Sayings

[maddymoss]

In reply to a less than believable remark my mother would say. ‘Aye, an’ the coo’ll calve a cuddy.’ Meaning the cow will give birth to a donkey. Any bairn in the village deemed to have big ears was given the less than flattering nickname of ‘Cuddy Lugs.’

Jim

[mistral]

When the children asked what they were getting for Christmas or birthday presents, my mother-in-law would say "a bonny new nothing wi' a whistle on the end of it"

If anyone was being silly they would be referred to as a "daft skate"

And a tardy shop assistant might be referred to as "that slow the deid lice were drappin' aff her"

Could be back with some more, have got my husband thinking about it............hmm, may be some time!

[mistral]

My Dundee Gran Ross used to tell her grandchildren "you cannae see green cheese but whit yer een reels" if she thought we we were being too acquisitive!!! Totally uncalled for, I used to think!

A pushy sort of person was "no backwards at comin' forwards"

[nancy]

My Mother would say,"we'll aw end up in the pairshoose"(poorhouse)when I kept asking for more money for sweets.When I ate an awful lot she would jokingly say,"I'd rather keep you for a week than a fortnight"

When someone got off his seat and someone else quickly sat down on it,you would say"that's how the rents are so dear" or sometimes say,"would you take ma grave as quick"

Ah used to listen to an old lady talkin to my mum and saying
"Whits for ye wull no go by ye" How true.

What will be will be!!

[SarahND]

So what is your "wheesht?" How do you "hud it" Then when you've "hud it"how do you get in into the pail?

I'll bow to all of your superior knowledge of Scots, but having no native knowledge to go on, I looked in my Concise Scots Dictionary and came up with:

wheesht see WHISHT
So... moving onto the next page I find:

whisht interj be quiet! shut up!

1 vi utter the interj wheesht!, call for silence
2 vt silence, cause to be quiet, quieten
3 vi be quiet, remain silent

n, also ~ie chf in negative the slightest sound, the least whisper; the faintest rumour or report

adj quiet, silent, hushed

haud or keep one's ~ be quiet, keep silent, hold one's tongue
************

As far as the pail goes No idea! But it sounds rather worrisome...
Regards,
Sarah, who'd be better off haudin her wheesht

[nancy]

Ah Sarah, when you said "Hold your Tongue" that reminds me.When ma mammy said that to me,I used to try holding it between index finger and thumb,then say to her "Ah cannae mammy it keeps slippin"

[rye470]

Nancy,

I said that to my six year old son last week, and he did the same thing.

I find that I still use a lot of the phrases my mum and dad used. Stewart found "hold your tongue" funny, because he's usually told to haud his wheesht. He knows that one well.

My street cred went up somewhat in the playground recently. After most of the kids had been to see the movie 'Open Season'. One of the characters (Billy Connolly's), tells another that he'll kick his "big brown bahookey". Stewart had me saying it over and over to his friends because "I could say it right". I got some strange looks when he told them that I was born in the same place.



Christine.

[Miss Poohs]

Ohh I love these - I use quite a few of them.

I've never heard the "scittery coo" one before - 'love it.

My dad often says "aye yer no' as green as yer cabage lookin'" which I think means you're not as daft as you look.

I love "yer hair looks like a coo's sooked it" which is Scottish for having a bad hair day

One of my personal favs is "wuz the dug near ye when it bit ye?" in other words you're tad nuts.

[StewL]

Another one I remember my mother using often to us when we played dumb was "Kid on yer daft and somebody will gie ye a hurl"

your no as green as yer cabbage looking was another I heard often

[Bervonian]

Has anyone heard the expression, "As hard as Henderson/Henderson's" ?
Who was Henderson ? Is this peculiar to the N.E. of Scotland ?

Bervonian.