Scottish-isms

J ust a little linguistics guide for some of my American friends who might be planning a visit to Scotland or have to deal with Scots on a regular basis... This is a non-comprehensive guide to some of the language idiosyncrasies in the Scottish vocabulary - i.e. differences between American English and Scottish.

Granted, some of the words and expressions are more universally British - not just Scottish...

Almost everyone is aware of some of the more basic differences. A Scotsman will say 'aye' where an American will say 'yeah'; 'loch' for 'lake', and 'wee' means 'small'. 'Cheers' is a multi-functional word meaning 'hello', 'goodbye', 'thanks', 'to your health' (as in a toast), and apparently 'get the hell outta my way, bozo'. What follows is a list of others that I found during my stay in that country.

I have tended to avoid some of the more complex expressions for simplicity, but here are a few just to demonstrate what you might overhear on a bus or something...

Scottish expression	American equivalent
yer bum's oot the windy (your bum is out the window)	You're talking nonsense. I assume this means that you are about to be thrown out (the window) for talking nonsense...
yer jake-ett's ona slack nail (your jacket is on a slack nail)	You're about to get fired. This means the hook your jacket is on is loose and your jacket is about to fall to the floor. I guess it's just a metaphor... Note: sometimes the word "shooglie" is used instead of slack.
don't geezus a slopey shoulder (don't give me a slopey shoulder)	Don't shuck your responsibility. The imagery is of someone sloping their shoulder so that the responsibilities that are being thrust upon them just roll off.
the ba's ina slate (the ball is in the slate)	Game over. This is in reference to when children would play ball in the street and someone sent one into the gutters (which were made of slate).
standing like coos on the dike (standing like cows on the dike)	Standing and staring, but not contributing... This is in reference to the way cows will stand in a row along a fence (dike) with their heads hanging over (usually eating on the tall grass and staring at passers by).
the wheels fell off the bogey (the wheels fell off the buggy)	Everything went wrong. It's like, everything was going fine until the wheels fell off the buggy.
looks like the dog's breakfast	Looking very ragged, tired, or grungy Actually, this makes perfect sense, but it still strikes me as an odd expression.
running like a burst ass	As in a vehicle or piece of machinery not running well This is apparently in reference to a "broken down" or exhausted donkey.
He had a teaker of a keeker after I skelped him.	He had a really good black eye after I punched him. I put this one in (1) to demonstrate how a whole sentence might be put together and (2) I was afraid that bodily harm might be inflicted by the guy who gave it to me, if I didn't put it in!

I thought about adding a pronunciation guide, as well, but realized that some of the sounds I can't even make accurately with my mouth... much less ASCII characters! This does bring up an important point, though. There are many Scottish words that are actually the same as the American counterpart, yet completely unrecognizable. Examples of these are words like 'oot' which is really just 'out', 'air-th' is 'earth', 'their-tea' is 'thirty', 'windy' is 'window', and lots more...Nevertheless, in a few places I try to hilight the pronunciation if I think it's critical or interesting.

One other note, for the most part, I have only included words that I have heard in typical conversations and I have tried to capture the meaning from the context or have asked the user to help with the definition. At times, I have heard alternative uses for some of these words... I guess we find the same phenomenon in the American dialect... The bottom line: this is not a professional, definitive guide.

Here's the rest. Enjoy...

