h2g2 - Scottish Dialect

Listening to a native Scotsman speak English should give us all a newfound appreciation for the might of the Roman Empire. That Hadrian's Wall could prevent the spread of the English language north is a true tribute to the ingenuity and skill of those Roman craftsmen. Even today some of Scotland still speaks a significantly different language to English. Some of the Western Isles speak Gaelic yet, and on the East Coast Doric still has a few strongholds left.

Scotland has not only different words for things, but different pronunciations for words that English speakers from around the world may not be familiar with.

Pronunciation

The most common pronunciation problem people visiting Scotland have is with the soft 'ch', as in loch. The English, especially, have difficulty with this. The correct sound is not made by the vocal chords, but is basically just a noisy breath, like a cat hiss. Once this basic is commanded then the rest of the quirks are easily mastered. The 'r' is normally rolled at the front of the mouth so 'car' is pronounced as carrrr, not as the Anglified ka. Some words are shortened, losing bits that slow their roll off the tongue, so 'awfully' becomes offy and 'cannot' becomes canny.

The List

Here are some of the more common words that may be heard when visiting Scotland. Some of the words are normally considered taboo¹ in polite society, but who among us doesn't curse from time to time?

Please bear in mind that for most of these words have never been written down, so spelling is done phonetically.

A is fer Aye
Ale	An Aberdonian term for fizzy juice such as 'bru.
A'll hae a troch 'o roch, un a puck 'o richy peg	I would like a pint of export ale and a packet of smokey bacon crisps please.
Am gonna redup noo an'gaw fera bevvy	It's 5pm on Friday, and I'm going to clear my desk and get to the pub pronto.
Are you real?	A term which means, "do you have any idea what you are talking about?"
Auxters	Arm pits.
Aye	Yes.
B is fer Blutered
Bairn	Child.
Bampot	Idiot.
Barry	Splendid.
Bassa or bas	B*****d.
Bevvy	Drink, alcoholic.
Biddie	A woman, normally old or infirm.
Bidey in	Aberdonian for one half of an unmarried, but living together, couple.
Blutered	Drunk.
Boggin'	Filthy, revolting.
Bonnie	Nice or pretty.
Bosey	Aberdonian for cuddle or hug.
Bothy	A house or hut up in the hills, normally no modern conveniences.
Boughin'	Filthy, revolting, ugly, vomit inducing.
Braw	Good.
Breenge	To move in a rapid, devil-may-care fashion, esp while drunk or intoxicated with your own self-importance.
'Bru	Irn Bru, Scotland's favourite soft drink.
Burach	Gaelic for mess, can be used as a verb or adjective.
Burn	A small stream or river.
But and ben	A holiday cottage, normally dug slightly into the hill.
Buttery	An Aberdonian snack. Like a flattened a croissant, but with a more savoury flavour.
Byre	Barn or cowshed.
C is fer Ceilidh
Caliach	Gaelic for old woman. Normally used in front of the woman's name i.e. Caliach Stewart.
Ceilidh	A dance, normally with Scottish country dancing, lots of beer and lots of fun.
Chankin	Cold.
Chuffed	Proud, normally of oneself.
Clagged in	Trapped on the hill by low cloud, or fog.
Cleg	The Highland, Giant, Vampiric Horsefly.
Cloot	Cloth.
Coorse	Coarse, filthy, rude, when talking about language.
Crabit	Irritable.
Cullach	Gaelic for cockerel.
D is fer Droothy
Dee ye ken?	Do you understand?
Dicht	Wipe.
Dour	Miserable, glum, never smiling, when talking about somebody.
Down South	England.
Druth	Thirst.
Dug	Dog.
E is fer Eighty
Edjit	Idiot.
Eighty	Short for eighty shilling, a type of alcoholic beverage, slightly better than export.
Englandshire	A colloquial term for England, normally used when England has a different bank holiday and everything is closed, but you need to speak to someone urgently.
Erse	Arse.
