Scotland is a multilingual country and our colourful vocabularies affirm that - from Scottish Gaelic to the Scots language and their dialects, any formal English speaker is sure to think “what is going on here” at least once.
If that’s you then dinnae get yersel in a fankle (don’t worry) because we asked our Scotsman readers ‘what’s your favourite Scottish word’ and they gave some fantastic answers so you’ll ken just fine in future.
Tying in with ‘A Year of Conversation and the International Year of Indigenous Languages’ in 2019 the Scottish Book Trust organised a vote for ‘iconic Scots words’ as the dictionary differs that much to standard English.
That said, rest assured that Scots words like “ken” are not beyond your ken. Here are 40 of the nation’s favourite Scottish words (and sayings) as voted by our Scotsman readers - gie it a swatch (check it out!)
5. Scunnered
Scunnered is a word that can mean a few things, overall it refers to being annoyed, bored or even weary - if you’re scunnered it probably wasn’t your day. Photo: A and N Photography via Canva Pro
6. Tube
For some it’s a video-sharing website but to others “You tube!” could be taken the wrong way as tube (pronounced “choob”) in Scotland is a word that refers to an idiot. Photo: Szabo Viktor via Canva Pro
7. Braw
Not a lot to say here, braw just means “excellent” or “great” - if someone says you’re “pure braw” then you must’ve been doing something right. Photo: 2649771 via Canva Pro
8. Crabbit
Speaking of bad days, you’re bound to end up feeling crabbit after one of them - this means to feel grouchy or ill-tempered, so mind yourself if someone tells you they’re feeling crabbit. Photo: Scott Beale via Flickr