Scottish words - The Scottish language shown through our most common words

Cutty-sark - A cutty sark is a short (cutty) shirt (sark). It is seen in the Robert Burns poem, Tam O' Shanter. "Tam tint his reason a the gither, And roars out, "Weel done, Cutty-sark!"

Blootered - Drunk, the worse for drink. "He was fair blootered when he came hame in the wee hours of the mornin'." (Hame - home) And by very popular request, more words for drunk - stoatin', steamin', puggled, wasted, oot 'o it, sloshed, blitzed, birlin', guttered, gubbed, mad wi' it, minced, oot yer tree, smashed, sozzled, tanked, trollied, wrecked, poleaxed, and awa' wi' the fairies (also means to be a sandwich short of a picnic).

Drookit - Soaking wet, sodden. Mostly used on the odd occasions when it rains in Scotland.

Bealin' - Awful, rotten. Can be used for a variety of situations, such as "I went to see him in concert and he was bealin'.

Droothy - Thirsty, desperate for drink. Can be used when simply thirsty on a warm day, or to mean one is in the mood for an alcoholic beverage.

Dookers - Swimsuit, swimming trunks. "Have a dook" means to dip into water. "He dooked in for a swim."

Dooking for apples is a Halloween activity in Scotland - it entails placing apples into a large tub of water, and then trying to lift them out by just using the mouth. You hold your arms behind your back to avoid the temptation to cheat when your opponents aren't looking.

Dunted - Hit. Can be used when you accidentally bump into someone in the street or pub. "Sorry, I dunted you. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Dreich - Dull. Most commonly used to describe dull or rainy weather. Can also be used to describe a situation of little hope. "It’s looking gie (very) dreich for him.

Keeker - A black eye. “To keek”, means to peep. “Go and keek round the corner and see if he’s coming.”

Yowe - a female sheep. Sheep are sometimes seen on Scottish roads. They are very stubborn, and blessed with a strong reluctance to move out of the way of oncoming vehicles and cyclists. Be careful out there.

Clatty - Dirty, filthy. “We went round to the park but it was clatty.” Someone who isn’t keen on housework, with a house to show for it, is commonly called “clatty”.

Puffed oot - Out of breath. “I was puffed oot running after him.” Usually used when a young child (bairn or wean, spoken “wane”) has decided adult company is boring, and runs off for some independent adventure.

Scotland Places To Visit - Traditional Scottish Words

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