Munro's Scottish-English Dictionary

MUNRO'S
SCOTTISH-ENGLISH
DICTIONARY

A Compendium of Old Scots Words and Slang Phrases

Welcome to Munro’s Scottish-English Dictionary! See the original dictionary below.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y

A

Aboot
About.

Aff
Off

Afore
Before

Aft
Often

Agley
Wrong or awry

Ah’ll
I’ll

Ahent
Behind

Airm
Arm

Alane
Alone

Anyhoo
Anyway, anyhow

Apisinthe
A disgusting and potent alcoholic beverage made by gomes by fermenting wasp and bee stings along with liquorice roots and yeast, and then distilling it

Aroon’
Around

Arse-over-teakettle
To tumble “head-over-heels.

Auld
Old

Awfae
Awful

Awthegither
Altogether

Aye
Yes, or always

B

Baith
Both

Bampot
Idiot. This is yet another on the very long list of Scottish words meaning “idiot.” I am not sure what a “Bam” is but a pot full of bams does not sound like a good thing

Banshee
A female ghost whose blood-curdling wail is terrible to hear because it is thought to foretell death or disaster

Bap
A plain, white, flour morning roll. Ideal for stuffing full of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, or even potato chips or candy bars for an extra dose of carbohydrate! The term Bap-face can be applied to someone with a plain, round, white, uninteresting, and rather dull-looking facial expression, whether or not they are stuffing their face with a bap at the time.

Bawbee
A copper coin of small value

Beinn
Gaelic for mountain

Belligerent
Aggressively warlike

Bevvy
Alcohol

Bickering
Arguing and sniping in an unproductive and irritating way

Blawin’
Blowing

Blether (or blather)
To talk foolishly. Talk long-winded nonsense

Bletherskate
A silly, foolish, blabbering person

Bonnie
Beautiful

Bonxie
The local name for the Great Skua on the western isles of Scotland. Catharacta Skua is the proper name. These are large birds that, as a species, fall somewhere between the gulls and the buzzards. They are aggressive, territorial predators that prey on other birds.

Breac
Gaelic for trout

Brither
Brother

Brose
Oatmeal or porridge

Brosie-heidit (or Brosy-heidit)
fat, inactive, stupid (someone whose head is full of oatmeal)

Bubbling
Crying

C

Cacophony
This does not mean a phony cactus, or a false cup of cocoa, even though it sounds like it. It means a jumble of confusing noises

Caird
Card

Candy floss
Cotton candy. Not to be confused with dental floss; an item rarely used in Scotland

Cannae
Can’t, can not

Canny
Can be used to mean any combination of careful, skillful, astute, favorable, and lucky

Cauld
Cold

Caur
Car

Ceilidh
(pronounced Kaylie!) is a Gaelic word meaning an informal social gathering, where, usually, there is singing, playing of musical instruments, dancing, storytelling and ample supplies of liquid refreshment. Gaelic is a language that is lovely to listen to and impossible to write down. Legend has it that when the Gaelic elders were finally forced to write down the words of their language they all got drunk and decided to amuse themselves by inventing the most ridiculous spelling imaginable to irritate the Lowlanders, and English speakers south of the border. On the Island of Lewis, Hugh and Wullie once passed through a little village where the sign said, “EADAR DHA FHADHAIL” but the locals assured them that it was pronounced, "Ardroil."

Chiel (or Chield)
Young lad or lass

Chittering
So cold that it makes your teeth chatter

Chob
Job. Highlanders, like Big Sandy, often sound the letter “J” as if it was “Ch” instead

Choke
Joke

Chumping
Jumping

Chust
Just

Claymore
Highland sword

Clootie
Cloth-covered. A clootie dumpling is a large kind of cake thing made of flour, spices, raisins, dried fruit, and suet that is wrapped up in a cloth, and is boiled in a pot for hours. It is a kind of boiled pudding. It can be eaten as a dessert, or, like most everything else in Scottish cuisine, it can be allowed to cool down, can be cut up into slices, and then get fried for breakfast! To say that someone looks like a clootie dumpling, or is as smart as a clootie dumpling, is not exactly a compliment

Cnoc
Gaelic for a small hill. Being Gaelic of course it is pronounced “Crock!"

