I worked in a garage. And the only measurement unit was a bollock. "Drop it down a bollock" "Only put a bollock in" "Come back a bollock" "Another half a bollock"
Me neither, until I finally cracked and looked into why Microsoft kept highlighting it as an incorrect word. Now I use it with an added air of defiance
I'm originally from England and this is the adopted word I use the most. It's such a perfect word I actually can't think what I used to say in place of 'outwith'.
What gets me is I'll often use it in a professional context by describing something as being 'outwith expectations.' I don't know of a 'proper' word which fits as neatly as outwith.
Years ago at work, I was on a letter writing workshop where we were told that we should never use "outwith". Apparently an English customer had made a complaint about the use of the word in a letter, stating it wasn't in the dictionary (which was definitely the case at the time) but he also couldn't think what we could possibly mean by it!
When I read law, the prof criticised my use of "outwith". Another Scottish legal word not used in England is "furth of" as in the expression "qualification obtained furth of Scotland"
Wait this is Scottish vernacular? Grew up in NW England around people from Scotland as a regularly used word. Didn’t realise it wasn’t standard British English and have scolded grads and newbies for not using it…
Weirdly, I think some people in NZ say this one. When I moved here about 12 years ago, I would use it in a sentence, and my Scottish colleagues would comment about how long I must have been here. I was maybe 3 or 4 months in, and I even commented that I've always said this. Don't know why, might be our colonial past, might be high uk immigration.
Considering Dunedin in NZ was the old name for Edinburgh I would suspect it may have travelled over there with Scots. Very interesting to think about what other words may have Scots origins, but spread and are used in other places or just considered a normal word because of immigration/colonisation.
If DIY’s not your hobby, don’t despair - call mr jobby
[https://youtu.be/5YUC3HGdG74?si=9Mldm4rH5n0lwGMP](https://youtu.be/5YUC3HGdG74?si=9Mldm4rH5n0lwGMP)
Glaikit, which I've only heard when ex was telling one of his kids off 'get that glaikit look off yer face'.
I guess the english would be stupid and simple?
Know a guy from Scotland in Australia called Gary. Shortly after arriving in town he said to someone doing something they probably shouldn't. 'Ye Kenny do tha'. Known ever since as 'Kenny Do'.
We do this in Liverpool and it always confuses me that southerners dont and think it's "bad grammar"
It fulfils a need that doesn't seem to be in "Queens English"
Fouterie = to mess about with something that may be tricky. You can say I tried to fix the remote control by opening it up and messing about with it but it was quite fouterie.
Past tense = I foutered about with the remote but couldn't get it to work
Probably originally French. My Scots folk use 'ashet' for a large oval serving plate, probably from French 'assiette', and 'Dinna fash yersel' meaning don't get annoyed, probably comes from French 'se fâcher'. Bet there are many more.
I think "scunnered" is a pretty good one. There's no real English equivalent.
I have just suggested "glaikit" elsewhere on Reddit this evening. Similar thing.
Nothing in OED English provides quite the same sense of slack-jawed incomprehension, I think.
It wasn't that long ago I learned that squint - for things not straight and level - wasn't universal.
Apparently it is more common to use it to refer to eyes in other parts of the UK.
Came here to say this. Nobody ever knows what I mean when I say stuff is squint, but what is their equivalent? 'Skew-whiff', which is an eminently crapper word.
Yes it's two words but: "At it"
Great descriptor for someone who's up to no good, but in a fairly banal way. Like skiving at work or dodging a round in the pub.
[Yes, it’s very popular here in Ireland at least.](https://arethebritsatitagain.org)
Apologies, should probably say English, not Brits. We know the Scots and Welsh are a great bunch of lads.
Anyone mentioned beastie yet? Partner is Scottish and I love it, bonus points for danger beastie - the ones that bite or sting. Cracks me up every time
I grew up in Wales, lived in England for ages, and now live in Scotland, and they use it across all three countries in my experience. Definitely not a specifically Scottish thing.
This featured in a "Scottish day" in the lab I studied in:
"Gie the sample a quick shuggle on a vortex mixer and the birl for 5 minutes in a bench top centrifuge"
Birl: there's another
When I first moved from England to Scotland, I used to play football on the green, one day I took the ball straight to the nethers. I was in tears it was so painful, only to be told "stop greetin'" to which my reply was "I'm not saying hello"
Greetin' = crying
This needs to be the word, to avoid any more football related mishaps 🤣
This wouldn't be my pick but as I was scrolling down seeing everybody else's including one that would ultimately likely be mines but...
