Scottish words and sayings, combined with a world-famous accent, can easily make the English used here sound like a totally separate tongue. It aptly reflects the fact that Scotland historically never had one uniform language spoken by all its ancestors (and to this day we still have languages like Scots and Scottish Gaelic.)
In the Scottish Highlands you were more likely to encounter Gaelic once upon a time while in the lowlands Scots was preferred.
We asked our Scotsman readers what “their favourite Scottish saying is” and they offered spectacular answers from “yer lookin’ peely wally” (you look sick) to the classic “whit’s fur ye’ll no go by ye” (what’s meant to be will be!)
These are forty of Scotland’s favourite Scottish sayings and phrases as voted by our Scotsman readers.
21. Awa' an bile yer heid
"Away and boil your head," this is a - particularly harsh - way of telling someone to 'get lost'. Photo: YouraPechkin via Canva Pro
22. The baw’s on the slates
Ever been kicking a ball about with your mates outside and one of them manages to boot it up onto the roof? This is for that friend: "the ball's on the roof!" Photo: pkline via Canva Pro
23. Mad wae it
If you're on a night out with friends then you'll likely end up "mad wae it" by the end of it i.e., drunk. Photo: da-kuk via Canva Pro
24. Don't be a wee clipe!
Nobody likes a clipe, or so they say... A clipe is the Scottish word for "tattle tale" i.e., someone who tells on others. Photo: George Marks via Canva Pro