Conscience me!
“Goodness me, that’s a surprise!"

Coordie
Cowardly person

Cowdie
Dried cow dung. Used by gomes and their ilk for smoking in pipes

Creag
Gaelic for a rock

Cry
Call

Cuillins
Mountain range on the Isle of Skye

D

Dab
This can have a lot of different meanings. The peck of a bird is a “dab.” It can mean a light blow, or a slap. In some parts of Scotland a dab is a small flat bottom-feeding fish like a flounder. To be “a dab hand” at something means to have great skill and be really good at something, after much practice

Dae
Do

Daein’
Doing

Daft
Foolish, stupid, crazy, frivolous, thoughtless. To be daft about something or someone means to be extremely fond of or crazy about

Dead
Really (as in “You should listen to his music. He’s dead good, so he is!”)

Deid
Dead

Deideag
Gaelic for a pebble

Dinna (or dinnae)
Don’t, do not

Dinna fash yersel
“Don’t go to any trouble on my account.

Dischuffed
Annoyed, unhappy

Disnae
Doesn’t, does not

Divining
A gome technique for extracting the emotional essence from a rock

Dook
A quick swim, to dip something or someone briefly in water (an essential in Scottish water!)

Doon
Down

Doot
Doubt

Dram
A small alcoholic drink, such as whisky

Drap
Drop

Dubh
Gaelic for black. Needless to say it is not pronounced “Dubb” or even “Dub-huh.” Instead it is pronounced to rhyme with Scottish pigeons, “Dooooo!”

Dug
Dog

E

Eejit
Idiot, foolish person

Effer
Ever

Efter
After

F

Fair
Complete or absolute (as in “Ye’re a fair disgrace, so ye are!”)

Fairgduil
This combination of Gaelic words is the name of Big Sandy’s cave on the Island of Lewis. It means Seaview

Faither
Father

Fank
This word has two main meanings. It can mean a sheepfold (as it does in the Blackhope Scaur story) or it can mean a coil of rope. A fankle is an impossible tangle of rope (or string or fishing line, or indeed any long piece of material left unattended for even a millisecond

Fash
Trouble, inconvenience, bother

Feart
Afraid, or scared

Feartie
A cowardly, fearful person

Fecht
Fight

Fechtin’
Fightin

Feck
Value, worth, strength, abundance

Feckless
Weak, feeble, incompetent, awkward, not resourceful, weak-minded (someone lacking in feck!)

Fella
Fellow, person

Ferry
Very

Fib
A small lie, although like most lies it may start out small and get bigger and more troublesome over time

Fitba’
Football… that is soccer, the game where you actually kick a ball with your foot (as opposed to American Football where you mostly throw, catch, and carry the ball while gigantic opponents crash into you)

Fizzog
Fac

Foreffer
Forever. Soft-spoken Highland gomes, like Big Sandy, often pronounce the letter “v” as a soft “f” instead

Frae
From

Freen
Friend

Frenchie
French person

Furreign
Foreign

G

Gaither
Gather

Gamaleerie
A foolish, clumsy person

Gander
a causal look over

Gang
Go

Gauping
Gaping

Glaikit
Foolish or stupid (see also gomeral, gamaleerie eejit, neep heid, lunk, mug, pudden, and a few hundred others!)

Glumshy
Sulky, sour-looking, sullen

Gome
Long-lived, mischievous, creatures formed from rocks. Thought, by some, to be extinct, or even mythical, unreal, or magical

Gomeral
A fool or stupid person. The Scots are sometimes an uncharitable race, or they recognize fools more often than most. There are three pages of synonyms for stupid person in most Scottish Thesauruses (or should that be Thesauri? If I don’t know does that make me a gomeral?)