Scottish	American	Example usage, notes, etc.
anorak	waterproof jacket	Philip would wear his anorak, rain or shine. This term is also used to describe an eccentric person, often one who wears an anorak.
aluminium	aluminum	Technically these are the same, but the extra syllable sounds really strange. (al-lu-min-ee-um instead of al-lu-min-um).
antenatal	prenatal	The woman was just starting to take antenatal vitamins. 'ante' means before (as in antepasta) however when I first heard the expression I thought it was 'antinatal', which I believed should mean preventing babies...
aubergine	egg plant	Just in case you order a vegetarian meal sometime...
au pare	nanny	She was looking for a good au pare to watch her baby while she was at work.
balaclava	ski mask	Joe looked like a bank robber with that balaclava pulled over his face.
banger	sausage	I'd like a plate of bangers and mash. 'mash' means 'mashed potatoes'.
barney	fight	Those two get into a barney every time they're in the same room. This has nothing to do with big purple dinosaurs, but I know what you're thinking.
bees knees	cool	She thought her new hat was the bees knees.
ben	mountain	We had a tough hike up to the top of Ben Nevis. 'ben' is like the word 'mount' - in other words, if Moses would have been a highlander, he would have brought the 10 commandments down from Ben Sinai.
bevy	drink	I'm so thirsty; I could do with a bevy right about now. Presumably short for beverage.
bin	trash can	He always placed his rubbish in the bin. Also, trash bags are called bin liners.
binny	trash man	The binnies came by about 6 in the morning and woke Thomas up early with all the clatter from unloading the bins.
biscuit	cookie	Well, they're sort of the same thing. Biscuits tend to be a bit thinner and crisper. Some might call shortbread a cookie, too. Then there are digestives that look like crackers and taste like cookies. Of course, they also have things called cookies... it's all very confusing.
blether	babble	He does tend to blether about the stupidest things.
blootered	drunk	I got really blootered last night, after visiting about 8 different pubs. There are so many Scottish words and phrases that mean 'drunk' that I could not possibly represent them all here, but I'll throw in a few from time to time, just for grins.
Blue Peter	telethon	Blue Peter is evidently a specific telethon, but the term is also used somewhat generically or discriptively.
boffin	nerd (sort of)	Don't invite him to the party, he's a real boffin.
bonnet	hood of a car	Lift the bonnet, let's see if the fan belt is tight.
boot	trunk of a car	Get the spare tire out of the boot so we can change the flat tyre. This term is also used derogatorially to describe an old woman.
bottom	back	You'll find shoes down at the bottom of the store. The first time I heard this I must have walked right past the shoes a couple of times in my search for the stairs... Of course, likewise the front is called the top.
Boxing day	the day after Christmas	I've heard a lot of different explanations for this holiday, but the most reasonable seems to be that on this day, people would box up some of their old stuff for storage or donation, to make room for their new stuff.
braces	suspenders	He often wore braces to keep his trousers from falling down. Suspenders are garter belts.
brattie	apron	Put on that brattie, get over here and cook up some burgers.
brig	bridge	You'll find a wee brig over the river just down the path about a mile or so.
brilliant	good	Oh, you've brought me a cup of tea; that's brilliant.
bugger all	nothing	If we let the children at the sweets first, there will be bugger all left for us. Sometimes it's "bug all".
bung	bribe	If you want that guy to do something for you, you'll have to slip him a bung. This word apparently has none of the negative connotations found in American slang.
cagoul	Lightweight waterproof jacket	Ian wore a bright yellow cagoul when he walked at night to have the highest visibility and ward off the effects of the everpresent drizzle.
candy floss	cotton candy	Her father bought her some candy floss at the fair.
caravan	camper	Her family liked to go camping in their caravan.
cattie	catalogue	Susan was ever the smart shopper and got much of her family needs from the catties.
ceilidh	a dance	He went to the ceilidh, though he really didn't like to dance. Pronounced something like "kay-lee". This is not a specific dance, but a dance event.
cello tape	scotch tape	He used cello tape to bind the torn page. Ironic, I think, that they don't use the term 'scotch tape'. Also, most cello tape does not come with the familiar dispenser and is therefore difficult to use!
chancer	opportunist	Jim was a chancer and never missed an opportunity to let it be known that he wanted to take Laura out to dinner. 'Opportunist' is not exactly correct, but I'm struggling for an equivalent. A 'chancer' is more like an opportunist that doesn't have a prayer...
cheeky	silly	Ever the joker, Peter was his ususal cheeky self.
chemist	pharmacist	I'll just pop down to the chemist for some aspirin.
chinky	Chinese food	While I didn't want to unnecessarily promote politically incorrectness, this expression is used quite often around here.
chips	french fries	One of his favorite meals was fish and chips.
choc'a'bloc	crowded	Traffic on the motorway was choc'a'bloc during rush hour.
chop & change	mix & match	We may have to chop & change this stuff to get it to fit.
chuffed	excited	After winning the big game, he was really chuffed!
