Scotland’s Favourite Scottish Sayings: 40 well-loved Scottish sayings you should know
Scots have the gift of the gab when it comes to our unique phrases, some are insightful and offer much-needed perspective while others like “yer bum’s oot the windae” are just plain funny.
Scottish words and sayings, combined with a world-famous thick accent, can easily make the English used here sound like a totally separate language. While this may be novel to some, it aptly reflects the fact that Scotland historically never had one uniform language spoken by all its ancestors - so some colourful lingual variety is to be expected.
For example, in the northern areas of Scotland you were more likely to encounter Gaelic once upon a time while in the southern areas it was the Scots language that was used. Regardless, we asked our Scotsman readers what “their favourite Scottish saying is” and they offered a wealth of fabulous answers from “yer lookin’ peely wally” (you look sick) to the classic “whit’s fur ye’ll no go by ye” (what’s meant to be will be!)
Here are 40 of Scotland’s favourite Scottish sayings and phrases as voted by our Scotsman readers.
1. Square go
Officially a 'square go' refers to an unarmed brawl, and it is something you exclaim when you're challenging someone to fight you. Photo: oksanashufrych via Canva Pro
2. Lang may yer lum reek
This literally means "long may your chimney smoke" and it is a common Hogmanay greeting used to wish someone good health. Photo: anyka via Canva Pro
3. Up tae high doh
Often used to refer to a state of agitation, if someone's "up tae high doh" then you're better staying out their way. Photo: amazingmikael via Canva Pro
4. Dinnae teach yer Granny tae suck eggs!
This means that you shouldn't teach someone something that they already know, particularly if you're doing so condescendingly. In this case with her old age it should be expected that your granny knows how to suck an egg! Photo: SandraMatic via Canva Pro