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

bourach( boor-aCH ) A variant of boorach.

bowffor bouff( bowf ) 1To bowffis to smell strongly and unpleasantly, like something which has decayed and gone off: Eeugh! This beer’s bowffin! A bowffis a strong unpleasant smell. 2To bowffis also to bark, or to speak aggressively or cough in a way reminiscent of barking.

bowlyor bowlie(rhymes with jowly ) Someone who is bowlyor bowly-leggedhas bow legs: his rounded shoulders and bowly legs.

box 1The boxis an informal name for the accordion, often used in Scottish country dancing or folk music circles: He is a singer and a good box player. 2Someone’s boxis their head. This sense is usually enountered in the idioms out of one’s boxmeaning very drunk, or to do one’s box inmeaning to baffle or exhaust mentally.

boyA boyis an apprentice.

brae( bray ) A braeis a hill or hillside. In place names such as the Gleniffer Braes , the word braesmeans a hilly upland area.

braeheid( bray-heed ) The braeheidor the heid o the braeis the area at the top of a hill.

brambleIn Scotland, brambleis a name for the blackberry fruit and not just the blackberry bush. To go bramblingis to go out picking blackberries.

brammerA brammeris a West of Scotland slang term for something very good: Is that a new tie? It’s a brammer. [The word may be a Scottish form of the army slang term brahma with the same meaning, and possibly comes via the former British military presence in India from Brahma , who is one of the most important Hindu gods, and hence worthy of great respect and admiration]

branderA branderis the metal grating covering a drain in the street.

braw

brawSomething which is brawis fine or excellent: It’s a braw day. [The word is a Scots form of brave ]

breeThe liquid in which something edible has been boiled or left to soak is known as bree. Some types of soup are also traditionally called bree, such as partan bree , a type of crab soup. In the Northeast, to breepotatoes or other vegetables is to drain the water from them after they have been boiled. Barley breeis a poetic or old-fashioned name for whisky.

breeks Breeksare trousers or, occasionally, underpants. [The word is a Scottish form of breeches ]

breengeTo breengeis to go somewhere or do something in a hasty and forceful, and usually clumsy or thoughtless, manner: He breenged his way through the crowd. A breengeis a forceful but clumsy rush.

breenger( breenge-er ) In West Central Scotland, a breengeris a person who acts impetuously and without proper thought.

breid( breed ) Breidis the Scots word for bread. In parts of the Northeast, it also means oatcakes.

bridieA bridieis a type of semi-circular pie or pasty consisting of pastry folded over a minced meat and onion filling. They originated in the town of Forfar in Northeast Scotland, and are therefore sometimes known as Forfar bridies. [They were apparently originally served at weddings, hence the name, which is a shortening of bride’s pie ]

brigA brigis a bridge.

broch(rhymes with loch ) A brochis a type of wide round stone tower, dating from the Iron Age, which was large enough to serve as a fortified home. The ruins of brochscan still be seen in various places, mainly in the North and the Islands.

Brocher( broCH-er ) A Brocheris someone from the towns of Fraserburgh or Burghead in Northeast Scotland. [The name comes from an old sense of broch , a burgh or town, still used as local nicknames for Fraserburgh and Burghead]

brocht( brawCHt ) Brochtmeans brought: He’s been weel brocht up.

brock(rhymes with lock ) or bruck(rhymes with luck ) Brockis rubbish or broken or leftover pieces: He called the plan “a load o bruck”. [The word ultimately comes from the Old English brecan to break]

brogan(rhymes with slogan ) Originally a broganwas a type of Highland shoe made from untanned hide and stitched with leather thongs, but nowadays it is used to refer to any type of heavy walking shoe, especially the brogue, a style of shoe decorated with a pattern of perforations along the seams. [The word comes from the Gaelic bròg a shoe, plus the diminutive ending -an ]

brooA variant of buroo.

brookIn the Northeast, soot is known as brook. Something which is brookieor brookitis sooty or dirty.

brose(rhymes with rose ) Broseis an old-fashioned porridge-like dish consisting of oatmeal or peasemeal mixed with boiling water, a pinch of salt, and sometimes some butter. See also Atholl brose.

bruck(rhymes with luck ) The usual Orkney and Shetland form of brock.

bubbleTo bubbleis to cry, snivel, or weep: The wean came in from school bubblin. A bubbleis a cry: She had a wee bubble at the end of the picture.

bubblySomeone who is bubblyis in, or on the point of, tears, or is sulking: Ah thought ye wantit to go. Well stick, bubbly!

bubbly jockA bubbly jockis a male turkey. [It is probably so called because of the noise it makes]

bucketIn Scotland, a bucketcan be a wastepaper bin or dustbin as well as a pail: Chuck it in the bucket, will you? A bucketis any undefined but large amount of alcohol. In this sense the word is usually encountered in phrases such as we’d both had a fair bucket or he takes a good bucket .

buckie

buckieA buckieis a whelk, a type of shellfish with a snail-like shell, some varieties of which are edible. [The term comes from buccinum , the Latin name for a whelk]

Buckie Buckieis an informal name for Buckfast, a tonic wine (brewed in Buckfast Abbey, Devon), the cheapness and strength of which make it popular with those whose aim is to get drunk as quickly as possible: C’mon we’ll get blootered on Buckie before the game.

BuddyA person from Paisley is sometimes referred to as a Paisley Buddy. St Mirren, Paisley’s professional football team, are nicknamed the Buddies. [The word comes from the pronunciation of the Scots word body , a person]

Bully Wee The Bully Weeis the nickname of Clyde football team. [The name comes from bully , an old-fashioned term meaning fine or admirable, plus wee reflecting the fact that Clyde were always one of the less powerful and successful of the Glasgow teams. (They now play in Cumbernauld)]