Gonnae
Going to

Got tore intae
Attacked with vigor

Gralloch
Doesn’t this word even sound disgusting? It is the entrails of a deer. In other words all of the guts and lungs and organs that are taken out and thrown away after a deer has been killed

Greedy-guts
A greedy person

Greeting
While this word can mean welcome it can also mean crying. A Scottish Greeting Card would still usually be an upbeat, cheerful, welcoming card. I have not heard of a “Crying Card” although that might be a great, unfilled commercial opportunity in Scotland

H

Hadnae
Had not, or hadn’t

Haff
Have

Haivering
Talking trivial, foolish nonsense

Hame
Home

Haud
Hold

Haun
Hand

Heid
Head

Hi-falootin’
Very fancy, posh, or expensive

Hing
Hang

Hinging
Hangin

Hinkum-sneevy
a silly, stupid, lazy person

How does she cry it?
“What does she call it?”

Huff
Used in the phrase “To take the huff,” it means to take offense and sulk

Hunker down
Squat down in a crouching position. Settle patiently, without drawing attention to yourself

Huv
Have

I

Ionnsaigh
Gaelic for attack

Itchy-coo
Itching powder

Ither
Other

J

Jaloose
guess, suspect, or imagine

Jessie
As in, “Ye big Jessie!” it means a scaredy-cat. A derogatory, politically (and literally) incorrect suggestion that girls (like one called Jessie) are more timid and tentative than boys are

Jist
Just

K

Keek
Has many meanings. Here, it means a brief glance, or peep. A quick, surreptitious look

Kenspeckle
Someone who stands out in a crowd as being easily recognizable. Distinctive in appearance

Kirk
Church

Knackered
Really tired and weak and exhausted

Knick-knack
A trivial piece of something. Superfluous, cheaply-made, frivolous thing

L

Laddie
Young man, boy

Lassie, or lass
Young woman, girl

Liath
Gaelic for gray

Lionmhor
Gaelic for great or magnificently large

Lug
Ear. The projecting part of an object

Lunk
A large, dull, useless, person

M

Ma
My

Mair
More

Maist
Most

Maistly
Mostly

Masel’
Myself

Mawp
To mope, to wander around thoughtlessly or listlessly

Mawpit
Acting in a dull, thoughtless, listless way

Mhairhidgh
Gaelic word containing lots or randomly placed “h” letters, just to make it easy to remember how to spell it. It is, of course, pronounced Varry, to rhyme with Harry

Midden
A large collection of cow manure. Also used as a Scottish term of endearment

Midge
Tiny biting insects that lurk in their millions all over Scotland waiting for the most irritating and inconvenient time to come out of hiding and start sucking your blood

Mo grain
This Gaelic phrase literally means “My hatred.” This is what Varry Doo calls her cloud of blood sucking Highland midges. They are only too happy to dish out Varry Doo’s hatred whenever they are asked to do so

Moose
Mouse

Mooth
Mouth

Mor
Gaelic for large, huge, or gi-bungous

Mowdiewort
Mole (small furry burrowing animal), or a sneaky, untrustworthy person

Muck
Dirt. Farmyard manure. If someone is called Lord Muck or Lady Muck or is said to be acting like a Muckity-Muck this means that they are putting on airs and graces as if they were superior and more important than anyone else

Muckle
Large

Mug
A gullible fool, an idiot, someone easily taken advantage of

Muggy
Humid, drizzly, fogg

N

Nae
No

Naebody
Nobod

Napper
Head

Neb
A person’s nose. Any projecting tip or point

Neep
A turnip (see also Tumshie)

Neep Heid
A stupid or foolish person (literally “turnip head”)

Neffer
Never

Nicht
Night

Nick
Steal

Nip
To move quickly

No’
Not

Noo
Now

Nought
Nothing

Nyaff
A puny, insignificant, worthless, good-for-nothing person

O

O’
Of

Och away and blether
“Oh go away, I don’t believe a word you are saying.”

