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.
29. A pritty face suits the dish-cloot
"A pretty face suits a dish cloth" - basically there's no need to fuss over what you're wearing because beautiful people look good in anything anyway, even a dish cloth. Photo: celsopupo via Canva Pro
30. Glasgow Kiss
No, we're not referring to a romantic exchange with a Glaswegian. Instead a "Glasgow kiss" refers to a headbutt attack, as commonly seen amongst Goats. Photo: Png-studio via Canva Pro
31. We’re a’ Jock Tamson’s bairns
Tamson was used to refer to your average man on the street and "bairns" is the Scots word for children, so in essence this phrase just means that "we are all the same". Photo: FatCamera via Canva Pro
32. Away Ye Go
Often said like one singular word "awayyego" this means "away you go" and is used to convey that you don't believe someone. Photo: ilbusca via Canva Pro