Useful Scottish Slang Words and Phrases Such as Fit Like Min, Aye And Ya Bas
I have put together a wee list of useful Scottish slang words and phrases, which I feel will be of benefit to anybody that has got any Scottish friends or is planning on travelling to Scotland.
I have heard it said from a few different sources that when I’m in the company of or on the phone with another Scottish person we talk funny! Even though I was born only 500 or so miles from London, our accents and local slang words are almost like a foreign language in comparison to the so called Queens English.
I must admit when I’m in a shop, café or restaurant and the person serving is from Poland, India or Outer Mongolia I like to confuse them by using as much Scottish slang words as possible.
I personally only use a few Scottish slang in my normal vocabulary. I also have never talked broad Scots or with a really heavy Scottish accents, I come from Aberdeen, which is mostly more refined than many places in Scotland!
Useful Scottish Slang Words & Phrases
- Aberdonian – “someone from Aberdeen”
- Auld – “old” it is often used to refer to old people, such as “ye auld bastard”.
- Aye – this is one that I use on a regular basis, it means, “yes”. I have read somewhere that it also means, “always”. I’m born and bred Scottish and I have never once in my life used the word aye, to mean always.
- Bam – “uneducated delinquent”.
- Bairn – “little child”
- Blether – “is to have a long talk”.
- Bonnie – “beautiful”.
- Bide – “ where you live”, such as “ I bide in Kilburn”
- Cannae – “cant”, such as you cannae make it to the pub for pint, because your wife wont let you out.
- Deid – “dead”.
- Dyke – this one will confuse you all, it is a “wall”. Not an ugly lesbian that looks like a man.
- Fae – “from” such as in “faur you fae”, “I’m fae Aberdeen”.
- Faur – “where”.
- Fit like min – this phrase basically means, “how are you”.
- Hogmanay – “New Years Eve”.
- Havering – “to talk a load of rubbish or nonsense”
- Neap – has two meanings, firstly it is what we call a “turnip” or “swede”. As well as someone who is an “idiot”.
- Rammy, Is what seems to happen when the youths of London have had a couple of shandies, “a fight”.
- Quine – this one is used a fair bit back in certain parts of Aberdeen, it means “girl” or “lass” and not just young girls. I have even heard old strong Doric speakers use quine to refer to auld grannies.
- Wee – “small” or “little”
- Ya Bas – “you Bastard”
- Ye – “you” such as “Freedom Come All Ye”
I have tried to use in my list of words or phrases, ones that are more commonly used. I could have created a list with thousands of words, “but I hinae got a day min”.
I have also for obvious reason included some words from my part of Scotland, which will differ from words used in places like Glasgow or the Highlands.
Related posts:
107 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- Traveling to Europe this summer...should i pose as a Canadian? - airfare, hotels, car rental, backpacking, resorts, cruises, vacations, airplanes, international... - Page 9 - City-Data Forum - [...] Thanks for info on the slang. The ones you guys told me have made me interested in looking up ...
- Travel Edinburgh, you guide to this cool city. | Worlds Coolest Cities - [...] English (heavy Scottish accents can be hard for North Americans to understand, so read up on your slang before ...
- Catgut and Other Research — Cricket and Grey - [...] [...]
Hi, I’ve heard that “ken” means “know”. Is that right?
It is right, “ken” is often used by some people back home. “I Ken fit you mean”.
What would “keelies of the toon” mean?
I have never personally heard the word “Keelies” used in my life. I come from the North East of Scotland and the old Scottish words used can vary significantly form those used in the West/central Scotland.
However the word “toon” is used to refer to a town or city. From what I can gather Kellies is a term that implies that the girl is tough and a bit of hooligan.
So perhaps “keelies of the toon” could mean “tough city girl”.
pure haurd…tae mind scot..
ana hae a fucking clue for onys sake! spick inglish likeee! min lol kn is is a joke right?
aye ok ceya
is there a particular word for saying I NEED in scottish slang?
Having a grandmother whose family was Williamson, ‘ye ken’ i’ve Scottish blood roaring through my veins.
But i need a phrase or word that means, “Wow” or “oh my god!” or “Jeez!” – in Scottish. Can you help me out?
