I admit it. I am a native English speaker. But even that qualification has failed to prepare me for some of the expressions I have run into over the past 10 months in Scotland. These expressions have ranged from funny to apt to utterly unintelligible, requiring translation by a native speaker. Below are a few of my favorites: first, two heard from my English work colleagues, and then two Scottish expressions.
"It's like an octopus in a string bag!" This one was funny, and seemed a very fitting way to describe the reorganization of University administration, which is what the speaker was doing when I overheard her. I just conjured up a mental picture of all the higher level administrators being tossed into a string bag and reaching out, wreaking havoc all around.
"He's got short arms and long pockets." This from another colleague, describing someone who always seemed to be short of money (despite being well-paid) and never reached for his wallet to pay for coffee or lunch.
"Have a blether" This from our singing tutor (i.e., the woman who runs the singing group I am a part of, who is originally from England - Yorkshire - but did fool me for a long while into thinking she was Scottish) about what we ladies can do during the break halfway through the class - meaning have a chat or gossip amongst ourselves.
"That's mingin" I was first introduced to this expression by my English boss who has spent many years in Scotland (similar to the singing tutor above) when we were trying to re-hang a rolling blind in our office that had gotten stuck. The reason it had gotten stuck was partly because it was sticky, and well, mingin. I later heard it in a play - when the parents kissed, the kids squealed "that's mingin" and I was proud to know what it meant. According to the online resource the Caledonian Mercury, the word originally meant bad-smelling but has morphed into a more general gross, disgusting kind of meaning.
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