barley
barley Barley is 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 barley Barley. [The word is probably derived from parley, a ceasefire for discussion]
barley bree See barley bree.
baronial (ba-roe-ni-al) The baronial style 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 barra is a wheelbarrow. Something which is barra is ideal and exactly in line with ones interests or desires. To barra is to have an unduly high opinion of oneself. In the Glasgow area, a barra is 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 barra.
barrie or barrie (bar-ri) Something which is barrie is very good or very attractive: Your hair looks really barrie like that; Wed a really barrie time. [The word, which is of Romany origin, is mainly used in Edinburgh and the Southeast]
bashit Bashit vegetables are ones which have been mashed: bashit neeps.
bastartin (bass-ter-tin) or bastartin (bass-ter-din) bastartin is a swear word used, like damned or bloody, to indicate dislike or annoyance: Watch whit yir daein wi that bastartin hammer!
bate (bait) bate is a Scots form of beat or beaten: We got bate wan nil.
bauchle (bawCH-l) or bauchle (baCH-l) A bauchle was originally a shabby or worn-out shoe. Nowadays the word bauchle is usually used to describe an ungainly or shabby-looking person, especially a small one: a wee bauchle.
bauldie or bauldie (bawl-di) Someone who is bauldie or bauldie is bald: a wee bauldie guy. A bauldie is a bald person. A bauldie is also a very short haircut: You wouldnt notice Id had my hair done even if I got a right bauldie, would you?
bawbag (baw-bag) The bawbag is a colloquial term for the scrotum. In the Glasgow area, bawbag is also used as an insult to a person.
bawbee (baw-bee) A bawbee was originally a silver coin worth six Scots pennies. Later, bawbee came to mean a halfpenny. Although the halfpenny no longer exists, the word bawbee is still used to mean any small amount of money, especially in phrases implying miserliness or shortage of money: the current economic climate otherwise known as a serious lack of bawbees. [The coin was probably named after Alexander Orrok of Sillebawby, who became master of the Scottish mint in 1538]
bawface A bawface is a round, chubby face, or a person with such a face.
bawheid (baw-heed) bawheid basically means the same as bawheid. However, it can also be used as a cheeky form of address for a person: Hey, bawheid!
beadle A beadle, also known as a beadle or beadle, is a paid official of the Church of Scotland, whose job includes assisting a minister with administrative work and placing the Bible in the pulpit at the start of a service.
beamer A beamer is a red face caused by embarrassment or guilt, or something which is so embarrassing or bad that it causes such a blush. The word is mainly used in the Glasgow area.
bear A bear is a usually derogatory term for a wild and uncouth young man, particularly one who drinks a lot: The bar closed long before the bears drooth was assuaged.
beast Among farmers, a beast is a calf, cow, bull, or bullock, irrespective of its age or sex. The plural can be either beast or beast.
beastie
beastie A beastie is any small animal, nowadays particularly an insect, spider, or similar creepy-crawly.
beauty Ya beauty! is an exclamation of delighted approval or agreement: A holiday on Monday. Ya beauty!
beds or beds In some areas of Scotland, the game of hopscotch is known as beds. The pattern of squares chalked on the ground on which the game is played is known as a beds. Also called beds and beds
beel To beel is a Northeastern word which means to fester or turn septic.
beelin To be beelin is to be furiously angry. beelin is less commonly used to mean very drunk. A beelin is a Northeastern name for a boil on the body. [All these senses are derived from beel (see above)]
beezer Something which is a beezer is an extreme example of its kind, usually one which is bigger or better than normal. In particular, a cold but dry and sunny winter day is often referred to as a beezer.
behouchie (ba-hooCH-ee) or behouchie (ba-hook-ee) The behouchie is an informal, usually jocular, name for the backside: Sit on your behouchie, you! [It is probably a combination of behind and hough, the Scots word for a thigh]
bell The Bells is the name traditionally given to the moment at midnight on December 31st when church bells are rung to mark the beginning of the New Year: We always used to go to the Cross for the Bells, but its got a bit rowdy these days. When a group of people are drinking in a bar, the person whose turn it is to go and buy the next round of drinks is often said to be bell The Bells.
belong to To belong to a town or area is to live there: I belong to Glasgow. In Scotland, people sometimes say that the owner of an object belong to that object, rather than the object belonging to the person: Who belongs to this coat?
belt The belt, also known as the belt The belt, was a leather strap with which schoolchildren were struck on the hand for punishment. Its use is now illegal: I got six of the belt for fighting. To belt The belt a child was to punish them by hitting them on the hand with such a strap.