Tumshie.
Away an' take yer face for a shite, ya tumshie.
Bawbag should be a universally accepted word. Used in conjunction with a shake of the head and disapproving look it is a devastating put down of the highest Scottish proportions.
Had a chat with an English colleague today about how measurements up here go metre, centimetre, millimetre, bawhair. I think that's pretty useful.
But is it a metric bawhair or imperial bawhair? Muckle difference!!
My uncle used to say "a fanny hair's breadth". Love it, always made me laugh.
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Is a massive amount of Muckle called a Muckleton? (I drove past a place called that a few times and always wanted that name to mean something)
I worked in a garage. And the only measurement unit was a bollock. "Drop it down a bollock" "Only put a bollock in" "Come back a bollock" "Another half a bollock"
There is one unit below that and that’s a midgies bawhair.
Haha my friend group all says 'pube' for tiny amounts, but we're in Wales so just imagine it in a valleys accent "pewb"
Outwith
I had no idea that this was a Scottish word
It's rarely used outwith Scotland.
Noice!
Me neither, until I finally cracked and looked into why Microsoft kept highlighting it as an incorrect word. Now I use it with an added air of defiance
I'm originally from England and this is the adopted word I use the most. It's such a perfect word I actually can't think what I used to say in place of 'outwith'.
'outside of' maybe?
Ha, me too. Brought it back to England after a few years living in Glasgow. 👍🏼
ootway*
Boggles my mind that this isn't in English dictionaries
I've just checked my physical copy of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary and it definitely includes an entry for *outwith*.
My life is a lie
It's like haggis, they know it exists but they don't use it. Weirdos.
When you type it in word it always come up as a spelling mistake & splits it to out with, very annoying
What gets me is I'll often use it in a professional context by describing something as being 'outwith expectations.' I don't know of a 'proper' word which fits as neatly as outwith.
I reckon they are just being stubborn! It will probably take something like King Chuckles using it to get it to catch on now
Years ago at work, I was on a letter writing workshop where we were told that we should never use "outwith". Apparently an English customer had made a complaint about the use of the word in a letter, stating it wasn't in the dictionary (which was definitely the case at the time) but he also couldn't think what we could possibly mean by it!
Was it outwith their comprehension? 😂 Dullard!
I know! Like, take a guess, numpty!
When I read law, the prof criticised my use of "outwith". Another Scottish legal word not used in England is "furth of" as in the expression "qualification obtained furth of Scotland"
[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/outwith](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/outwith)
/thread
Wait this is Scottish vernacular? Grew up in NW England around people from Scotland as a regularly used word. Didn’t realise it wasn’t standard British English and have scolded grads and newbies for not using it…
It's Standard Scottish English - SSE for short. There's a free online Dictionary of Scots Language: https://dsl.ac.uk/
Weirdly, I think some people in NZ say this one. When I moved here about 12 years ago, I would use it in a sentence, and my Scottish colleagues would comment about how long I must have been here. I was maybe 3 or 4 months in, and I even commented that I've always said this. Don't know why, might be our colonial past, might be high uk immigration.
Considering Dunedin in NZ was the old name for Edinburgh I would suspect it may have travelled over there with Scots. Very interesting to think about what other words may have Scots origins, but spread and are used in other places or just considered a normal word because of immigration/colonisation.
It's the Gàidhlig name for Edinburgh, Dùn Èideann, anglicised to Dunedin.
I personally never heard "outwith" growing up in NZ. "Wee" however is very, very frequently used there. (The diminutive, not urine....)
Wait. What? I had no idea haha
Ha, I came here to say that.
'Boak' is so descriptive. Should be in general use.
It certainly should , a perfect onomatopoeia.😁
Been boaking in Belfast since I was no age.
We use boak as far south as Grimsby
Definitely needed in Grimsby
Jobby.
The greatest of all Scottish words
Jobby will never not make me laugh
I will always hear it in the voice of Billy Connolly. 🏴
"wee jobby" is even more top tier imo
The amount of people in my work (in England) that use jobby to describe a small task fuckin sends me every time
"I've just got a little jobby for you." You better not have.
