In the past, we have asked our Scotsman readers for their favourite Scottish words (and sayings) and in doing so revealed a wealth of rich Scottish vocabulary including Scots words with totally different meanings in English and (naturally) weather terms e.g., “dreich”.
From Scottish Gaelic to Scots Leid and its dialects such as Doric, Scotland has a rich linguistic heritage which endures to this day. For example, you can find Gaelic phrases in the hit TV show Outlander and Scots Leid expressions too.
Meanwhile, it is well known that there are many mispronounced Scottish place names because these locations still have motifs of our heritage languages. So, all of this to say that Scotland provides a rich landscape for languages and that extends to our descriptions of human anatomy.
If terms like “cranniewanny”, “geggie” or “queets” are lost on you then continue reading for twenty-one Scottish words for body parts.
13. Thrapple
A “thrapple” is a throat or windpipe. To help you remember it, remember that men have an Adam’s apple in this area; apples and thrapples, rhyming is always a strong mnemonic. Photo: FatCamera on Canva Pro
14. Taes
Pronounced like “tays” the term is the Scots equivalent for a toe. Just like with regular English, rather than say “big toe” you can refer to it as “yer big tae”. Photo: Perboge on Canva Pro
15. Een
The English translation of the Scots “een” is eyes. One example from Stoory Duster goes: ““Ah’m no sure it’s ethical tae transplant the een o a hoolet intae the heid o a peepin tom” (I am not sure it is ethical to transplant the eyes of an owl into the head of a peeping tom.) Photo: Tookapic on Canva Pro
16. Airm
No doubt you already knew or guessed it but this Scots anatomical term denotes an arm. You might say it in a sentence like “haud ma airm” (hold my arm!) Photo: Alexa Popovich on Canva Pro