Word of the Week

miss:

To miss yourself is not to somehow become aware of the absence of your body, but to fail to experience something enjoyable through not being in the right place at the right time: “Ye missed yerself not comin’ on Saturday … it was a right good night.”  (i.e. you missed out.)

If you are angry with someone and you are telling a third party exactly what you will do when you catch the offender, you might say Ah’ll no miss him or, in its fuller form, I’ll no miss him an’ hit the wa‘.

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In Memoriam: Dr. L. M.,  M.D., F.A.C.O.G.
5 Mar 1957 — 28 Oct 2008
He will be missed.

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Word of the Week

mince:

For some reason the name of this traditional filling for pies or accompaniment (ground beef) for totties has been borrowed by the dialect for a variety of reasons.

It can mean nonsense or deliberate untruthfulness: “That’s pure mince you’re talking.”  “Do they expect us to believe this mince?”  Another meaning is anything nasty or dirty:  “What’s this mince on the sleeve of ma coat?”

It is taken as a measure of density, whether of the brain or another substance:  “The guy’s as thick as mince.”  Some people refer to a pint of Guinness as a pint of mince.  A person who seems very quiet or downcast, may be told they are sitting there like a pun (pound) of mince.”

To sicken someone’s mince is to spoil something for him or deflate him:  “It didnae half sicken his mince when he didnae get that bonus.”

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Word of the Week

back:

The phrase at the back of can mean two things:  The most common is in reference to time, where the back of an hour is the period just after it.  “Ah’m meeting them at the back of four.”  There is no set length to this period but it would probably not extend past twenty minutes:  “Ye were meant to be here at the back of nine and it’s half-nine already.”

The other use is to mean behind:  “She left her motor at the back of Woolies.”

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Word of the Week

blooter:

One of the many terms that have come from football into general use.  To blooter the ball in a game is to kick it powerfully but without much control:
“How could ye no have squared it tae me instead of blootering it inty the crowd?”

The verb can also mean to do something in a quick and careless way:
“There’s no way that hoose could be painted right in wan day;  They must’ve blootered it.”

Similarly, if a person quickly spends a sum of money he may be said to have ‘blootered the whole lot.’

Someone who is very drunk may be described as being blootered.

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Word of the Week

see:

Used to introduce the subject of remarks that immediately follow:
“See that wummin doon the stair? Talk aboot ignorant!”

This is a useful device for people who like to break in a subject gradually rather than breenge straight to the point:
“See that guy wi’ the baseball hat? See his dug? See where it does its business? Shouldny be allowed.”

See if is used to introduce a question seeking information:
“See if Ah ask yer pal fur a len a his lawnmower, with he gie it tae me?”
“See if Ah’ve tae tell you again, Ah’ll tan yer arse.”

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