Scottish Grans Only

I'm a Scottish Gran in that my DNA shows 25% Scottish ancestry. I say this with absolute glee. I absolutely love the expressions of the various cultures in that area of the world. I'm also a lot Irish and a lot English. I often use older American slang and steal what I can from y'all. I decry the loss of colorful and amusing words or phrases from our vocabulary here and I would there, too. I always thought that the Scottish originally spoke a Gaelic language. I thought of some of the phrases you all shared as Scottish slang, albeit different in different areas. The phrases you shared seemed to be a form of English that had been drastically changed by accent. Please tell me if and where I've gone wrong. When I was in Ireland, I met a Scottish bagpiper and asked him for directions. I did not understand anything he said, except for "aye" and (I think) "dinerrrrh" (dinner).

happycatholicwife, just for you!

www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/13272997.100-glaswegian-words-prove-glasgow

I would say that we Scots have our own dialect, depending on where we live. Slang is something different. I can, at the drop of a hat, switch from speaking standard English to speaking Glasgow dialect, with a very strong Glasgow accent, but rarely use slang.

Dialect and slang are two important terms in the language. Dialect refers to a variety of language spoken in a certain geographical area or spoken by a particular group of people. Slang is an informal nonstandard variety of speech which consists of newly coined and rapidly changing words and phrases.

happycatholicwife1 No, Scottish words are not slang. Slang words are temporarily popular, but go out of fashion and are replaced by new slang. Scots is old and permanent. It is not modern English distorted by accent either. It developed alongside modern English, along parallel tracks but each differently. The English and Scots language have the same basic ancestor, but Scots also has a lot of words that came from the languages of people who influenced it - from Norse through trade from the East coast with Scandinavia, or French through the "auld alliance" with France (a large serving dish is an "ashet" like French "assiette", A "gigot" of lamb comes from the French)

Marydoll

I would say that we Scots have our own dialect, depending on where we live. Slang is something different. I can, at the drop of a hat, switch from speaking standard English to speaking Glasgow dialect, with a very strong Glasgow accent, but rarely use slang.

^Dialect and slang are two important terms in the language. Dialect refers to a variety of language spoken in a certain geographical area or spoken by a particular group of people. Slang is an informal nonstandard variety of speech which consists of newly coined and rapidly changing words and phrases.^

There is an oft-quoted saying that a language is simply a dialect with an army...

MARYDOLL, thank ye! I loved it. I seemed to understand what a lot of the words or phrases meant. I do have a faculty for language, but there were quite a few that I had no idea about.

Marydoll happycatholicwife1 Not all those words are only used by Glaswegians. I grew up in Dundee, and lots of them are very commonly used here when people aren’t speaking standard English but are talking in the Dundee vernacular.

mumpy71

Shooglie is a good one. Especially pointing out a shooglie table in a Greek taverna!! Or be worried if your coat 's hanging on a shooglie hook!!

My husband often says of someone that their coat is on a shooglie peg there meaning that some bad event is about to happen like a redundancy.

Lovely thread! For your entertainment (or not), because of our heritage, and because our future son-in-law was from the UK, we hired a bagpiper for the backyard wedding. I asked if he could play God save the Queen. He did have a Scottish accent, even though we're deep in the Midwest, but I could never have anticipated what was to follow. He played a few notes, then stopped and said he couldn't do it. He was absolutely not having it and explained to me with great animation why that was. He then let the air out of his bladder and stomped off without a further word. I did manage to get another bagpiper, but it took me awhile and he was only 17 years old. Every other one I contacted said something along the lines of "I don't think so", and then the phone would go dead. There's a very strong Irish thread in our family, which I was willing to set aside to honor my future SIL and his family. However, my uncle was not happy, and turned the air blue when he found out my daughter's intended was from the UK. I'm not kidding. He did settle down in the end.

One of the verses of God Save the Queen talks about crushing rebellious Scots. So some of us don't like that much. Why didn't you ask them to play "My Country, 'Tis of Thee"?

No-one ever sings that volver!

I've never known a Scot who could easily be crushed.
Had lunch with a Scot today, still uncrushed at 93
He attributes it to ?

That verse

I dont suppose most people have heard of it.

I dont suppose most people have heard of it.

No. I don't suppose they have.

Oops - I just realised which thread it is. Apologies.
Oh well, I was talking about our Scottish friend.
He used to sing Flower of Scotland at the top of his voice even though we all live in Wales ??????????????

I think this is the best song for your friend in Wales ,flower of Scotland is a bit of a dirge
youtu.be/wP8A9rtg0iI

paddyann54

I think this is the best song for your friend in Wales ,flower of Scotland is a bit of a dirge
youtu.be/wP8A9rtg0iI

Good choice, paddyann, or should I say Guid yin!.

I've always liked Scotland the Brave.

I did not understand anything he said, except for "aye" and (I think) "dinerrrrh" (dinner).

It wasn't "doon err" - down there? Or were you actually talking about dinner?

How about this FarNorth I was in this crowd fabulous concert,my babysitter said she could hear it from the house 2 miles south of the park .

youtu.be/CHu0h9XaNcg

??

paddyann54

I think this is the best song for your friend in Wales ,flower of Scotland is a bit of a dirge
youtu.be/wP8A9rtg0iI

I'll listen later paddyann

He didn't sing yesterday! He was singing at the Burns Suppers (in Wales ?)

FarNorth

I've always liked Scotland the Brave.

I did not understand anything he said, except for "aye" and (I think) "dinerrrrh" (dinner).

It wasn't "doon err" - down there? Or were you actually talking about dinner?

Or "dinnae" ? As in "Dinnae tak' the left turn, it jist gaes tae the cemetery" (Don't take the left turn, it just goes to the cemetery)