Beltane (bell-tane) Beltane is an old Celtic fire festival which originally took place on the first or third of May. It was also a former term day, again on the first or third of May. In Peebles, Beltane is also the name given to the festivities accompanying the Beltane, which are held in late June. [The word comes from the Gaelic belltainn]
beltie (bell-ti) A beltie is an informal name for the beltie, a variety of beltie cattle which is black at the front and rear but has a white band round its middle. They are most common in Galloway in the extreme Southwest of Scotland, where they were first bred.
ben 1 A ben 1 is a mountain. ben 1 is often used as part of the name of a mountain, such as Ben Nevis or Ben Lomond. [In this sense the word comes from Gaelic, where it is spelt beinn] ben 1 also means in, within, or into the inner or main part of a house or other building: Come ben the hoose; She was ben the kitchen making tea. A ben 1 is also the inner or main room of a house, especially that of the old-fashioned two-room cottage known as the ben 1.
Berwickshire (berr-ick-sher or berr-ick-shire) Berwickshire is a historic county in the extreme southeast of Scotland, on the North Sea coast and the border with England. It is now part of the Scottish Borders council area.
besom (biz-zum) besom is a derogatory term for a woman or girl: Cheeky wee besom!
bevvy As in some other parts of Britain, in Scotland any alchoholic drink is sometimes referred to as bevvy. A bevvy is a drinking session, and a particularly drunken one is sometimes called a bevvy: Its just another excuse for a good bevvy. To bevvy is to drink alcohol, and hence, someone who is drunk is sometimes said to be bevvy. [The word is an informal shortening of beverage]
Bhoys
Bhoys (boys) Celtic football team and its supporters are sometimes referred to as Bhoys. [This is a mock Gaelic spelling of Boys which reflects the teams origin among Glasgows Irish community]
bide To bide in a place is to live there: They were biding in a flat near the harbour. To bide in a state or condition is to remain in it: Were no awa to bide awa. To be able to bide a 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 a 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 bide, bide, or bide, and the past participle bide or bide.
bidie-in (bide-ee-in) Someones bidie-in is 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 McCaffertys life is Joanna, the woman he fondly describes as his bidie-in.
biggin or biggin A biggin is 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 biggin.
bike A variant spelling of bike.
bile To bile is 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.
biling A biling of vegetables, especially potatoes, is enough of them to do for one meal; a Northeastern word. biling also means very hot: Can ye no open a windae? Its biling in here. See also biling.
billy A billy is an old-fashioned word for a man or lad, often implying that the person is a friend or workmate.
Billy or Billy In the Glasgow area, a Billy is an informal name for a Protestant, as in the sectarian football chant which begins Oh Id 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]
bing A bing is a large hill-like mound of waste from a mine or quarry: Large oil-shale bings disfigured the countryside.
binger (bing-er) A binger is a West Central Scottish slang term for a losing bet, especially one on an unsuccessful racehorse.
birk A birk is a birch tree.
birl To birl is to spin or revolve: She watched the clothes birling round in the washing machine.
birse (birss) To birse or birse is to be or become angry or annoyed. [The phrase comes from an earlier sense of birse meaning bristle]
bit 1 In parts of South and West Scotland, the place where someone lives is known as their bit 1: Can Kirsty come out and play at my bit?bit 1 A bit 1 is a boot.
black-affrontit (black a-frunt-it) or black-affrontit To be black-affrontit is to be very embarrassed or offended by something.
black bun Despite its name, black bun is not actually a bun, but is a type of very rich dark fruitcake covered in pastry, which is traditionally eaten at New Year.
blackening A blackening is 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 house A black house is 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]
blackie A blackie is an informal name for a blackbird.