I can’t personally think of anything that meets your needs Carol and Blair there might be, but I cant help….
check oot the doric fan page on facebook for an’aer whack o doric stotters.
heres a classic scottish song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP9BtScBQaI
pronunciation is key:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL_fdlVhsBg&feature=fvw
Oh wow. Now can’t really imagin living in Aberdeen for 4years,def looks like different language
Okay, this may sound weird. I do paranormal investigations in Canada. Recently we were asking for a response from someone with the last name of McManhon. We recorded a response that sounded like “Ya Bah Do”… I’m trying to make sense of it…does it mean anything? The question was “Lily, are you here?” we then recorded the response. I’d love any help on this.
Thanks
I’m Scottish, and understand a fair bit of our dialect, but I’m stumped on one particular word.
An American friend says that she gets called ‘min’ by a friend from the north. You mention ‘fit like min’ as roughly meaning ‘how are you?’
What does the ‘min’ refer to, and is it used in other context?
Gonnae gies an answer? Ta
The word ‘min’ trasnlated into English means ‘man’. It is Doric and is still used a wee bit back home in Aberdeen.
Scots isn’t slang per say. It’s under EU law. “ya bas” is slang. “bonnie” isn’t. It’s a perfectly normal word. “wee” was used by Shakespeare.
With regards to Carol asking for a phrase or word that means “wow”. The word wow is originally Scots. That’s where it was first found by linguists.
I believe it came from the Gaelic “bhobh”, as do a number of words. “jings” would be a clean “jeez” equivalent I guess.
Arite min!
I go to Uni in Aberdeen (RGU), originally from further North (Fraserburgh) and the the different in dialect from Aberdeen to Fraserburgh (45 miles) is unbelievable. Most of my uni friends barely speak doric.
My favourite doric phrase which always gets a laugh is “foos yir doos, yir chickens n’ yir coos?” Which translates into “How are your pigeons, your chickens and your cows?” and means “How are you?”!
At’s nae richt, nae richt ata!
For “WOW” or “OMG” use “Jings crivens” usually with “help ma boab” or “michtly me”
source: The official scots dictionary – http://www.thatsbraw.co.uk (compulsory reading for all young scots
Jimmy (any man)
Hen (any woman)
Come away ben (come in)
He’s aye (igh) been a Hearts supporter, NEVER ADMIT TO SUPPORTING RANGERS OR CELTIC unless you are absolutely sure of the company you are in.
Hoots mon…..NO-ONE says this in Scotland.
Wow, (In the name o’the wee man)look at yon.
in response to aye meaning always; i`ve used and heard the phrase `its iye been like that` replacing the a with the baby i not I (if you understand what i mean
)
Love all this, im from Inverness (Highlands) & understanding an aberdonian can be difficult for even us!! Use some of the words on the list quite often though.
And to keith, im a rangers fan, you can freely admit being a rangers or celtic fan where i live, would think twice if i was down in glasgow though, thats just asking for trouble!! Lol
I still use many of them in London, espcially when I’m trying to confuse someone from Eastern Europe, I just love the lost look on their faces…
I’m Scottish and quite frankly I would have been very, very offended if you weren’t from aberdeen, son.
hae to say “Happy Birthday” in Doric?
I aint got a clue on that one…once upon a time I had a Doric phrase book which might have held the answer, but alas it is about 4000 miles away!
‘awa’, is not complicated, it simply means ‘away’
wow! ” in the name o the wee man” .good substitute aw the best.
Despite going to Uni in Scotland a friend advised of a word I have never heard of….Cudgy….. It seems to have a toilet reference but need you to confirm it’s a genuine Scottish word
I don’t think it is a Scottish word. Never came across it before. But it is referenced in the Urban Dictionary…
Awrite
if u havne guessed an fe glesga (born there n everyin)
Anyway ma pal fe ireland came over tae visit and fer a laugh a tolt her tht ad banjo her if she wouldny shut up ( only a joke btw ) so she must eh no understood me coz a week after she went homr she font me n asked wit dis banjo meen lol so i jst tolt her it ment malkie bet shes heavy confused noo :L mon celtic xx
My mum was from ayrshire scotland and i have heard her say the word cludgy many times, refering it to a toilet. ive also heard a couple of other scottish ppl use the word. them mainly being close to ayr, so maybe its a ayr slang????