chute	slide	My favorite thing at the swing park is sliding down the chutes.
claymore	sword	William Wallace was supposed to be nearly invincible with a claymore.
clenny	sanitation engineer	Jim pulled a large bin out to the street on Sunday nights for the clenny.
close	alley	To get to his house you had to leave the street and walk down the close. Technically, not an alley, a close is a narrow passage between buildings and will usually have a name. The word is pronounced as in "don't stand so close".
cracker	good	That's cracker; I like it a lot.
craig	a really big rock	Sometimes you have to climb over the craigs before you can start to climb the munro.
creche	day care center	Since both her parents worked, little Elizabeth stayed at the creche most of the day.
crisps	potato chips	He had a light lunch; just a sandwich and a bag of crisps. Two irritating things I notice about crisps around here (1) they are hard to find in anything but the small individual lunch sizes and (2) they come in a multitude of flavors; prawn, smokey bacon, cheese and onion, ham and pickle, chicken tikka, salt and vinegar, and many, many more. In fact, the only flavor that can be hard to find at times is plain!
cupboard	closet	I can't hang up all of the clothes I'd like to - there just isn't enough space in the cupboards.
curry	Indian food	Let's go out for a curry, then hit the pubs in Glasgow.
CV	resume	Look over these CV's from some recent graduates. CV is an abbreviation for Curriculum Vitae (which is probably Latin for "lies I tell to get a job").
daft	stupid	That guy is really daft; I wouldn't trust him to turn out the lights without screwing things up.
dead	very	The puzzle was dead easy, so he completed it in only a few minutes.
deefie	deaf ear	She didn't like him, didn't want anything to do with him, so just gave him a deefie while he continued to talk on.
DIY	building supply	The best place to find fencing materials is at your local DIY. 'DIY' stands for 'Do It Yourself'.
dodgem	bumper car	We went to the carnival and rode the dodgems for hours.
dodgy	questionable	He tried to build a fence, but when it was done, it looked pretty dodgy.
doesn't keep well	old and feeble	I'll not go out for a drink tonight. I'm staying in with my granny because she's alone and doesn't keep well.
donald duck	luck	That's just my donald duck. This is an example of what is called rhyming slang - substitution of a well known name or expression rhyming with the intended word.
dosh	money	I'd love to buy a round for the bar, but I don't have that much dosh.
dove cot	cubicle	If you looking for me, I sit in the first dove cot in the AMCU portakabins. (1) Dove cot literally means a small cubby hole for a nest inside an aviary (2) the pronunciation is something like 'doo-ket'.
dram	shot of whiskey	Bartender! Give me a dram!
dross	garbage	After the parade was finished, there was nothing left but to clean up the dross. Dross was originally the leftover coal bits and ash from coal fires.
dummy	pacifier	When little Karen cried, her mother would just give her a dummy to suck on.
dungarees	overalls	Just then a farmer walked into the restaurant with his smelly dungarees, but no one else seemed to notice.
easy-peasy	piece of cake	At first, driving on these tiny roads was difficult, but now it's easy-peasy
emulsion	latex paint	I need to go to the DIY to pick up some emulsion to cover the marks on the wall. I think paint only refers to laquer based wall coverings.
estate (car)	station wagon	I went in to buy a hatchback, but ended up with an estate instead.
estate agent	real estate agent	If you want to buy a house, you should find a good estate agent.
fairy lights	Christmas lights	She decorated the Christmas tree with ornaments, garland, fairy lights, and an angel for the top.
fanny	female nether region (not the buttocks)	This is mentioned here because (1) 'fanny' is not pornographic in the American context and (2) it is at the core of 90% or more of all Scottish humor...
first floor	scond floor	He got in the elevator and pressed the button for the first fllor. What Americans call the first floor, is the ground floor here. Likewise, all the floors are off by one - by American standards. The 2nd floor is the 3rd, the 3rd the 4th, all very confusing. I like it better when the first is the first, and so on.
firth	mouth of a river	The Firth of Forth is where the Forth river meets the North Sea.
fizzy drink	soft drink	I'll have a tuna sandwich with an orange fizzy drink.
flier	fall	James tripped over a cable and took a flier.
flit	move (house-to-house)	Our lease ran out on our first house, so we took the weekend to flit to the new place.
flog	hard sell	Joe was passionate about all of his ideas and would flog them to whoever would listen.
fly over	over pass	Go straight through that next roundabout and turn right just past the fly over.
fob off	drop responsibility	Don't fob off your chores or they will never get done.
footie	soccer	Do you want to play some footie tonight?
fortnight	2 weeks	He liked to play football with his mates every fortnight.
French dressing	Italian dressing	There is no equivalent to what Americans call 'French dressing' in all of Europe (as far as I can tell).
garden	yard	We have a nice house with a fairly large garden.
gazumped	out bid	Specifically, in England, when buying a house, there is no concept of "contract pending". A person can bid on a house, the bid be accepted, they sell their own house, only to lose the new house to a higher bid. This is called being gazumped. The expression is often td to mean cheated, in general.
