i’m starting an international campaign for the adoption of the scots english word “outwith” into the lexicon of the wider anglosphere. this is the most pressing issue of our time and it is slowly driving me mad.
outwith means “outside” or “beyond” but in the way that is the direct opposite of within, so it refers to limits both abstract and literal ie “conduct outwith the terms of the agreement” or “the actions of character x cannot be analysed appropriately outwith the context of y” or “don’t contact outwith the hours of 9-5” or “this word is not really often used outwith scotland”. like just a really great word!! especially for academic/legal/professional contexts!!! i’m baffled we seem to be the only place that fully kept it from olde english!!!
i am sooo close to emailing merriam webster asking them to include it in the us english dictionary and macquarie for the aussies and then i’ll go thru the rest after that so we can jointly have one over on the english via having custody of one incredibly useful word