just been looking up the word cludgy and found this:
“The Gorbals was a slum district of Glasgow – the old tenements have
now been razed. In each stairwell of a tenement, there was a common
toilet, known as a “Cludgy” – an onomatopoeic word which decribed the
noise it made when it was flushed. (Victorian area toilets had a water
tank about 7 feet above the bowl and a chain and handle hung down from
the tank to operate it. When you pulled the chain – there was a
mechanical “Cludge” – the “Clank” was dampened by the water and then a
“Cheeee” as the water flowed down – hence the “CLUDGEE”)
this is 1 saying that alwasy made me laugh when heard ppl use it
Doing school project on scots laguage(Very interesting). Don’t speak scottish. Would like some cool intersesting scots words please!!
Cool Scottish words don’t really exist! The list above is as cool as it gets…
i’m surprised not one person has mentioned ‘loon’ – a common aberdonian expression for ‘boy’
I’m not sure why I didn’t mention it myself, I use it often enough in my articles…
Some slang,
‘Ma boz, they dinnae’ – (my balls, they don’t).
‘gobshite’ – person who talks rubbish.
‘eedjit’ – literally means idiot.
‘radge’ – idiot (..aye, ya radge.)
‘barry’ – good, great. (edinburgh)
‘gallus’ – good, great (glasgow)
‘dobber’ – idiot.
‘walloper’ – (pronounced ‘wahlupper’..idiot.
‘fud’ – female genitalia (..aye, ya fud.)
‘sook ma boaby’ – (suck my d**k)
‘gash’ – female genitalia, or used when someone dislikes something, eg; ‘Eastenders is pure gash, man’.
‘goni geez wan’ – (are you) going to give me one.
‘shoogle’ – shake
‘canny’ – can’t
‘dinny’ – don’t
‘wullny’ – won’t
‘yer arse is oot the windae’ – your arse is out the window (hung out to dry, basically, your f****d)
‘gantin’ – disgusting
‘minging’ – ” ”
‘bowfin’ – ” ”
‘hoachin’ – busy
‘scunnert’ – fed up
aye, it’s a braw moon licht nicht, the nicht, fir a schicht, bit ah dinnae hink ahl bother ma arse.
Yes, it’s a nice moonlit night, tonight, for a sh**e, but I can’t be bothered.
Noo….bolt.
Aberdeen has the most mental accent in Scotland! Even other Scots canny decipher it! ‘More refined’ my arse. Hahah
I know your a joker, for that honour definitely belongs to Glaswegians, naebody can understand them.
I found this informative and entertaining page while trying to sort out the voice for a Scottish character in a story. Can you suggest any Scottish phrases to denote a large male person (more tall than overweight)?
Only word I can think of is ‘lanky’ which is normally used to describe a tall person who is a bit on the skinny side.
Wur be yon blackbird too, I know where e be, e be up yon yurzle tree and I be after e.
a love it how your fae aberdeeeen annaaa
am fae aberdeen 
and a ken ahh these words and phrazes 
ma grandad taught me a few 
lol
Hey Sarah it is always good to have a quine fae Aberdeen pop in for a visit…
IM BLUEEEEE TIL I DYEEE haha Gonnie no bash my GERS! ta much lyk! =]
Anither Brocher here! Ers an afa difference atween a Broch accent n an Aiberdeen een… a haeti use ma ‘posh voice’ fan am inti toon so thit they kin unnerstan ma!
Way back there somebody asked for a Scottish exclamation or word for Wow!
Now I’m no Scottsman but we used to say “Hoot mon!” when we were pretending to be Scottish as children. (yes we were strange children) But I don’t ken faur it’s fae or even if it means anything at all. You could always say “Great Scott!”
I love how much diversity there is in accents and words/phrases used in such a small country. I once met a gentleman from Aberdeenshire when hillwalking in the Cairngorms. Could hardly understand a word he was saying and I’ve lived in Scotland my whole life!
Looking for the correct spelling for the word “you” in scots slang. is it Ye
Expression used is “Ye gonny fix the tappets”
You going to fix the tappets.
Trevor, Ye is ineed the word your looking for…