Words and phrases - Scotland - Living in the UK - UKinfocus

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Voices from Strathclyde and all over Scotland

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Lots more Scottish words and phrases on this BBC site

Stirling castle, Scotland, image (c) www.britainonview.com

	Words and phrases


	Living in Scotland

Name some words and phrases that are distinctive to Scotland

Bairn or wean – child

Dour – dull

Feart – scared

That’s a sin – overused in Glasgow for anything that’s a shame, unfair or out of order

Besom - (pronounced bissim) is what you call a girl if she is acting spoilt, like a wee madam

Eejit - Idiot

Poke - bag

Crabbit - grumpy

Jake- tramp

Dinnae ken – east coast phrase which means ‘I don’t know’

Steamin’ – very drunk

Scrounger – someone who keeps all their money for themselves and doesn’t buy a round of drinks!

Canny – good

Hawd your weished - shut it! (i.e. keep quiet)

Hen and doll - both terms of endearment

A piece – a sandwich

Och – as in ‘och I the noo!’

Wee – small

Dreich – dull/damp/dismal

Language activities: read all the information about England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which can be accessed from the Living in the UK home page, and then do comparison activity (1) and comparison activity (2), which look at different icons and typical things from the four regions.