Leo's Scotland Pages

Dictionary Scottish - English

Disclaimer: May contain traces of general British words / sayings.

A

auld: old
Auld Reekie: Edinburgh (a reference to former times when there used to be even more smoking chimneys)
aye: yes

B

ben: mountain, hill
Bob's your uncle: everything's okay
bonnie: beautiful, nice
brae: hill, slope
burn: stream

C

cauld: cold
ceilidh: informal Scottish gathering; nowadays often a dance festival
clan: Highland tribe
(hairy) cooooo'o: Highland cow

D

dram: a small quantitiy of a liquor (approximately a sip)

F

Funny's your aunt: everything's okay

G

glen: valley

H

Haggis: Scottish national dish (you don't want to know what it's made of!). But if you're really into it, read Robert Burn's Address to a haggis
Hogmanay: New Year's Eve

K

kirk: church

L

laird: (land) lord, landowner
loch: lake

M

Munro: Scottish hill higher than 3000 ft (approx. 914 m)

P

(something is like) painting the Forth Rail Bridge: (something) takes forever

Q

quid: one British Pound

S

Sassenach: originally a non-Gaelic speaker, now usually a non-Scot or more precisely: these English bastards!! (because they cannot pronounce this beautiful 'ch' as in 'loccchhhhhh'!)

U

uisce beatha (Irish Gaelic): Water of life / Whiskey
uisge beatha (Scottish Gaelic): Water of life / Whisky

W

wee: small, little
(Scotch) whisky: whiskey
wynd: narrow lane between houses (especially in Edinburgh's old town)

Contributions: Katrin, Sabine, Jörg-Hendrik

Sources: Hearsay, Haggis-Tour to Loch Ness (Rab!), Prof. Ian Galbraith, Scottish Online dictionary, AA Essential Edinburgh Guide

Last Update: 23.03.2010