Och! (or Ach!)
Oh! An expression of irritation or exasperation

Ony
Any

Onything
Anything

Oot
Out

Ord
Gaelic for hammer

Ower
Ove

Oxter
Armpit

P

Pair
Poor

Pairty
Party

Perfick
Perfect

Petraglif
A rock that has absorbed a lot of human emotion

Petter
Better

Pit
Many meanings, depending on the context. Put. A large hole in the ground. Peat

Pit the pit in the pit
Could (theoretically) mean, “Put the peat in that large hole in the ground!” although, I must confess, I have never heard anyone utter that exact sentence

Pit-Bing
A heap, or pile of discarded rocks and unusable or unburnable coal

Pluke
A zit, or blackhead. Can be used as a derogatory term for someone you don’t think very highly of

Poat
A Highlander’s “boat.”

Polis
Police. The expletive statement, “Murder Polis!” means, “Goodness me, what a surprising and unfortunate situation!

Pooch
Pocket. Can also mean dog

Pother
Bother. Highlanders, like Big Sandy, often pronounce a “B” with a soft, “P” sound

Poultice
A hot medicated bandage that is supposed to draw infection and pus out of a wound. Boggie and Weasel got this word mixed up with the word solstice which means one of the two times every year when the sun is farthest away from the equator. The midsummer solstice is on about June 21st and the midwinter solstice is on about December 22nd

Pratt
Idiot. Embarrassingly clumsy oaf

Pudden (or puddin)
Pudding (any sausage made from diced up meat with onions, oatmeal and spices, boiled, and stored for future use. Also, a stupid or clumsy person.

Puddock
Frog. Can also be used to refer to a toad… or as a derogatory remark about someone whom you don’t consider to be too smart. So if you are looking for an alternative to eejit, gomeral, neep-heid, etc., you could say, “Ye daft wee puddock!”

Puggled
Pooped. To be puggled is to be brought to a standstill because of complete exhaustion and frustration

Punter
Somewhat derogatory word for a common man or ordinary person

Pure dead brilliant
Something really impressive

Putt
Can be used for the way a Highlander like Big Sandy says the word, “but.” It can also refer to the traditional Scottish pastime of trying to knock a small round white ball into an elusive little hole on a lawn of grass by hitting it several times from short distances (accompanied by colorful Scottish slang and terms of endearment towards the ball)

Py
By

R

Ramstougerous
Rambunctious, boisterous, disorderly

Reek
A strong (and usually unpleasant) smell

Richt
Right

Runt
A short, undersized, dwarfish person or animal, poorly formed and unhealthy

S

Saft
Soft

Sair
Sore

Sappy
Soft, wet, tender and gentle

Scaur
Scar (of skin, or of the earth or of the ground. A steep eroded hillside)

Scree
A mass of loose stones on a hillside, which can turn into a landslide if things go awry

Scud or scuddie
Naked bare skin

Scunner
A feeling of disgust, loathing, or dislike (or a person that gives one a feeling of disgust, loathing or dislike). If a person feels scunnered then they feel disgusted at the injustice or unfairness of a situation

Scunneration!
“Goodness me, that’s annoying!”

Sealgair
Gaelic for hunter

Shilpit
Thin, puny, shrunken, starving and unhealthy looking

Shoo!
Go away! Get out of here! Often said to animals, who apparently understand Scottish better than most humans

Shoogle
To move in and unsteady, shaky and wobbly way

Shouldnae
Shouldn’t, should not

Shug (or Shuggie)
Hugh

Sic
Such

Skiddle
A disappointingly small amount of something

Skinny-malinkie
A tall, slender person

Skulk (or scouk)
To sneak around furtively. To move in a way to avoid detection

Slag
A wet, muddy mess

Smairt
Smart

Smarty-pants
Clever person, often used as a derogatory term

Snag
To steal or acquire through luck

Snooty
Snoot or snout is nose. Someone who is snooty has their nose in the air. They are snobbish, and project a superior air. Rich person who exhibits these features

Snotters
Slimy mucus dripping from someone’s nose. A snottery person is someone with slimy mucus dripping from their nose

Socrach
Gaelic for comfortable

Soosands
Thousands. As used in the famous Scottish knock-knock joke: “Knock knock” “Who’s there” “Amos” “Amos who?” “A mosquito!” “Knock knock” “Who’s there? “Anna” ”Anna who?” “Another mosquito!” “ Knock knock” “Who’s there?” “Susan” “Susan who?” “Soosands o’ mosquitoes!”

