IF black clouds appeared in the sky and it looked like it was going to rain, how many people would say "it's guin black over Bill's mother's"?

Or would you tell a girl that you fancied that her smooth skin was "as lesh as a pig's trough"?

These phrases are probably not heard as often as they used to be in Derbyshire but that has not stopped scores of people sending in examples like these to the Evening Telegraph website following the launch of a new section dedicated to local dialect.

The site has been inundated with feedback from people, notching up 700 hits a week – making it one of the most popular sections.

Visitors to thisisderbyshire. co.uk can send in their favourite words of phrases and hear examples of Derbyshire dialect read by Ted Hancock, who used to give talks on the subject.

"A lot of it is just slang now," he said.

"Because there are not any works like the pits and engineering, it has died really."

Former dairy farmer Philip Holland, who has written a book called Words of the White Peak, said he was surprised at the interest.

"A lot of the words, like thrompet, meaning a loop to tether a cow on, are not used any more because they are not needed," he said.

"I remember my father and grandfather saying them and I did a bit until I went to school in the city and then you try to fit in."

Mr Holland wrote the book on Derbyshire dialects after carrying out research into the subject as part of his English and Creative Writing degree at the University of Derby.

He found that the influence of other dialects and radio and television have all but driven out the broad Derbyshire dialect that has been a feature of the north of the county for centuries.

But Mr Holland, whose family has farmed at Earl Sterndale for years, hopes phrases such as "Ay, surrey, owart?", said when greeting a friend, will be given a new lease of life.

The book has now sold more than 750 copies. It is available from most bookshops.

Fellow author John Titford was co-publisher of Ey Up Mi Duck, which looked at the Derbyshire dialect and was first published in 1976.

He said: "The interest in dialect is well-illustrated by the fact that the book is still in print 32 years after it was first published.

"I think people are proud of having a dialect peculiar to an area and reading about it in a book validates that pride."

Mr Titford, of Ilkeston, still frequently gives talks on dialects across the country.

He said: "It's especially good to see that the interest in the Derbyshire dialect comes from different age groups and generations."