Time to clean up on here, fix some outdated links and generally start posting more again.
And since I'm long overdue for a Yorkism, what about "redd up"?
Redd up: To fix, clean, tidy, neaten, straighten, rearrange, spruce up, etc.
At a recent supper at my church, where we use plastic tablecloths, plates and everything, they cleared the tables by having everyone leave their trash, gathering the plastic tablecloths around the garbage, and pitching the whole bundle.
Overheard from one of the men there: "Don't take long to redd up a table that way, does it?"
My dad would say this one occasionally, and it's not one I'm prone to, but I sure do hear it a lot.
We grew up in the Glenwillow, Solon, Bedford area of Northeast Ohio, southeast of Cleveland, in the 1940's..
We used the expression "redd up" all the time, redd up the table after eating, redd up the house if somebody was coming.. it seemed to imply a little bit of haste, needing to get it done right away..
In a small Swedish dictionary it gives "reda upp" as meaning 'to put into order'..! Perhaps the English goes back to the marauding Scandanavian pirates centuries ago..!