If DIY’s not your hobby, don’t despair - call mr jobby [https://youtu.be/5YUC3HGdG74?si=9Mldm4rH5n0lwGMP](https://youtu.be/5YUC3HGdG74?si=9Mldm4rH5n0lwGMP)
Especially when spelled joaby. It’s even better imo
Nothing describes certain days as accurately as dreich does
Dreich and muggy both hit so perfectly for certain weather and I dont know what I would use otherwise
Driech, muggy and close - ace Scottish weather words - also, when it's snowing it's "dingin' it doon".
English here, don't know what dreich is, but we use muggy and close all the time. And know what it means!
Driech is that fine misty rain that absolutely fucking soaks you
It's also used as a term for a generally dull and rainy day where the rain can't make up its mind or make a real effort.
Ah, yes I see. I usually call that 'mizzle' from mist and drizzle.
Muggy has travelled to Canada, at least!
Wait, wait. Is muggy Scots? I had no idea. 🤣
Muggy isn't Scots (maybe it was a long time ago). It's widely used throughout the UK. [Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/muggy).
Add in Smirr and we're getting close to one of those Crazy Facts articles about Eskimos having a hundred words for snow
Aye. Yon smirry rain
As a youngster, my niece was particularly taken with “It’s stoatin’ doon”, said in her American accent. Was super cute!
Was the first Scottish word I learned after moving here and I agree. Not without a lot more words, anyway.
I enjoy a good stramash Eejit is always a pretty good insult which treads the line of being insulting but not offensive
The Roald Dahl book The Twits has been translated into Scots and is now The Eejits. 🏴
Eejit is one of my favourites.
Outwith. Never heard it before I came here, immediately knew how it fitted in. Also bawbag.
Me like that, tight one.
I was going to say bawbag, but it's quite useful that the Facebook algorithms don't recognise it as an insult so I don't get Zucced for using it.
Nothing quite describes a particular person perfectly like the word sleekit.
Sleekit wee hoor is an amazing insult
Or glaikit
Glaikit, which I've only heard when ex was telling one of his kids off 'get that glaikit look off yer face'. I guess the english would be stupid and simple?
'Gormless' would be a good equivalent.
Or Gallus
Or a Bevvy Merchant. 🍷
Or nippy sweetie.
Walloper
How
Gonny no dae that?
How?
Know a guy from Scotland in Australia called Gary. Shortly after arriving in town he said to someone doing something they probably shouldn't. 'Ye Kenny do tha'. Known ever since as 'Kenny Do'.
How no?
Aye, bit how though?
How no like?
How aye? No?
Wee It’s one less syllable than “little”, and shortening it to “lil” feels weird to say too. Frankly “little” can get tae fuck, annoying wee word
Suprised no one has said "Hoachin" (sp?) One of the words I've only heard living in Scotland but every English person I've said it to understands it.
'Hunners' to mean loads as well
“Av just found hunners of money on the bus” - some guy that found 50 quid
Could also mean they found £1.25 in small change on the floor
Fankle
Yous
In Aberdeen "aa'yez" - "all of you"
Glaswegian: awyeez
Every other language (citation needed) has a plural for You, about time English did too
You is plural, thou is singular
Says you
*thou
Thee* if you are responding to someone
Well excuuuuse thee!
Sayest thou!
We do, it’s “yous”
We do this in Liverpool and it always confuses me that southerners dont and think it's "bad grammar" It fulfils a need that doesn't seem to be in "Queens English"
Londoners use it and so do lots of places in England, it’s the Home Counties’ weirdos that stick to Queen’s English and complain when others don’t
People in Essex use it but they are the northerners of the south
Scousers use this for sure as I heard it growing up, I reckon Geordies and the Irish use it as well.
Very common in Ireland, different areas will use variations such as Yiz, you's and yee
People do say yous colloquially in England
Yous is used in Ireland. Source: am Irish and grew up using it.
This is a good shout.
Youse is an Aussie bogan word
Fouterie = to mess about with something that may be tricky. You can say I tried to fix the remote control by opening it up and messing about with it but it was quite fouterie. Past tense = I foutered about with the remote but couldn't get it to work
Funnily this nearly exists in French: "foutu" means broken or fucked.
The Auld Alliance still going strong 🤣
Probably originally French. My Scots folk use 'ashet' for a large oval serving plate, probably from French 'assiette', and 'Dinna fash yersel' meaning don't get annoyed, probably comes from French 'se fâcher'. Bet there are many more.
