Especially words of the Scots variety. As if it wasn’t hard enough for visitors with our different accents for every town, we like to throw in all sorts of unusual words too! Personally, we love that the Scots language has so much character and humour attached to many of our words and phrases.
We’ve picked a few of our favourites for you below, explaining their meanings and even throwing in a few examples of how to use them. What better way to impress on a visit to Scotland than having a few phrases up your sleeve! Next time you’re in town, why not try a few out on some of the locals. You never know, they might offer to teach you a few more.
Five Favourite Scots words:
1.Crabbit: meaning grumpy, ill-tempered or in a bad mood. Think Monday morning mood before that first cuppa!
“He’s always crabbit before he’s had his coffee.”
“Cheer up, you crabbit sod!”
2. Scunner: a strong dislike or feeling of disgust.
“I missed out on Lewis Capaldi tickets again! What a scunner!”
“You’re a wee scunner!”
3. Blether: casual chat, or to talk in a long-winded way without making much sense.
“I’m just popping round the road to see Karen for a wee blether’”
“What are you talking about, you blether?”
4.Driech: gloomy, bleak, usually to describe the state of the weather.
“It’s pretty dreich out there, don’t forget your wellies.”
“Och, what a dreich day it is.”
5.Peelie-wally: pale, pasty, off-colour. Typically describing somebody’s complexion.
“Poor Sarah’s been sick all week. She’s looking a bit peely-wally.”
“Call that builders tea? Looks pretty peely-wally to me!”
All of the above words can be found decorating some of our fantastic mugs in the gift section of the website. They would make an excellent present for a friend or family member with a love of words. They even have a description on them too!
The perfect mug for the crabbit bugger in your life:-
A gift guaranteed not to scunner:-
Coffee and a chat? Perfect!
Pour yourself a cuppa and hide away from the bad weather with our
For more options
https://www.tartanplustweed.com/products/scottish-words-chuffed-bone-china-mug-barbara-davidson-design