|
Glaswegian |
English |
Example
and
Translation |
|
Da |
Father |
Father's are
getting younger - this lad became a father when only
thirteen. Da!!!!
 |
|
Dae |
Do |
|
|
Daein' |
Doing |
|
|
Daeing |
Doing |
|
|
Daftie |
A person of limited
intelligence. |
|
|
Dain't |
Don't |
|
|
Dancer |
To say something is fantastic
(exclamation) |
Oh ya dance, Ah won a tenner
oan ra lottery.
Goodness gracious me, I put all my hard earned cash
from the Employment Exchange onto lottery tickets
and had the good fortune to win a massive ten pounds
sterling |
|
Dancer, ya |
Really good |
|
|
Dancin, The |
Disco or nightclub |
Disco
Dancing Girls in Nightclub Glasgow
 |
|
Dancin, Are ye |
Would you like to dance
with me? |
|
|
Daud or Dod |
A piece or lump. |
Gies a dod awe yer
chocolate goanae?
Would you be so kind as to share your confectionary
with me? |
|
Dauner |
To walk slowly or stroll. |
Ah'll huv a wee dauner doon
tae the pub. I shall
make my way to the local hostelry. |
|
Daurna |
Does not |
Ane may think that daurna
speak.
Married men soon learn to keep their mouths shut.
[From A Midge in Your Hand is Worth Two Up the Kilt]
|
|
Daylicht |
Daylight |
His mither canna see
daylicht til him.
He’s so bloody fat he fills the French windows.
[From A Midge in Your Hand is Worth Two Up the Kilt] |
|
Deed |
Dead |
|
|
Deid |
Dead / In big trouble
|
See you wee man - you're
deid. You have
annoyed me by merely being in my presence and must
now suffer my wrath. |
|
De'il |
The Devil |
The Deil's Awa Wi' The
Exciseman by Rabbie Burns
The deil cam fiddlin' thro'
the town,
And danc'd awa wi' th' Exciseman,
And ilka wife cries, "Auld Mahoun,
I wish you luck o' the prize, man."
Chorus-The deil's awa, the deil's awa,
The deil's awa wi' the Exciseman,
He's danc'd awa, he's danc'd awa,
He's danc'd awa wi' the Exciseman.
The Devil has kidnapped the tax man - yippeeeee!!! |
|
Deoch an doris |
Gaelic for a drink at the
door / a last or farewell drink
|
Wee Deoch an
Doris by Sir Harry Lauder.
There's a good old Scottish custom that has
stood the test o'time,
It's a custom that's been carried out in every land
and clime.
When brother Scots are gathered, it's aye the usual
thing,
Just before we say good night, we fill our cups and
sing...
Chorus
Just a wee deoch an doris, just a wee drop, that's
all.
Just a wee deoch an doris afore ye gang awa.
There's a wee wifie waitin' in a wee but an ben.
If you can say, "It's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht",
Then yer a'richt, ye ken.
Now I like a man that is a
man; a man that's straight and fair.
The kind of man that will and can, in all things do
his share.
Och, I like a man a jolly man, the kind of man, you
know,
The chap that slaps your back and says, "Jock, just
before ye go..."
Chorus |
|
Diddies |
Womens breasts |
|
|
Diddy |
Idiot or fool |
What diddy did this?
 |
|
Didnae |
Did not |
Ah didnae dae it - a big
boy did it and ran away.
Oooops there I go again -
telling little lies. |
|
Dig Money |
Money a working boy would pay
parents for lodgings |
|
|
Dingy |
To ignore; or clatty - dirty. |
|
|
Dinnae |
Don't |
Dinnae
bother me Ah'm busy.
