know, lad and all that. But now, all you get is lads.
00:53A Woolieback, or just Wool for short, is a term used in local slang to describe someone who lives in a nearby area to Liverpool but not in the city itself. But is the term offensive?
01:04I do now call them, it's offensive to call them Wooliebacks because it's old-fashioned now isn't it? It's old-fashioned. I do think it's old-fashioned now to call them Woolies.
01:17I mean it's like Woolweights isn't it? Like the old shop Woolweights.
01:21Even if you weren't from St Helens or over the water, they used to say, you know, you're a Woolie. I mean, the expression, I don't know, there's no explanation. I don't think there's any explanation on how to describe that.
01:38Woolieback was an old English expression. Wool was somebody who wasn't from the region. You weren't born in the region. It's an old English expression which means Wool, which declass people from St Helens or the Wirral as Wooliebacks. It's just a noun. It's just a noun. It's also a term of endearment. It's not meant to be offensive.