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

Bhoys

Bhoys( boys ) Celtic football team and its supporters are sometimes referred to as the Bhoys. [This is a mock Gaelic spelling of Boys which reflects the team’s origin among Glasgow’s Irish community]

bideTo bidein a place is to live there: They were biding in a flat near the harbour. To bidein a state or condition is to remain in it: We’re no awa to bide awa. To be able to bidea person or thing is to be able to endure or tolerate it. This sense is usually used in the negative, indicating that something is intolerable: I cannae bide that man. To bide bya decision is to comply with it, even if you disagree with it: Party officials announced that they would bide by the outcome of the ballot. The past tense can be either bided, bid, or bode, and the past participle bidedor bade.

bidie-in( bide-ee-in ) Someone’s bidie-inis the person who is living with them as their husband or wife although they are not formally married. The word is originally from the Aberdeen area, but is now heard elsewhere in Scotland: The other significant person in McCafferty’s life is Joanna, the woman he fondly describes as his ‘bidie-in’.

bigginor biggingA bigginis a slightly old-fashioned word for a building: A sweet old granny came toddling up the brae to the biggin. In particular, the outbuildings and labourers’ cottages on a farm or estate are sometimes referred to collectively as the biggins.

bikeA variant spelling of byke.

bileTo bileis to boil. A fairly rude way of informing someone that they should go away, or that they are talking rubbish, is to tell them to bile their heid.

bilingA bilingof vegetables, especially potatoes, is enough of them to do for one meal; a Northeastern word. Bilingalso means very hot: Can ye no open a windae? It’s biling in here. See also boiling.

billyA billyis an old-fashioned word for a man or lad, often implying that the person is a friend or workmate.

Billyor Billy BoyIn the Glasgow area, a Billyis an informal name for a Protestant, as in the sectarian football chant which begins Oh I’d rather be a Billy than a Tim . [The term is probably from the name of the Protestant King William III, who defeated the deposed Catholic King James VII (James II of England) in the late 17th century]

bingA bingis a large hill-like mound of waste from a mine or quarry: Large oil-shale bings disfigured the countryside.

binger( bing-er ) A bingeris a West Central Scottish slang term for a losing bet, especially one on an unsuccessful racehorse.

birkA birkis a birch tree.

birlTo birlis to spin or revolve: She watched the clothes birling round in the washing machine.

birse( birss ) To haveor get one’s birse upis to be or become angry or annoyed. [The phrase comes from an earlier sense of birsemeaning bristle]

bit 1In parts of South and West Scotland, the place where someone lives is known as their bit: Can Kirsty come out and play at my bit? 2A bitis a boot.

black-affrontit( black a-frunt-it ) or black-affrontedTo be black-affrontitis to be very embarrassed or offended by something.

black bunDespite its name, black bunis not actually a bun, but is a type of very rich dark fruitcake covered in pastry, which is traditionally eaten at New Year.

blackeningA blackeningis a type of pre-wedding ritual carried out in some areas where the bride or groom is smeared with mud, treacle, or some similar dark-coloured substance and then often paraded through the streets by their friends.

black house

black houseA black houseis a type of thatched house formerly found in the Hebrides and West Highlands, which was built mainly from turf and had an open fireplace in the middle of its one room. [The term is a translation of the Gaelic tigh dubh ]

blackieA blackieis an informal name for a blackbird.

Black Isle The Black Isleis a peninsula in Northern Scotland, on the East Coast slightly north of Inverness, which lies between the Moray and Cromarty Firths. [It is probably so called because until the late 18th century much of it was uncultivated black peat moor]

Black WatchThe Black Watchis a traditional name for the Royal Highland Regiment in the British Army. [The name is a translation of a Gaelic term referring to the dark tartan they originally wore]

blae(rhymes with clay ) Something which is blaein colour is dark blue with hints of grey and purple.

blaeberry( blay-ber-ree ) A blaeberryis an edible purplish-black berry of the type also known as a bilberry or whortleberry. It is also the name of the bush on which these berries grow, which grows wild on some moorland.

blaes( blaze ) Blaesis crushed hardened clay or shale, reddish or bluish-grey in colour, which is used to form the top layer of a sports ground: a blaes pitch.

blate(rhymes with plate ) Blateis an old-fashioned or literary word meaning very timid or diffident or, to put it in more informal terms, backwards at coming forwards: She wasn’t blate to tell him what she thought of him.

blatherskate( blaTH-er-skate ) or blatherskite( blaTH-er-skite ) A blatherskateis someone who talks a lot, but rarely says anything sensible.

blaud( blahd ) To blaudis a Northeastern word meaning to spoil or damage. Something which is blauditis spoiled or damaged: E tatties are aa blaudit ; a park o blaudit neeps.

blawTo blawis to blow. Blawis also a slang word for marijuana: He’s been at the blaw.

bleezinor bleezin fouTo be bleezinis to be very drunk. This word is in current use in the Northeast, but old-fashioned or literary elsewhere: He wis fair bleezin.

blether( bleTH-er ) To bletheris to talk or chatter. A blethermeans a conversation or chat: It’s nice to sit around and have a wee blether with friends. An overly talkative person can also be called a blether: He’s nice, but a bit of a blether. To describe something as blethersis to say that it is nonsense.

blin(rhymes with pin ) Blinmeans blind. A blin lumpis a boil or other swelling which never comes to a head.

blooterA blooteris a wild directionless kick of a ball. To blootera ball is to kick it with more force than accuracy: He blootered it over the bar.