The Pocket Scottish English

Know your from Arbroath smokies from your wynds, your trews from your sporran, and . . . lang may yer lum reek!

Some say that Scots use more Scottish slang than English, but whether that’s true or not, the speech of most Scots is certainly peppered with slang. So, whether you’re visiting Glesga (Glasgow), home to Weegies, short for Glaswegians, the Granite City (Aberdeen) or the capital – known as Auld Reekie for the same reason that London was once, and sometimes still is, known as the Big Smoke – this concise guide will come in handy.

There are many old Scottish sayings dating back to our grandparents’ day and beyond, but there are also many fairly recent inventions. Some of the older ones are rarely used now, which may be just as well, as they may baffle even a Scot, particularly depending on which part of Scotland you’re in.

Scottish English varies greatly from the Highlands to South Ayrshire and from the east of the country to the west, with different words sometimes being used to describe the same thing in different places.

Some sayings will ‘make yer heid mince’, some are poetic and many will just make you laugh. This is a book for visitors to Scotland and for anyone crossing the border, in either direction. It will also evoke a pang of homesickness in any Scottish expatriate.

While a concise guide can’t possibly be exhaustive, it can, as this handy pocket book does, offer a revealing and entertaining selection of words and idioms in common usage.

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