Adjective

1. Sulky or whining.

   He's a mardy child.

2. Non-co-operative, bad tempered or terse in communication.

Usage notes

Used throughout the East Midlands and South Yorkshire, plus other isolated spots in the North.

In common use in most of Leicestershire, Rutland and the part of Lincolnshire close to these. It is used frequently in the city of Nottingham, throughout Derbyshire, and Derby city particularly. Mardy is also used in the southern part of South Yorkshire and Polesworth (West Midlands).

Frequently combined with other words forming common phrases such as "mardy bum", "mardy cow" and "mardy bugger" http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A769250. Sometimes shorterned to "mard" particular when used in certain phrases such as "mard arse" or "mard on" (as in "he's got the mard on" to mean he's in bad mood).

Quotations

• [1913] 1985, D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers

  “I wouldn’t be such a mardy baby,” said his wife shortly.

• [1984] 1997, Food, Health, and Identity, Patricia Caplan http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=BQNo4iK0QRAC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&sig=WSvTrhLM5ZsqucAxAXBZQPfJa-I

  When our Jonathan’s poorly...he’s mardy, very mardy....

• [2001] 2003, Creating a Safe Place, NCH Children and Families Project http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=Z_it9hcSUWsC&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&sig=HVq97Wzcn-4XqYc0kSVXoUyP1vQ

  Sometimes my mum’s in a mardy and she says she doesn’t care about us — but she does really.