Don’t dingie Scots slang say dictionary compilers

By Tristan Stewart-Robertson
Published on Monday 14 November 2011 12:20

SLANG such as “dingie”, “numpty” and “cooncil curtains” could be included in the first updated compilation of the Scots language in decades.

Colloquialisms are to be included in the Concise Scots Dictionary, which is to be put together by the Scottish Language Dictionary charity.

Experts due to gather next year at the first-ever global conference on slang said it needs to be taken more seriously as words can become ingrained in the language, rather than exist as just fleeting local or regional terms.

Dr Maggie Scott, a researcher in Scots and Scottish English at Salford University and one of the speakers at next year’s conference, said slang can be difficult to classify, particularly in Scots.

She said: “It’s difficult enough to decide if Scots is a dialect or a language. The fleeting nature of a word can determine if it’s slang or not.

“If it’s a word you can use with three different generations of your family, it’s more likely become part of the language.

“Slang is never going away. It shows the vibrancy of Scots and that it’s a living language, not just quaint terminology.”

Linguistic surveys of the 1950s and 1960s tended to focus on rural speakers, with words for farming equipment and animals, but not the “richness of urban dialects”.

Dr Scott said: “Scots tends to get lumped together as spoken by the working class, but that doesn’t take into account the many shades of grey. It’s the context more than the class that’s the issue.”

The Salford researcher said the example of “cooncil curtains” to refer to boarded-up windows shows new terminology is constantly being born in Scots. She said it is also difficult to state one person speaks Scots and one speaks English when there can frequently be crossover.

Dr Scott added that there should be a full study on the use of language, in the Scottish Parliament in particular, because of the colloquial use of Scots by various MSPs.

Some slang words such as “dingie” – to deliberately ignore someone – may be becoming more mainstream, but is still highly colloquial, said Dr Scott.

School slang can be difficult to research, she explained, as it is often used as a “secret” language and can fall out of use by the time dictionaries document it.

She said: “One term for ‘playing truant’ is, or was, ‘dogging it’, though it may have fallen out of fashion because ‘dogging’ tends now to be associated with sexual activities. And ‘red neck’, ‘neck’ ‘ha neck’ and other variants have been used as exclamations when someone was embarrassed, rather insensitively drawing attention to their blushes.”

The Scottish Government has provided £200,000 to the charity Scottish Language Dictionaries this year towards the updated Concise Scots Dictionary.

First compiled in 1985, new entries will be taken by volunteer readers and contributions, but need to be verified by at least three sources.

The conference is being organised by slang expert Professor Julie Coleman.

She said even the spread of English through the web did not stop creation and use of local slang terms, such as “numpty” in Scots, or “skobie” in Irish (a scumbag), or “hata”, originally an African-American term for a “critic motivated by jealousy”.

Prof Coleman said: “Slang arouses strong feelings, both for and against, which is why it’s often in the news. For some, it’s a demonstration of creativity and independence; for others it’s a symbol of moral decline. Slang is the melting pot of language: it’s where we can observe changes taking place most rapidly.”

SERIOUS SLANG

Corned beef: deaf (deef)

Cooncil juice: water

Cooncil curtains: boarded-up windows

Salisbury Crag: heroin (skag)

Shan: unfair (current use)

Dingie: to deliberately ignore someone

Ned: coarse, uncultivated

Numpty: stupid person, idiot

Spraff: to talk at length

Cooncil telly: Freeview TV

Ginger: fizzy drink

Gadgie: bloke, man

Jakey: an alcoholic, tramp

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Demon Dinner Lady

Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 02:24 PM

Garbo!

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10

Translator

Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 12:02 PM

"First compiled in 1985, new entries will be taken by volunteer readers and contributions, but need to be verified by at least three sources." – those are pretty old entries ... Should probably read: "... Dictionary, first compiled in 1985. "New entries..."

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Tartancult

Monday, November 14, 2011 at 08:28 PM

So few of the words cited are actually in use nationally that they can only be classified as regional slang - which is only slang in the loosest and broadest sense............If the word has been used in Oor Wullie or The Broons, then it is slang, otherwise it is usualy just that oh so typical laziness of the language that the Scots love so well.

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noodle doodle

Monday, November 14, 2011 at 03:13 PM

i'm pure shan now y'raavis. What we need is a uk-wide study, to generate a slang map of the uk to solve these issues. "bairn" is one that's fairly widespread everywhere north of birmingham. Not surprising when you consider its pretty much a direct steal from denmark where "barn" is a child. Do you reckon these profs'll read this and we'll get a credit in a paper? Assuming of course we're not wrecking any hypotheses, in whcih case we'll be safely ignored.

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justlocal

Monday, November 14, 2011 at 02:22 PM

I come from Portobello and we've used shan and spraff as long as I can remember (and that would be going back about 30 years to schooldays). Having said that, it might be that shan is a bit newer than spraff, but it would still be at least 20 years old, I think. Spraff to me though means not just yakking on and on, but talking rubbish with it. I'm not too worried about what the origins are: maybe some of them are English or gypsy. The main thing is recognising regional variations. For instance, clarty in Glasgow just means dirty. In Edinburgh, it's a much worse word and we only used it to mean something disgusting that you wouldn't want to touch. If a person did something clarty, everyone would back away from them. Now, we'll have no jokes about the difference between Weegies and Edinburghers. When L'Oreal brought out their cleanser Gel Clarte, it was hilarious. I But it does annoy me that the Edinburgh meanings are falling out of the dictionaries. No doubt it's the same with other areas of Scotland.

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RolIand

Monday, November 14, 2011 at 01:43 PM

Shan and Spraff were used in Embra at least 30 years ago tae ye ken, cause ah mind it, ken whit am sayin likesy. Ginger is to Glasgae what pop is to folks fi Newcastle.

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Taigh na Croiche

Monday, November 14, 2011 at 01:31 PM

Gadgie comes from Gypsy travellers. Does Scots or 'Inglis' exist? No-one can tell - there's so many other words from other tongues in there today. We're just as likely to say 'I dinnae ken aboot the salsa on the barbie'. English, Scots, Aussie English or Spanglish?

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maisiedotts

Monday, November 14, 2011 at 12:54 PM

Ginger for fizzy drink certainly in Glasgow was in use in the 1950's. Some of the terms are more modern, but corned beef for "deef " was common too. Numpty was more Fife and related to insulting someone by calling them turnip or Numpty Heid. Hadn't heard shan, spraff or gadgie though.

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noodle doodle

Monday, November 14, 2011 at 10:53 AM

and before someone goes well they spread down to cumbria from scotland, no-one I know in edinburgh or my wife's friends from the west coast had heard of shan or spraff. The edinburgers did say they used gadgie though. And that's science.

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noodle doodle

Monday, November 14, 2011 at 10:50 AM

shan, spraff and gadgie were used in cumbria 25 years ago by my dad, so I doubt they're scottish in origin. Spraff was used more in the sense of "grassing up" -- http:www.gonmad.co.ukcumbria#S -- I've heard many of these words are actually gypsy in origin and were spread as they moved around.

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Charles Linskaill

Monday, November 14, 2011 at 01:15 AM

If you disregard Scottish Slang, Then the Scot's are not Scottish, It's part of our language, and should be recognised so!, Why on Earth would you want the Chinese to speak the Queens English,,,, Same Scenario!

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