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Scots Language Centre

See awthin in Scots

WEAN n child

on 24th Jan 2010

The last two weeks have featured words now associated with the North East, although they once had a much wider currency. This week, we look at a word which many people associate with Glasgow. Gl...

QUINE n lass, girl

on 18th Jan 2010

Quine goes back to Old English cwen, meaning a woman, wife or, as in modern English, a queen. An obsolete spelling of this word, quean, shows more clearly the history of this word. The earlier q...

BOGLE n a terrifying supernatural being

on 12th Jan 2010

Tonight, watch out for bogles. In the poems of Andrew Scott (1926), we learn that “Auld folks wha liv’d in days o’ yore, Could nightly tell us tales galore, ‘Bout warlock...

LOUN n lad, male child

on 11th Jan 2010

Loun has a long, complicated history. Now associated with the North East as a non-pejorative word for a son, or young man, as opposed to a lassie, it appears early in Scotland-wide use as a scou...

FIRST FIT n The first person to enter a house in the New Year

on 05th Jan 2010

First-footing is one of the best known of New Year customs. In R. H. Cromek’s Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song. (1810) we learn “Much care is taken that the persons who enter b...

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