Spew (or spue)
To vomit, or to pour out, in a continuous stream

Sprachle (or sprauchle)
To move clumsily and laboriously; to struggle or flounder. Like so many old Scots words the sound of the word gives a sense of its meaning

Stane
Stone

Sticky-bun
A sweet pastry filled with delicious gooey filling, and/or icing, or frosting on top. Scottish cuisine may lack sophistication but they make many varieties of really tasty sticky-buns

Stooks, or stookies
Stacks of hay, or other grain, gathered together to dry in the sun after being harvested, and before they are stored for the winter

Stooshie
A public uproar. A tumultuous disturbance (see Stramash)

Stramash
An uproar. A tumultuous disturbance

SubterMacdui
The gome capital of Scotland. A city built under the mountain of Ben Macdui near the human town of Braemar, Scotland

Suspeecious
Suspicious

Sycophant
This word does not mean an unwell elephant, and is not the way to describe the situation if you are fed up hanging out with your uncle’s wife. Instead, this word means someone who is always kissing up to someone else. A self-seeking flatterer

T

Tae
To. Also, toe

Tatterwallop
Someone whose clothes are so scruffy, ragged, and torn that they look like a ragged scarecrow. (Hint: it is not a Scottish compliment to call someone a tatterwallop.)

Tellt
Told

Thae
Those

Thegither
Together

Thon
That

Thoomb
Thumb

Tooch, tooch, tooch!
“Tut, tut, tut, you silly person, you!”

Toon
Tow

Towrists
Tourists. Highlanders, like Big Sandy, pronounce the first syllable of the word tourist as if it rhymes with cow

Troosers
Trousers

Tumshie
A turnip. Since turnips are not the most intelligent of vegetables it can also be used as a derogatory term for someone who is not too smart

U

Unnerstaun
Understand

V

Vazanimee
A young human with great affection for rocks and gomes. In gome legend such a human could be altered to become a “vessel of life” (from the Latin vas animi) and provide great value to gomes

Venatores
Gome hunters with a reputation for being ruthless, silent, and relentless. Rarely ever seen. Thought by some people to be mythical

Verra
Very

W

Wan
This can have many meanings, depending on the context. In this setting it simply means the number ‘one.’ It can also mean lacking, insufficient, poorly formed, weak and sickly, win, wind

Wance
Once

Wansonsy
Mischievous, unpleasant, and treacherous

Wasnae
Was not

Weans
(pronounced “wains” to rhyme with “rains”)

Weasel-blawn
Unpleasant, ill-natured, as if the person has been affected by the bite, breath, or hiss of a weasel

Wheen
Several, a large number of, “Soosands and soosands!

Wheesht
Quietness. “Haud yer wheesht!” means “Keep quiet!”

Whit
What

Wi’
With

Wid
Would, also wood

Windae
Window

Winnae
Will not

Wir
Our

Wisnae
Wasn’t, was not

Wouldnae
Wouldn’t, would not

Wraikful
Deranged and destructively vengeful (Hint: not a nice quality to look for in a person.)

Wrang
Wrong

Wumman
Woman

Y

Yank
pull vigorously. Can also be used as an endearing term for an American

Yap
To talk or bark

Yappy-lugs
A derogatory expression for people who talk too much

Yatter
Unimportant chatter

Ye
You

Yer
Your

Yersel’ (or yerself)
Yourself

Yestreen
Yesterday evening

Yitter
See “Yatter!

Yon
That (as in “Yon thing ower there.

Yoose
You