Scottish word of the day: Crabbit
“Feeling a wee bit crabbit today?” It’s a question you might ask of someone who has shown a flash of ill-temper, or someone of a generally grumpy disposition.
Curiously, the term often bears an association with the elderly (eg “you crabbit old woman!”).
This may partially be a result of a Phyllis McCormack poem written in 1966 called - funnily enough - Crabbit Old Woman.
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Hide AdThe first few lines of the poem, told from the perspective of an old lady in a care home, reads:
What do you see, what do you see?
Are you thinking, when you look at me-
A crabbit old woman, not very wise,
Uncertain of habit, with far-away eyes,