Do not annoy me I'm
watching the television. |
|
Dirk
|
Dagger with a
long blade. The
Scottish
dirk is a direct
descendant of the medieval ballock dagger. |
Scottish
Dirk - Sgian Dubh
 |
|
Disnae or Dizny |
Doesn't |
|
|
Diz |
Does |
|
|
Dizn't |
Doesn't |
|
|
Dizzy |
The act of being stood up |
She gaed us a dizzy so she
did. |
|
Doacter |
Doctor |
|
|
Dobber |
Penis / Idiot
Dobber
diminutive noun
Used in place of ‘penis’ in Ned
speak. A Ned never calls his penis (or indeed any
penis) a dobber but he does call all his friends
dobbers - implying that they are all penises. So in
effect he takes pleasure in hanging about with
penises - which tends to suggest he’s a bit of a
prick himself!
[From Ned Speak by Stuart McLean] |
|
|
Doin, Doing |
A beating |
|
|
Doll |
A slightly derogatory name
for a girl or girlfriend. |
Some
right Scottish Dolls in mini kilts
|
|
Doo |
A Pigeon. |
Pigeon attacks man in
Glasgow
A Glaswegian Pigeon after a
night on the bevvie . . .
|
|
Dook |
To dip something into
another thing. eg Dooking for apples where the face
is plunged into a bowl of apple infested water in
the ludicrously vain hope of actually catching one
in your teeth. |
Dooking for apples
 |
|
Doolally |
One only ever goes doolally
- one never actually gets there. A person who is
going doolally is thought to be slightly mentally
deranged - but usually in a good way. |
The old man's going doolaly.
Although my father has reached the ridiculously
ancient age of fifty he has decided to run a
marathon! |
|
Doolfu |
Doleful / sorrowful / mournful |
Ode to a
Toad
Poor wee doolfu’ toad,
Ye goat a right bum deal,
For sexy girls a frog will kiss,
A prince for tae reveal.
The frog has skin so soft an’ smooth,
While your’s has warts that shock,
The frog is built tae hop around,
While ye have goat tae walk.
But didnae get too upset,
As ye lay ten thousand eggs,
For yer weans will grow up safe and sound,
For nae one eats toad’s legs.
Copyright Stuart McLean
From No' Rabbie Burns |
|
Doon |
Down |
|
|
Doon-the-Watter |
The ancient Glaswegian custom of going
to Classic Tourist Destinations on the River Clyde; Millport, Rothesay, and Dunoon for the 'fair'
holidays. At
the fair thousands of workers and their families
would head for these exotic resorts to eat fish and
chips on the beach.
(Note: This was before
pleasure and enjoyment were invented.) |
The Song of
the Clyde - Author Unknown
I sing of a river I'm happy beside
The song that I sing is a song of the Clyde
Of all Scottish rivers it’s dearest to me
It flows from Leadhills all the way to the sea
It borders the orchards of Lanark so fair
Meanders through meadows with sheep grazing there
But from Glasgow to Greenock, in towns on each side
The hammers ding-dong is the song of the Clyde
Oh the river Clyde, the wonderful Clyde
The name of it thrills me and fills me with pride
And I'm satisfied whate'er may betide
The sweetest of songs is the song of the Clyde
Imagine we’ve left Craigendoran behind
And wind-happy yachts by Kilcreggan we find
At Kirn and Dunoon and Innellan we stay
Then Scotland’s Madeira that’s Rothesay, they say
Or maybe by Fairlie and Largs we will go
Or over to Millport that thrills people so
Mavbe joumey to Arran it can't be denied
Those scenes all belong to the song of the Clyde
When sun sets on dockland, there’s beauty to see
The cry of a seabird is music to me
The blast of a horn loudly echoes, and then
A stillness descends on the water again
Tis’ here that the sea-going liners are born
But, unlike the salmon, they seldom return
Can you wonder the Scots o’er the ocean so wide
Should constantly long for the song of the Clyde
Chorus
These verses below were added by Kenneth McKellar
in his version of the song:
There's Paw an' Maw at Glasgow Broomielaw.
Goin' "doon the water" for "The Fair."
