I arrived late to the beauty of Scots. While I have been steeped in the vocabulary of the Oxford English Dictionary for over three decades, it is only in the past few years that I’ve come to appreciate it properly, inspired mostly by the Dictionaries of the Scots Language, a wonderful online repository of vocabulary both old (really old) and new.
This week, the poet Len Pennie publishes her debut collection of Poyums, whose guts and honesty owe much to the muscle and power of Pennie’s mother tongue. And so it feels like the perfect week to gather some of my favourite discoveries from Scots, some of which now feel like old friends.
1. Curglaff
Scots has a knack of filling gaps in English that would otherwise take sentences to describe. ‘Curglaff’ is one, for it neatly expresses the overwhelming shock of cold water, either as it takes you by surprise in the shower, or as you gingerly descend the steps of a swimming pool. It is made up of the prefix cur, often used when something goes awry (think ‘curmudgeonly’), and glaff, a sudden blast (and I mean blast) of cold.
2. Tartle
This is possibly the most useful of all my discoveries from the Scots dictionary, for I am a seasoned tartler. Tartling, essentially, involves the hesitation you make when introducing someone because you have completely forgotten their name.
3. Huffle-buffs
Huffle buffs have little to do with Harry Potter, and everything to do with the baggy, scruffy clothes you shuffle into on a Friday night when you finally close the front door and soss onto a plump sofa. I may have elaborated on the bare dictionary definition of ‘old clothes’, but the sound of the word surely invites a broader interpretation.
4. Flenched
This Scots adjective is primarily used to describe weather that looks likely to improve, but never actually does. As a result, it might come in handy for any situation in life where a promise is simply never met.
5. Glaikit
‘Glaikit’ is defined in the Dictionaries of the Scots Language with a string of adjectives including ‘thoughtless’, ‘irresponsible’, ‘flighty’, and ‘frivolous’. As such, it has traditionally been applied to women. Rather more fairly, ‘glaikit’ can simply mean ‘gormless’, and might describe a face entirely empty of intelligence.
Read More: Susie Dent’s Top Tens: 10 ‘Americanisms’ that aren’t actually American
6. Perjink
According to Jackie Kay, the former Makar of Scotland, the gorgeous word ‘perjink’ means ‘smartly dressed’. Kay uses it to wonderful effect in her poem A Lang Promise, in which the writer pledges to their love that they will be with them ‘unkempt or perjink, suddenly puir or poorly, peely-wally or in fine fettle’. Peely-wally is another gem from Scots meaning ‘off colour’ or ‘pale and sickly looking’.
7. Bumfle
Why have a crease or unsightly bulge in your clothes when you can have a bumfle?
8. Depooperit
You can be knackered, pootled, shattered or dumfungled. But surely the best expression of exhaustion is the Scots ‘depooperit’, which means both physically and mentally enfeebled.
9. Gilliewetfoot
The historical Scots dictionary can offer a few choice insults should you need them, although some are rather specific. Among them is the gilliewetfoot, a derogatory label for a servant whose job it was to carry a Highland chief across a stream.
And of course, where would we be without…
10. Hurkle-durkle
The recent recipient of TikTok fame and the only expression I know that manages to capture the mood of a nation. To hurkle-durkle, quite simply, is to stay in bed long after it’s time to get up.
