Collins Dictionaries - Scots Dictionary - The perfect wee guide to the Scots language

bumTo bumis to boast or brag. A boaster or conceited person can be spoken of contemptuously as a bum. [These senses come from the earlier Scots sense, to make a humming or buzzing noise]

bumbaleerie( bum-bah-leer-ree ) The bumbaleerieis an informal, often jocular, term for the backside.

bumfleA bumfleis a wrinkle, crease, or fold in something. If something is bumfledor bumfled up, it is untidily wrinkled or creased: My skirt had got all bumfled up at the back. [The word comes from the earlier Scots bumph meaning a lump or bump]

bummerIn informal speech, a heid bummeris someone who holds a position of power or authority in a place or organization: The site gaffer told his men to make an effort because lots of heid bummers drive past there.

bum upTo bum something upis to claim that it is very good, or to make it out to be better than it really is: Ach, it was okay, but it’s no all it’s bummed up to be.

bunnetThe word bunnetusually refers to a man’s soft flat peaked cap. It can however be used of almost any flattish male headgear, such as a Tam o’ Shanteror balmoral, and is sometimes also used of similar hats or caps worn by women.

bunnet hustlerA bunnet hustleris someone, usually middle-class or with a well-paid job, who deliberately puts on what they think is a working-class manner, or is excessively proud of their working-class origins; a derogatory Glaswegian term.

burgh( burr-a ) A burghis a town, specifically one which has been granted a charter by the monarch (a Royal Burgh) or by a noble (a Burgh of Barony) which formerly allowed the town certain legal privileges such as the right to hold a town fair and have its own town council: A host of events are being staged in the town to mark the 400th anniversary of the granting of burgh status ; the burgh surveyor. [The word is the Scottish form of borough ]

burgh hallA burgh hallis the same as a town hall: The meeting is to be held at the Burgh Halls in Linlithgow.

burnA burnis the usual Scots word for a stream or brook. Burnis often used as part of the name of a stream: the Swilcan Burn.

Burns NightThe 25th of January, the anniversary of the birth of the poet Robert Burns (1759–96), is known as Burns Night, and a tradition has developed of celebrating his life and work on that date.

Burns SupperA Burns Supperis a meal held on or near Burns Nightto celebrate the life and work of Robert Burns. It traditionally opens with a haggis ceremonially being brought into the room to the accompaniment of bagpipes. After someone has recited Burns’ poem “Address to a Haggis”, the haggis is eaten with turnips and mashed potatoes. After the meal, a speaker proposes a toast to “The Immortal Memory” of Robert Burns, before the evening continues with a variety of other toasts. The first Burns Supper was held in Edinburgh in 1815. They were originally men-only events.

buroo

buroo( buh-roo or broo ) or brooThe buroois money that is paid to people who are unemployed, or the office at which people sign on for this benefit: Has your buroo money come through yet? To be on the buroois to be unemployed. [The term comes from Employment Bureau , a former name for a Jobcentre]

bursarIn Scotland, the word bursarcan refer to a student who holds a bursaryas well as to the chief finance officer in a university or college.

bursaryA bursaryis a scholarship or grant awarded to a student, either from a university or a local authority, usually as a result of financial hardship or obtaining one of the best marks in a special exam held by certain universities (a bursary competition). [The word ultimately comes from the Latin bursa a purse]

burstThe phrase a hunger or a burstindicates that the speaker thinks there is always too little or too much of something, but never the right amount: We’re either sitting twiddling our thumbs or rushing about trying to do three jobs at once: it’s aye a hunger or a b urst around here.

but 1In the Glasgow area, butis often used as the last word of a sentence to emphasize what has been said in the rest of the sentence, especially when this contradicts or qualifies what has previously been said, either by the speaker or by someone else: He’s dead nice. Ah dinnae fancy him but ; Ah’m no goin till Tuesday but. 2A butis the kitchen or outer room of a house, especially of the two-roomed cottage known as a but-and-ben. 3 Butis the past tense of bite.

but-and-ben( but-and-ben ) A but-and-benis a type of old-fashioned rural cottage consisting of two rooms, usually a kitchen and living room.

Bute( byoot ) Buteis an island and historic county in the West of Scotland, at the north end of the Firth of Clyde. It is now part of the Argyll and Bute council area.

Bute HouseBute House is a house in Charlotte Square in Edinburgh which is the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland. [It is named after the Marquess of Bute , who bequeathed the house to the National Trust for Scotland in 1966]

butteryA butteryis a type of crumbly, butter-rich, bread roll originating in the Aberdeen area: Two cups of coffee and a couple of butteries, please. Also called (in the Northeast) buttery rowieor rowie.

byIn phrases such as put byor lay by, bymeans aside or away: I’ll put the rest by for you and you can collect it later. Byalso means past: The rolls are by their best but still eatable ; Ach well, that’s Christmas by for another year.

byeA byeor a bye kickis a goal kick at football, taken when an attacker has kicked the ball out of play over the goal line. While it is in general use, most commentators and sports journalists prefer to use the more formal “goal kick”: Are you blind, ref? That was a bye, no a corner! To give something a byeis to decide not to do it, or, if you are already doing it, to stop: “We’re gaun up the toon for a pint. Fancy comin?” “Naw, Ah’ll gie it a bye the night” ; That’s a dreadful racket. Gie it a bye, will ye! [This sense comes from the sense of a team progressing automatically to the next round of a competition without having to play a game, either because it has been seeded or because there is an uneven number of competitors]

byke( bike ) or bikeA bykeis a wasps’ nest.

byre(rhymes with wire ) A byreis a shed or stable where cows are kept.

C

ca’or caa( caw ) Ca’means the same as call (in all its senses). Ca’also means to drive or propel: to ca’ nails into a wall. To ca’ cannymeans to be cautious or take care: Ca’ canny along this road. To ca’ the feet fraesomeone is to send them sprawling.