Fit like? Desperate Fishwives will turn Scotland on to Doric

Published on Friday 18 December 2009 22:09

THE BBC has commissioned its first TV sketch show in Doric, it was revealed yesterday.

BBC Scotland will record a pilot episode of Desperate Fishwives in the New Year.

It will be first time the dialect of Aberdeenshire and the North-east has featured on television in Scotland since the demise of Grampian Television's Scotland the What? in the 1970s.

The show will introduce a new generation of Scots viewers to common phrases like "Ay ay, fit like, an foo's ye dein?" which means "Hello, what's up and how are you?" in the Doric.

The show will air on BBC2 Scotland next year, and it is hoped a series will follow.

Sketches will include the MTV channel – which stands for Meikle Wartle TV after the tiny Aberdeenshire village – where farmers offer to "pimp my tractor" and speak like rapper Snoop Dog, only in the Doric.

Desperate Fishwives was put together as a stage act at Aberdeen University in the 1990s. The live shows already have a fanatical following in the North-east, where they regularly sell out theatres.

The BBC decided to create a TV sketch show after the comedy proved a hit throughout the country on Radio Scotland. The group has produced three series for radio, including a special to be broadcast on Christmas day.

Producer Margaret-Anne Docherty said she picked up on the group after it performed to more than 6,000 people in a sell-out run in Aberdeen.

She expects the TV show to become a cult favourite like Chewin' the Fat, which also started out on radio. Ms Docherty said: "People in the North-east have known about Desperate Fishwives for years, but now people all over Scotland are becoming fans.

"It has been a big success on radio. We didn't compromise on the Doric, but the language hasn't fazed people at all. People all over Scotland have loved it.

"There are so many interesting characters, and it works on so many different levels that it seemed very interesting for television.

"A pilot episode will be made next year and I would hope a series will be commissioned on the back of it. It will feature some great characters."

Ms Docherty added: "Some people say Doric is a dead language, but it is very much alive. We've brought the Doric in to the modern day.

"Desperate Fishwives promises to bring a new thrill. We are showing Scots back to themselves, and it is a break from the usual diet from the Central Belt."

WORD UP

TYPICAL Doric words and phrases include:

Ay ay, fit like? – Hello, how are you? To which the response is:

Ay, tyauvin on – Fine, thanks

Claik – the Doric dialect of Buchan fishing villages

Foggy bummer – bumble bee

Fa? Fit? Fit wey? Faur? Fan? – Who? What? What way? Why? Where? When?

Far aboots? – Whereabouts?

Louns an quines – lads and lassies, or boys and girls

Min – man (as in "Ay ay, min")

Tak a scoof – drink a big gulp

Fou lang – how long

Fur a filie – for a while or for a long time

Gealt – cold

A dirl aroond 'e lug – A smack on the ear

Fit ye deein – What are you doing?

Bide – Reside or live

Far div ye bide? – Where do you live?

Fou's yer dous? – "How are your pigeons", although now used as "How are you?" To which the response is "Aye peckin" – Literally "Alwayspecking"

Fair dingin doun – Raining heavily

It's auld, ding it doun – Speaking of buildings, "It's old, demolish it"

Dreepin or droukit – soaking