Colloquialisms

[gray_marian]

Glasgow:

Ah could eat a scabby-heidit wean.
I’m so hungry that I could eat an unkempt child.

Ah never boil ma cabbages twice.
I have no intention to repeat what I just said.

Ah wouldny go oot wi um if he fartit ten-bob notes.
He’s not my type to ask out for a date.

Ah’m gaun for a artichoke.
I am going to go out for a cigarette. Artichoke being ‘rhyming slang’ for smoke.

A run round the table and a kick at the cat.
Nothing at all. Might be said by a busy parent to their child who keeps haranguing them about what is for dinner!

Breath like a burst lavvy.
Suffers from halitosis.

Did ye faw and break yer watch?
Did you fall and break your watch. Mockingly said to a child who has fallen but is unhurt but is making out they are hurt.

Do you think my head buttons up the back?
Do you think I’m stupid?

Her hair is like straw hanging oot a midden.
Her hair is a mess.

Has emdy got a stick tae hit us wi?
Does anybody have a stick to hit me with? A rhetorical question said by someone who has just realised they are in a losing battle.

If ah don’t see ye aboot ah’ll see ye a sanny.
See you some time soon. This is a play on the word aboot (about) being literally a boot and a sanny being a sandshoe.

If ah don’t see ye through the week ah’ll see ye through the windy.
See you some time soon. Another jocular way of saying goodbye to someone by saying if you don’t see them through the week you will see them through the window!

If at first you don’t succeed, in wi the boot and then the heid.
If at first you don’t succeed, give a kick and then a headbutt. This is a Glasgow version of a saying that should end with ‘try, try again’.

Let the bull see the coo.
Let the expert show his talents.

It’s like two puppies fighting under a blanket.
That ladies posterior is attractive.

Madras in evening, mad a*se in morning.
Don’t eat a curry that is too hot for you!

So dae ah, sodie watter.
Said to someone whose only input to a conversation is the well worn phrase ‘so do I’.

The one the cobbler killed his wife with.
An expression meaning the last of something.

They’re flying low tonight.
The zip in your trousers has fallen down.

Thinks he’s honey and the bees don’t know.
He is very egotistical.

Wan singer, wan song.
One singer, one song. This phrase was popularised by legendary comedian Billy Connolly. Used to state that someone else is interrupting someone else.

Whit d’ye want me tae dae, burst oot in fairy lights?
What do you want me do, burst out in fairy lights. Said by somebody who is not as impressed by something as the other person would like!

Whit is it wi you?
What makes you like this?

Wouldny say eechie or ochie.
Wouldn’t say yes or no!

Would ye credit it?
Would you believe it?

[Ron B Manderson]

Brings back many memoreys
Ron the batacev

[Braid Anderson]

Maybe aye, and maybe hooch aye
Maybe yes, maybe no

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I remember when I went to pick up the girl next door to take to a dance, I overheard her mother say "Watch yon laddie, ah wouldna trust him wi a warm loaf."