by Marie-Claude Bourque
When I found out about being a finalist in the American Title, I was in the middle of a great online course with Sharron Gunn at Celtic Heart RWA, called Castles of Scotland. I had promised my classmate to send them a list of Scottish words.
You see my Scottish family often send me linen tea towels and this particular one I have list 24 Scottish words with their definition. So here I am, as promised but 6 months later, sharing the notes from my Scottish tea towel:
Braw: Fine pleasant, especially weather (“It’s a braw day the day.“)
Mauchit: Dirty, filthy, sticky, muddy. (“Lookit the colour o’ ye, ya mauchit wee to’rag.“)
Dreich: 1. Drab 2. Dreary (referring to weather or a sermon)
Glaikit: Stupid, senseless, silly. (“He stood there wi’ a glaikit look oan his fizzok.“)
Besom: 1. Obstreperous girl or woman (“Dinnae pou’ yer brither’s hair, ya wee besom.“) 2. Woman of low moral standing; a hussy (“Thon yin’s a right mucky besom.“)
Scunner: 1.To feel aversion 2. To produce a feeling of disgust or loathing 3. A strong dislike (“Tak a scunner” “‘git oot o’ ma face ya wee scunner.“)
Laldie: A trashing, a sound beating, punishment (“Jist wait till ah get ma hauns oan ye, ya wee bugger. Ah’ll gie ye laldie“)
Canny: 1. Cautious, careful, hesitant, unwilling to rush into things. 2. Frugal, prudent (esp. with money) (“He’s that canny he aye pays for his round wi’ empty lemonade bottles.”)
Fankle: 1. To entangle, twist. 2. To knot. 3. To coil, wind. 4 to disorder, complicate. 5. An entanglement (“Dinnae get yerself in a fankle.“)
Drookit: Drenched, soaked through. (“Ah fell in the burn an’ got drookit.“)
Wabbit: Exhausted, out of breath; unable to function due to extreme tiredness (“Playin’ wi’ thae weans has gote me wabbit.“)
Gallus: 1. Self-confident, daring; cheeky. 2. Stylish, impressive (“He’s pure gallus, by the way.“)
Teutcher: 1. One who derives from the Highlands of Scotland; more commonly used by city folks to describe rural dwellers. 2. Gaelic-speaker (mostly to each other)
Drouth: 1. Drought; long or extreme period of weather without precipitation 2. Thirst; dry mouth usually caused by excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages the previous night . (“Man, ah must’ve hud ten pints last night. Ah’ve got an awfy drouth.“)
Stramash: An uproar, a violent commotion or rowdy behavior, a melee. (“And players from both teams have now become embroiled in what can only be described as a giant stramash inside the penalty box.“)
Birl: To spin around, to revolve rapidly. (“Ah tell ye, efter a’ that dancin’ ma heid’s fair birlin.”)
Couthie: 1. amiable, sociable, esp. persons (“Och, she’s a couthie soul, so she is.“) 2. Comfortable, pleasant, snug (“Here, there’s a couthie wee pub doon-by.“)
Blether: 1. Person who chatters incessantly, someone who babbles on and on (“That wee yin o’ yours is an awfy blether getting.“) 2. To engage in conversation, long-winded or idle talk (“Ah met yer granny doon the toun, we hud a richt gid blether the gather.“)
Thrawn: 1. Twisted, distorted or mis-shapen. 2. Stubborn or obstinate (“Jeez O, yer thrawn auld bugger.“)
Wheesht: 1. A call for quiet or silence, used as an interjection Wheesht! to bring about, or continue, the silence of others – esp. children (“Will ye wheesht, you pair! Ma heid’s loupin.“) 2. Quite, hushed “Haud your wheesht.” is to hold one’s tongue.
Greet: To cry, weep. (“Stope greetin’! It wisnae that sair.”) greetin’ face cry baby, one who is prone to tears or constantly miserable.
Fouter: 1. One who muddles through, aimless, exasperating person (“Yer a fouter, gie it tae me, ah’ll dae it“) 2. A fiddly, troublesome task or job (“This is a right fouter, this“) Foutering “Yer foutering aboot! Stope it!“)
Skiver : 1. One who avoids tasks or work in general, a shirker. Skive (“Ah cannae be arsed wi’ this – ah’m away fur a skive”) 2. Splinter of wood embedded in the skin.
Eejit: Idiot, simpleton, one not possessed of all their mental faculties, one who is unable to properly conduct their own affairs (“Yer off yer head, ya eejit. That’s no’ real dug.“)
Now I’ll be honest, but most of these words are unknown to me. But in my household, I do often hear Teuther, Greetin’, Blether and Yer off yer head!!!
Happy Scottish writing everyone!!!
