Jus gonnae no

I don’t always understand the Scottish accent. Most of the people I see day to day are easy to understand, but occasionally I encounter a person with a very broad rolling accent, and I don’t have the slightest idea what they’re saying. At times it doesn’t even sound like English until the second time round, and even then I usually end up saying ‘Sorry…what?’. Or something more polite.

I love parts of Scottish speech however. I am using the word ‘wee’ with reckless abandon. It can be used in so many instances, from ‘Oh look at the wee puppy!’ to ‘Just send me a wee text’. I use it whenever possible.

I’m fond of being called ‘lassie’, and occasionally ‘wee lassie’.

I also love how the Scots say ’aye’ and ’nae’ for ’yes’ and ’no’. And instead of ‘cannot’ or ‘can’t’, it’s ‘cannae’. Or ‘going to’ becomes ‘gonnae’.

Another favourite addition to my vocabulary is ‘minging’, or usually ‘mingin’, definition: ‘gross, dirty, or generally disgusting’. This can be used to describe everything from dirty dishrags to yourself if you’ve gone for some time without a shower; also can be used to describe how drunk you were the night before: ‘I was absolutely mingin’.

Another word for drunk (perhaps it’s appropriate the Scots have many, and I mean no disrespect by that), is ‘steaming’ (or again, ‘steamin’). And to be in a bad mood, or pissed off with someone, is to be ‘in a strop’, or if you like: ’stroppy’.

My work mate Jenny, from Glasgow, swears the following is a phrase: “Gonnae no dae tha – jus gonnae no”, which translated is “Gonna not do that, just gonna not”, which still doesn’t make much sense. But I love it!