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

B

baor baw( baw ) A bais a ball.

babbyA babbyis a slightly old-fashioned word for a baby.

bachle( baCH-l ) A variant of bauchle.

back courtor back greenThe back courtof a tenement building is the shared paved or grassy area behind it.

backie 1In Dundee, Aberdeen, and elsewhere in the Northeast, a backieis the back court of a block of flats: All the young guys played football, on the backies and on the green. 2A backieis also one of the many local terms for a piggy-back, which is also known as a carry-code, a coalie backie, or a cuddybackin different parts of Scotland.

back ofThe back ofan hour is the time just after it, up until about twenty past: I’ll meet you at the back of eight.

baffie( baf-fi ) Baffiesare slippers.

baggieor baggie minnieA baggieis a minnow, especially a large one.

bagpipesThe bagpipes, often called the pipesfor short, are a musical instrument consisting of a set of pipes through which air is blown from a bag held under the player’s arm. An individual instrument is known as a set of bagpipes. The type most commonly seen in Scotland, the Highland bagpipes, has one pipe with holes in it, known as a chanter, which is used to play the melody, and three pipes tuned to a fixed note, which are known as drones. The bag is filled by the player blowing into it. There also exists a smaller instrument, the Lowland bagpipes, which is sweeter toned and has the bag filled by a bellows which the player squeezes between his or her arm and side. The small Irish uillean pipesare also encountered, mainly among folk musicians.

ba’ hair

ba’ hair( baw hair ) A ba’ hairis a rather indelicate term for a very small, almost imperceptible distance; a whisker: That just missed ma heid by a ba’ hair! [It literally means a male pubic hair]

bahookie( ba-hook-ee ) A Glasgow variant of behouchie.

bailieor baillie( bay-li ) Bailieis an honorary title given to senior local councillors in some areas. It now has no legal significance, although formerly bailies had some of the powers of a magistrate. [The word comes from the Old French baillif a bailiff]

bairnIn much of Scotland, a baby or young child is known as a bairn. In West Central Scotland, the term weanis used instead: The wife’s expecting a bairn ; The bairns came home from the school. A person from Falkirk is sometimes referred to as a Falkirk Bairn, and Falkirk football team is nicknamed the Bairns. [This use of the word is an allusion to Falkirk’s town motto, “Better meddle wi the deil than the bairns o Falkirk”]

baith(rhymes with faith ) Baithmeans both.

baldieA variant spelling of bauldie.

balloonA balloonis a Glasgow term for someone who is full of hot air and whose opinions, although loudly and frequently expressed, are regarded as worthless: A pompous balloon who drivelled on about “deliverables” and “blue-sky thinking”.

ballop(rhymes with gallop ) In some areas, such as Galloway, the fly on a pair of trousers is known as the ballop: I suppose we’d better tell him his ballop’s open. Also called (elsewhere) spaiver.

balmoral( bahl-maw-rul ) A balmoralis a type of round brimless cap, the top of which projects beyond the side and has a bobble on it. It often has a checked band round the side, and is usually worn at a slant. [It is named after Balmoral Castle, a private residence of the British royal family in Aberdeenshire]

bampot( bam-pot ) A bampotis a colloquial term for a foolish, stupid, or crazy person, as are bamand bamstick. [These terms all probably come from barm , the froth on the top of a fermenting liquid, which is also the source of the English word barmy meaning crazy]

banditIn the Glasgow area, any thing, person, or event that causes pain or outrage may be referred to as a bandit, especially in exclamations such as ya bandit!

Banff Banffor Banffshireis a historic county of Northeast Scotland, consisting of part of the southern coast of the Moray Firth and the area inland from it. It is now part of the Aberdeenshire council area.

banjo( ban-joe ) To banjosomeone is a Glaswegian term meaning to hit them a single hard blow.

bannock( ban-nok ) A bannockis a round flat unsweetened cake which is made from oats or barley and baked on a griddle. Bannockis also short for Selkirk bannock, a type of round fruit loaf originating in the Border town of Selkirk.

Bannockburn( ban-nok-burn ) References to Bannockburnare generally to the battle which took place near Stirling in 1314, at which the Scottish army led by Robert the Bruce defeated an invading English army and secured Scotland’s position as an independent nation until 1707. The present-day village of Bannockburnis situated a few miles further down the Bannock Burn.

barkit( bark-it ) Barkitis a word used in the Northeast which means very dirty, used particularly of something which is encrusted with dried-on dirt.

barley

barley Barleyis a cry used, chiefly in the East of Scotland, to call for a period of truce or a temporary halt to a game among children at play, used, for instance, when someone is hurt or needs to tie their shoelaces. In Western Scotland, the word used is usually keys. [The word is probably derived from parley , a ceasefire for discussion]

barley breeSee bree.

baronial( ba-roe-ni-al ) The baronialstyle of architecture is one popular in the 19th century in which buildings are ornamented with pseudo-medieval features such as turrets and mock battlements: The magnificent turreted Scottish baronial style of the exterior of the hotel.

barra( ba-ra ) A barrais a wheelbarrow. Something which is right into one’s barrais ideal and exactly in line with one’s interests or desires. To fancy one’s barrais to have an unduly high opinion of oneself. In the Glasgow area, a wee barrais an informal way of referring to any small person that the speaker likes, or at least does not dislike. The Glasgow flea market is known as The Barras.

barrieor barry( bar-ri ) Something which is barrieis very good or very attractive: Your hair looks really barrie like that ; We’d a really barrie time. [The word, which is of Romany origin, is mainly used in Edinburgh and the Southeast]