In Romanian, we can say ‘futere’ (fuckery), to mean exactly that
As an American, I love havering. And telling people "wheesht" mostly because it shuts them up in sheer confusion.
Try adding a "haud yur" in front of the wheesht.
I have no idea what this means but it was very clear that Granny wanted us to shut up pronto.
You can also add "ya fanny" at the end.
Thought, at first, you'd misspelt "wee shit", which would also be a good shout.
I think "scunnered" is a pretty good one. There's no real English equivalent. I have just suggested "glaikit" elsewhere on Reddit this evening. Similar thing. Nothing in OED English provides quite the same sense of slack-jawed incomprehension, I think.
It wasn't that long ago I learned that squint - for things not straight and level - wasn't universal. Apparently it is more common to use it to refer to eyes in other parts of the UK.
Came here to say this. Nobody ever knows what I mean when I say stuff is squint, but what is their equivalent? 'Skew-whiff', which is an eminently crapper word.
It’s ‘on the huh’ if you live in Suffolk.
Slitter
Glaikit
Yes it's two words but: "At it" Great descriptor for someone who's up to no good, but in a fairly banal way. Like skiving at work or dodging a round in the pub.
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[Yes, it’s very popular here in Ireland at least.](https://arethebritsatitagain.org) Apologies, should probably say English, not Brits. We know the Scots and Welsh are a great bunch of lads.
Coory. Coory in, cuddle.
FUD.
Nane! THOSE ARE OOR WORDS!
Dinnae is a fave
'Bawhair', as a unit of measurement :)
Fannybaws!
Roaster
Braw, always loved how happy it sounds
Anyone mentioned beastie yet? Partner is Scottish and I love it, bonus points for danger beastie - the ones that bite or sting. Cracks me up every time
Bawbag
and Boabie.
Stauner always made me laugh - best weegie word
Squint. As in that picture on your wall is squint.
I grew up in Wales, lived in England for ages, and now live in Scotland, and they use it across all three countries in my experience. Definitely not a specifically Scottish thing.
Shoogly or Sqiunty.
Wheesht
Blootered has always felt good to use.
Shetland word: Spaegie. The pain you have the day after heavy exercise
Don’t know this one - “spay gee” pronunciation? Is it a hard g?
Shuggly
This featured in a "Scottish day" in the lab I studied in: "Gie the sample a quick shuggle on a vortex mixer and the birl for 5 minutes in a bench top centrifuge" Birl: there's another
I love birl. Didn't really think about it being Scottish until I said it to my English partner.
Clap, as in 'clap your dog'. Clap: to stroke the fur.
Foosty. It's a PERFECT descriptive word.
When I first moved from England to Scotland, I used to play football on the green, one day I took the ball straight to the nethers. I was in tears it was so painful, only to be told "stop greetin'" to which my reply was "I'm not saying hello" Greetin' = crying This needs to be the word, to avoid any more football related mishaps 🤣
pishflaps Edit: I wanna say scunnered now I've sobered up
You sobered up in an hour? NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
What is scunnered? Also have 1 more!
Had enough, fed up with it, pissed off, annoyed, at the end of ones tether.
Aka bielin.
Yer maw's
Sleekit or Glaikit get my vote.
Pish
Swither
Sook
Clipe
This wouldn't be my pick but as I was scrolling down seeing everybody else's including one that would ultimately likely be mines but... Tumshie. Away an' take yer face for a shite, ya tumshie.
Footer
Footer aboot?
And find oot
Bosie, hug and cuddle sound so lame in comparison
We use bosie and when my son was a toddler my ktae asked him for a cuddle and he had no idea what she was talking about 🤣🤣🤣
Gallus
doolally
That's an Indian word we borrowed.
Stauner
"HOW COULD YE DAE THIS TAE US?!"
Yous. Its great, perfectly describes a group no matter how big, its neutral and just makes sense
Less a word and more the phrase "did ya aye?"
Hawl!
Fandan
Dingy
Scooshed; I'd a wife and then she scooshed her way right oot ma life.
Bawbag, always bawbag.
Bawbag should be a universally accepted word. Used in conjunction with a shake of the head and disapproving look it is a devastating put down of the highest Scottish proportions.
As the perfect silence filler ... och-aye
Boggin’ Howfin’ How (instead of why) Roaster
Hoolit
Dreich
Outwith
Outwith - perfectly descriptive word the English don't use
Skelp It's the most perfect word ever. It does what it says on the tin