went:
Used where others would say gone.
“He hisnae went back since.”
If someone says “The door went” this doesn’t mean that it has independently parted company with its hinges and disappeared, but that there has been a knock at the door. The same applies to telephones, bells, sirens etc.:
“We’ll make it. The bell hasnae went yet.”*
*school bell, that is.
P.S. I totally love how utterz.com gives me a bloody lisp. It’s fantastic!
Posted in Daily, Scotland, Word of the Week
Tagged Culture, Local Terms, Scotland, Scottish Slang, Word of the Week
big:
This is used to mean senior or most important. The big school is Secondary School (as apposed to Primary school) or High School:
“Ah’m goin’ tae the big school in August.”
Big lassie is a child’s term of address to an older girl or young woman:
“Hey big lassie, gonnae gie’s ma baw back?” (baw->ball->football)
Big man is a friendly term of address used to someone the speaker regards as being taller than himself:
“Can Ah get a swatch at yer paper*, big man?”
*swatch at yer paper = can I have a wee look at your newspaper?
Posted in Scotland, Travel, Word of the Week
Tagged Local Terms, Scotland, Scottish Slang, Word of the Week
neck:
To get or take a red neck is to be embarrassed to the point of blushing:
“Ah get a red neck every time that wean opens his mouth.”
In a bar, if a customer asks for a bottle of beer by the neck this means he doesn’t want it poured into a glass, whether because he intends to use a glass he already has or because he intends to drink straight from the bottle:
“Gie’s two pints of Seventy an’ a Sol by the neck.”
To go on one’s neck means to fall heavily, especially flat on one’s back:
“She walked onty the flerr (floor) and went on her neck, the soul.”
To brassneck it to try and get away with something by a show of sheer confidence and nerve:
“if they ask ye fir yer ticket, jist brassneck it and say yer with the band.”
Posted in Scotland, Word of the Week
Tagged Local Terms, Scotish Accent, Scotland, Scottish Slang
jammy dodger:
A proprietary brand of biscuit, consisting of two round pieces and jam in between. In the dialect this term is borrowed to mean someone considered very lucky:
“Big Dave won a motor in a raffle, the jammy dodger!”
You can see reference to this term in the film Flushed Away.
The mouth. Someone considered to be well-endowed in this department may have it said of him that he has a mooth like the Clyde Tunnel. A person who has irregular or stained teeth may be described as having a mooth like a row of condemned hooses or buildings.
One of the unpleasant after-effects of a heavy drinking session, especially when mixed with smoking is a mooth like a pocket of douts (cigarette butts). A similar expressing is a mooth like a badger’s bum or arse. One can’t help but wonder why a badger should be considered particularly unpleasant in this department and indeed, how anyone found out.
The phrase you’ve a mooth indicates an offer of food or drink to a guest:
“Ye know, Ah sat in the hoose for a good hoor an’ a hauf, an’ they never thought tae say, ye’ve a mooth.”
knock back:
To knock something back is to turn it down or reject it:
“The management upped the offer to three percent but the union knocked it back”
This rejection can happen to people as well as things:
“Ah said Ah’d gie her a lift hame but she gave us a knock back.”
An instance of either if these is a knockback:
“Ah hear she applied for that job an got a knockback.”
“Cheer up son, never had a knockback aff a lassie before?”
petted lip:
A facial expression in which the lower lip sticks out, indicative of sulking:
“Look at the petted lip she’s givin us…ye could hang out a washin (laundry load) on it.”
To find out the meaning of ‘numpty’, click here.
dillion: (pronounced dull-yin)
A child’s term for a single hard blow, often inflicted with the head:
“Big McConnell gied um a dillion.”
The word is also in wider use to mean anything exceptionally good:
“Ah’m getting a mountain bike for ma birthday an it’s a pure dillion!”
away:
A versatile term. Used on its own as an exclamation it indicates that the speaker doesn’t believe what he has just been told:
“I see Aileen won the lottery.” “Away!”
A longer version of this is away ye go!
Away is also used in commenting on situations where something occurs that has been expected or is seen as likely to lead to further developments:
“That’s her next door comin out[side] to put her penny’s worth in. We’re away now!”
It can also mean leaving or going:
“She’s away to her bed.”
“Right, I’ll away then.”
“If yer no comin Ah’ll be away masel.” (myself)
Someone who is drunk or not right in the head may be described as away wi it:
“You were away wi it before we even got there last night.”
This is sometimes shortened to the first word alone:
“There’s nae talking tae the bam; he’s away.”
Away a place is a delicate euphemism for dead:
When Ah seen that lorry* wisny gauny stoap Ah thought Ah wis away a place.”
*truck
It can also be used as a polite way of saying that someone has gone to the toilet:
“She’ll be back in a minute. She’s just away a place.”
Several phrases of rude dismissal begin with away an. Many are much too offensive to appear here but some milder examples are: Away an bile yer heid, away an pap (toss) peas at yer granny, away an play in the traffic, away an lie on yer ribs, away an peddle yer arse, away an raffle yer doughnut, away an play wi yersel, away an get yer heid looked.
hey-you:
A slang term for a coarsely-spoken or insolent person:
“Ah’m no too happy wi’ that crowd she’s in wi’ at school. That wan she brought hame the other day wis a right wee hey-you.”
This comes from the use of ‘hey you’ by such people as the opening remark in a conversation with a stranger.
a Brit different 