#scottishisms

[screampotato]

I've been getting quite absorbed in the USCG Ocean Gate hearings, and this guy especially is just fascinating and very impressive.

He's ferocious, gutsy, tells it like it is, and makes one proud to be Scottish. Never expected to hear phrases like "bumping his gums", "clattered it aff the side o my head" and "I didn't do it out of badness" in a US Coast Guard hearing. Absolute legend.

[lisbetadair]

Some Thoughts On Writing Scottish Characters

I see this a reasonable amount in fandom, where writers want to add some depth to their characterisation of Scottish characters by using Scots, or Scots words in their dialogue.

I understand that this is meant in good spirit, and where the words and language are used incorrectly, that this out of ignorance rather than malice, so I'm not salty about it, nor do I want to discourage people in their attempts to learn more about Scotland or Scots language.

This said, if a character has never spoken in Scots, or used Scot words frequently, having them suddenly do so will feel jarring, unless you have the excuse that they have code-switched to present less Scottish professionally, or to non-Scottish people.

Nevertheless, as they have more dialogue, or internal monologue in fanfiction, this is a good time to explore a more natural way of speaking that's appropriate for them.

So I've written a short, beginner's guide to using some Scots words and phrases that might help writers to enhance their dialogue:

1) Lassie. This means "girl or young woman". This is the one where people go wrong the most. These days, you almost never hear someone refer directly to a woman as "lassie", and in my own (and the straw polled local friends') experience, the people who would do this would tend to be elderly men. So, if you have someone's grandfather addressing the person in question, maybe they would say "Is that so, lassie?". So this way of addressing a young woman is archaic, and I would also say, demeaning.

If you've got a character who is Glaswegian, they would say "Is that so, hen?" which tends to be said by older people to younger women, but as it's said by older men and women, it doesn't come across as demeaning, but it's a definite regional colloquialism and would tend not to be used in professional setting.

What is normal is to refer to young women generally as "lassies" i.e "I'm not doing that, that's for lassies!" in place of "I'm not doing that, that's for girls!".

2) Aye. This means "yes" and is in common parlance. You can pepper this in when your Scottish character is talking to other Scottish characters and characters who are not Scottish. It would be considered normal by characters of all ages.

3) Swithering. This means "being indecisive". e.g. "I'm swithering over whether to go."

4) To be away. This is used in place of "to go" so someone might say "I'm away to Spain for my holidays" or "I'm away to the shops". This is entirely fine as a replacement for "to go" in all conjugations.

5) Motor. This means "car".

6) Wee. This means "little" and is common parlance. Examples are "I'm a wee bit confused" or "I've got a wee bit of wood leftover." You can't say "I only want a wee" instead of "I only want a little". You would say "I only want a wee bit" instead. "Wee" is also a colloquial noun in many parts of the UK that means "urine" so if you say "I only want a wee" then you would be saying "I only want to urinate." so that's quite important.

7) Using the present participle i.e. the "-ing" form a verb. This is a tough one, because there are some situations where this feels natural and others were it's just not something that's said, but there are a few examples where this would feel natural.

"I'm needing" instead of "I need"

e.g. "I'm needing a new hat"

"I'm wanting" instead of "I want"

e.g "I'm wanting to go to Spain"

"I'm missing" instead of "I don't have"

e.g. "I'm missing a screw for the shelf"

8) Up To High Doh. This means "in a state of heightened anxiety" e.g. "He's up to high doh about this interview." and would be well understood by other Scottish people, but be unfamiliar to non-Scots; although from context, they should be able to understand the meaning of the phrase from the context if they are native English speakers.

9) Chancer. This means "a person who is trying to take advantage" i.e. "Simon came round asking for my Netflix password. Fucking chancer!"

10) Hun. This is an extremely derogatory term for person of the Protestant faith. Whilst the phrase is popular in parts of English as a shortening of the colloquial term of endearment "honey" this has not caught on in Scotland where ongoing sectarianism means that derogatory terms for Catholics and Protestants are still in use. It's not a reclaimed term and unless your character is a Catholic having a loaded discussion amongst similarly minded individuals about sectarian issues, leave well alone. Definitely don't have them call their significant other that.