There's Bob an' Mary, on the Govan Ferry,
Wishin' jet propulsion could be there.
There's steamers cruisin', and there's "buddies"
snoozin',
And there's laddies fishin' frae the pier;
An' Paw's perspirin', very near expirin',
As he rows a boat frae there to here.
With eyes a-flashin', it is voted "smashin",
To be walkin' daily on the prom:
May and Evelyn are in seventh heaven
As thy stroll along with Dick and Tom;
And Dumbarton Rock to ev'ry Jean and Jock,
Extends a welcome that is high and wide:
Seems to know that they are on their homeward way
To hear the song of the Clyde." |
|
Dosser |
Down and Out / Tramp |
Down and
Out Teddy on the Streets of Glasgow
 |
|
Dram |
A measure of whisky |
|
|
Drap |
A measure of whisky which
can vary between a thimbleful to a bucketful
depending on the generosity or otherwise of the
host. |
Will ye huv a wee drap ay
whisky? I am asking a
rhetorical question - it is already poured. |
|
Dreep |
To voluntarily tumble from
a high place such as a wall. |
Humpty Dumpty sat on a
wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great dreep.
All the King's horses, And all the King's men
Said, 'Who cares he was a bit of a creep.'
[ Copyright Stuart McLean] |
|
Dreich |
Damp, dizzily, cold wet
weather - the kind that
gets under your skin and makes you buy an easyJet ticket to
Spain IE
Scotland in summer. |
Glesga
Rain Dance
 |
|
Drookit |
Soaking wet
|
|
|
Droont |
Drowned |
|
|
Drooth |
A great thirst. |
|
|
Drover |
A person who took cattle
over long distances to market. Many drover's roads
still criss-cross Scotland - The West Highland Way
is partly Drover's roads. |
The Drovers Inn, Inverarnan
- reputed to be haunted by several drovers who
killed each other in a fierce fight.
 |
|
Drum, The |
Drumchapel, an area of Glasgow
where the unemployed outnumber the employed by 3 to
1 - usually up a close with the help of a knife.
Drumchapel (Druim a'
Chapaill in Gaelic) (known to locals and residents
as 'The Drum') is part of the city of Glasgow,
Scotland, having been annexed from Dunbartonshire in
1938. It borders Bearsden to the east (in East
Dunbartonshire) and Clydebank to the west (in West
Dunbartonshire). The area is bordered by Knightswood
and Yoker in Glasgow. The name derives from the
Gaelic meaning 'the ridge of the horse'. |
Drumchapel Glasgow - Beach
View at Sunset
(It
doesn't look so bad at this time of day!)
|
|
Drouthy or Druthy |
Thirsty |
From Tam O' Shanter by
Robert Burns When chapman billies leave the
street,
And drouthy neibors, neibors, meet;
As market days are wearing late,
And folk begin to tak the gate,
While we sit bousing at the nappy,
An' getting fou and unco happy,
We think na on the lang Scots miles,
The mosses, waters, slaps and stiles,
That lie between us and our hame,
Where sits our sulky, sullen dame,
Gathering her brows like gathering storm,
Nursing her wrath to keep it warm. |
|
Duck's Arse |
A hairstyle (consisting of
greased hair piled high on top and swept back at the
sides to form a ridge or seam at the back) |
Duck's Arse
 |
|
Duds |
Trousers |
|
|
Dug |
Dog |
|
|
Dug Van |
Small Police ' Wagon ' |
|
|
Dule / Dool |
Grieve |
|
|
Dumps |
A ritual observed by
schoolchildren - when it's someone's birthday you
are allowed to hit them on the back - once for each
year of his age. |
|
|
Dunderheid |
What the schoolmaster
called you when you got a question wrong, before
children's rights, human rights and twenty other
bloody stupid policies made such remarks illegal. |
School
Dunce - Dunderheid
 |
|
Dunted |
A wee bit drunk |
|
|
Dwam |
Dream state. |
|