Export	A type of alchoholic beverage, similar to a bitter.
F is fer Fusty
Fair	Quite.
Fank	A corral, normally on the hill, to keep sheep during shearing and dipping.
Fistle	Noise made by sweetie wrappers, packets of crisps, especially in a cinema.
Fit?	Pardon? (Aberdonian)
Fit like?	How are you? (Aberdonian)
Foos yer Doos?	How are you doing?
Fusty	Dusty, smelling of mould, unclean.
G is fer Gubbed.
Gadgee	Person.
Galoot	Clumsy or idiot (or both).
Gantingt	Not very nice.
Gassed	Broken.
Gie dreich	It?s a bit grim and drizzly outside.
Gie it Laldy	To go mental, to go for it in a big way.
Ginger	Someone with red hair ora Glaswegian term for fizzy juice such as 'bru.
Glen	River valley.
Gubbed	Broken, drunk, badly lost (a competition or fight).
Gurne	Sulk, so a sulky person is gurnie.
Gutted	A severe emotional blow.
Guttered	Drunk.
Gutties	Plimsoles, old style, black school slip-ons.
H is fer Hammered
Hammered	Drunk.
Haver	Speak nonsense, normally assosiated with senility.
He's goat short airums an' long pockets.	He never buys a round.
Hoachin'	Lots of people, busy.
Houghin'	Filthy, revolting, ugly, vomit inducing.
Hosed	Badly broken.
I is fer Invershnecky
I dunnae ken	I do not understand.
I'll jus weech that fer ye	I will take that away for you.
I'm on the bru.	I'm on the dole (unemployed).
Invershnecky	Another name for Inverness.
K is fer Keech
Keech	S**te.
Kelpie	An evil spirit, lives in particular lochs, normally takes the form of a horse and once mounted rides into the loch and kills the rider.
Ken	Understand.
Kirk	Church or parish.
L is fer Lum
Ley di oh	An Aberdeonian game, much like hide and seek.
Loon	A male person from Aberdeen.
Lum	Chimney.
M is fer Mingin'
Mannie	A man.
Marly	Marble.
May yer lums reek lang and weil	May your chimneys produce a great profusion of smoke².
Messages	The shopping, normally food shopping.
Mingin'	Filthy, stinking, revolting, ugly or drunk.
Minky	A bit smelly (in reference to a person).
Mouthie	A mouth organ.
Murnie	Wasn't.
N is fer Numpty
Nay or nee or nar	Not.
Nuh-hing (Invernesian)	Nothing.
Numpty	Idiot.
O is fer Och
Och	Oh.
Oot	Out.
P is fer Puss
Pish	P**s.
Poppy	Money.
Pol-iss (Glasgoweigan)	Police.
Puss	Mouth.
Q is fer Queenie
Queenie	Scallop.
Quine	A female person from Aberdeen.
R is fer Rubbered
Radge	Crazy or a madman.
Rocking horse shite	Something rare, or hard to find.
Rubbered	Drunk.
S is fer Shooglie
Sassanak	Technically lowlander Scots, but now meaning anyone from 'down south'.
Scran	Food.
Seventy	Short for seventy shilling, an alcoholic beverage similar to export.
Sheiling	A hut a shepherd or cowherd uses on the hill, during summer grazing.
S**te	S**t.
Shooglie	Loose or wobbly.
Shuftey	Technically an Arabic word but in widespread use, meaning to look.
Shunky	Toilet.
Simmet	Vest, used in Ayrshire.
Skite	Skid or tumble out of control.
Skrechin	A shreik or unpleasant noise or sounding like a seagull.
Slange	Cheers mate!
Sleekit	Sly or cunning.
Snow yoor round, sma round	You bought the last round, I'll get this one in.
Sounds like a seagull skrechin on a wire	Going on and on about something, or butchering a perfectly good song.
Stoockie	A plaster cast for a broken limb.
Swally	Drink, alcoholic.
T is fer Teuchtar
Tad	A small bit.
Tattie	Potato.
Tattyboggler	Aberdonian for scarecrow.
Teuchtar	Country person, especially from the west coast.
W is fer Weeched
Watergaws	Rainbow, from Ayrshire.
Wee free	Member of the Free Presbeterian Church.
Weegee	Some one from Glasgow.
Whins	Gorse bushes.
Whit are ye wantin?	What's your tipple?
Weech	Take something or move suddenly.
Wheesht	Sharp command to be quiet.
Wifey	Woman.
Wind-ee or wind-ay	Window.
Y is fer Yer
Yer erse is oot the windae	You are unlikely to achieve the desired result with that kind of behaviour.
Yer piece	Your lunch or sandwich.


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