[lisbetadair]

After the success of the first advice post for writing about Scottish characters, I thought I would expand on this with some further points, so here are some useful words and phrase to pepper your dialogue with that will sound authentic to Scottish readers.

I am a Scot, and I live in Scotland, but I'm not an absolute authority on Scottish-English or Scots language, and I don't claim to be. Scottish language and culture is not homogenous, and different areas will have localisations that are unique to them.

I've tried to create a further list here that I think reflects common Scottish-English words that are used and would be understood across the country, and discuss some of the cultural differences that make Scotland a unique part of the United Kingdom.

Squint: In British English, squint is a verb that means to partly close one's eyes to see more clearly or a noun that referrs to an eye that looks in a different direction to its counterpart. In Scottish English, both those uses are valid, but there is a third use, which is squint as an adjective to mean askew, or not level.

i.e. "That picture's squint."

The Clyde Arc Bridge in Glasgow is unofficially known as the squinty bridge because it's span is not perpendicular to the riverfront and it crosses the river diagonally.

Crabbit: This is a Scots synonym for grumpy.

i.e "He's just crabbit because he woke up too early."

The back of [hour]: This is a time window that can be interpreted as anything between o'clock and half past but which I think the majority interpret as being between o'clock and quarter past. Perfect for your disorganised Scottish character who can't commit!

i.e. "I'll catch up with you at the back of seven."

How?

Used in place of why, and definitely most common in the areas around Glasgow and the central belt. This may be a shortening of "how come?" or "how so?" and is generally used in the same way to request clarification.

i.e. "I'm not speaking to Simon." "How no?" [in place of "Why not?"]

Scunnered

This means exhausted and tired, and encompasses the mental and physical feeling at the same time.

"I've been arguing with them on the phone all day. I'm scunnered."

The Now

Equivalent to "now" or "right at this moment"

i.e. "Are we doing it the now?""

Can of juice

Other places might call this a can of pop, or a can of soda. It means any canned, carbonated beverage.

My head's mince

This roughly translates to "I have exhausted my mental capacity for thought" and means that this person is struggling to think clearly for some reason, usually due to extreme tiredness.

Education in Scotland

The school curriculum is a devolved matter, which means that Scottish people, educated in Scotland most often will follow a curriculum which is unique to the area that they reside in (following guidance from the Scottish Government).

A detailed description of this can be found on Wikipedia.

Scottish schools start at the age of 4-5 in Primary One (P1) in a primary school, which finishes in P7, around the age of 11. After this, children go to what is known as a secondary school which run from S1 to S6; although they can leave in S5 as final school qualifications in Scotland (Highers) are a single year course.

A detailed discussion is outside the scope of this short Tumblr post, which is just trying to act as a reminder that your Scottish characters, if they grew up in Scotland, did not do GCSEs or the like.

Halloween

Halloween has been an event in Scotland for as long as I remember, and as long as my mother can remember; however, in other parts of the United Kingdom, Halloween hasn't been observed until recently. I know from personal experience, as my mother moved to England in her twenties, and noted that it wasn't observed in the Northern town she'd moved to. That Halloween is an American import is complaint I've heard from English people not uncommonly, but for Scottish people it has been a longstanding part of the cultural landscape. In recent years, American cultural imperialism has eroded some of the traditions and terminology, in that turnip lanterns have been replaced by carved pumpkins and it's referred to as "trick or treating" rather than "guising". One notable exception is that children are expected to say a "party piece" such as a joke in order to earn their treat.

[audreyinglasgow-blog]

A Few Scottishisms

Gutted: Very upset, extremely disappointed. I was gutted I didn't make it to the pub where Prince William was spotted.

Shattered: Very tired, exhausted. After staying up all night eating a Cadbury Milk Tray and revising, she was shattered.

Revising: To study for an exam. It is possible to revise over a pint of beer, correct? 

Lemonade: A clear, sugar filled beverage with a hint of lemon. Not to be confused with American lemonade. I'll take a gin and lemon.

Eejit: A very stupid person. Yae dun't do thae, yae eejit!