ginger	soft drink	He ordered a pizza and a ginger.
git	guy (dude)	Hey you worthless git, it's about time you arrived.
glen	valley	The grassy fields in the glen were a nice change from the craigs at the foot of the mountain.
gloamin	twilight	With the sun no longer visible, it was getting difficult to see in the gloamin.
go in for	ask out to play	I wonder if Stuart can come out to play. Why don't you go in for him?
grotty	disheveled	Peter always dressed kind of grotty, so he was often not invited out to the pubs with the gang. The 'grott' is pronounced as in grotto. I assume there is no connection to the similar American slang, 'groty' which comes from grotesque. (groty to the max, like I'm so sure, gag me with a spoon... You should hear my Moon Zappa!)
gubbed	messed up	After the power glitch, the computer circuit was completely gubbed.
guttered	drunk	Yet another word for drunk.
Guy Fawkes Day	Fourth of July	These are really not the same thing, but have similar rituals and they are both about independence, of a sort. Guy Fawkes was apparently some sort of rebel who pissed a bunch of political types off and then burned down some of their govenrment buildings. The Scotts celebrate with fireworks and huge bon fires. Here is where the similarity ends... The Fourth of July is celebrated at a time where people sweat and drink beer - Guy Fawkes Day is generally celebrated on the coldest night of the winter and you drink mulled wine... if you're lucky.
hawk	hard sell	Jerry would hawk every idea that he had as if it was genius.
high street	expensive	He wore a high street jacket because it made him feel important.
hob	stove	She turned the fire down on the hob so the soup would not boil over.
Hogmany	New Year's Eve	Hogmany is a Scottish tradition where some people have an open house and others go from house to house for a short visit and a wee nip of the alcohol de jour.
holiday	vacation	He still had two weeks of holiday left over at the end of the year.
hoover	to vacuum (a verb)	After buying a new Dyson, she loved to do the hoovering. Dyson is the brand name of vacuum cleaner, like Hoover, except it is bagless and supposedly the most effective commercial vacuum in the world. They look cool!
ice lolly	popcicle	"Mum, can I have an ice lolly after dinner?"
icey	ice cream van	Susie ran to the icey that had stopped down the street to get herself an ice lolly.
iron monger	hardware store	I'll just pop down to the iron monger for some nails.
jacket potato	baked potato	He likes to eat simple, just a steak and a jacket potato.
jelly	gelatin (jello)	Nothing refreshes or entertains like a jiggly plate of jelly.
jiggery-pokery	funny business	There's a bit of jiggery-pokery going on around here, I can tell you that!
jing-bang	everything	Frederick bought a new cookery set that contained the whole jing-bang. Every cooking utensil you could think of was in his set.
joiner	carpenter	He called a joiner to come and fix the rotten boards on his house.
jumper	sweater	It's cold out today, you'd better wear your jumper.
keeker	black eye	She got a keeker when she fell and hit herself in the eye.
kirby grip	bobby pin	You learn these things when you have young girls to keep happy!
kirk	church	There's a nice little kirk on the corner with a great white steeple.
kit	clothes	The farmer couldn't wait to get his smelly kit off and get a bath.
knackered	tired or in trouble	I've been up all night, I'm completely knackered... and if I don't get this report done for my boss then I'm really knackered.
konker	horse chestnut AKA buckeye	Kids love to walk through the woods looking for konkers. There is a sort of game/contest that is very popular where 'konkers' are attached to a string and beat against each other. Apparently the first to shatter is the loser.
lavvy diver	plumber	Jerry made good money as a lavvy diver, but it was disgusting work.
legless	drunk	Yet another word for drunk.
lemonade	soft drink	Sometimes this seems to mean lemon/lime flavored soft drinks, however some people use it generically.
lollie pop lady	crossing guard	I had to stop for the lollie pop lady. So named because of the round stop signs on a stick that they carry.
lorry	truck (not a pickup)	It's amazing how these huge lorries get about on these tiny roads.
lum	chimney	That house is so old the lum is about to collapse.
messages	groceries	He stayed in most of the week, but eventually had to go out for messages.
munro	mountain (over 3000 feet)	They have clubs in Scotland where members try to hike to the top of as many munros as they can. The word 'ben' is used in names of mountains, where 'munro' refers to a classification of mountains.
naff	worthless	As a bartender, Jake was naff, but he was handy to have around as a bouncer, in case a fight broke out.
neb	nose	Stop sticking your neb in where it's not wanted.
neep	turnip	A traditional Scottish dish combination is haggis, tatties, and neeps.
nicked	stolen	I left my favorite pen on this table, but it got nicked.
noddy	silly	Wipe that noddy grin off your face.
nosey	look around	I just went into the shop to have a nosey, but had no intention of buying anything.
numpty	talentless individual	That numpty can't do even the simplest of jobs.
off his head	very angry	Once Peter's wife realized how much money he lost playing the lottery, she went absolutely off her head.
offal	entrails	Ground beef often contains bits of offal.
oregano	oregano	Yes, these are the same, but it's pronounced o-ree-gon-o hereabouts...
orientated	oriented	Another 'bonus' syllable word (or-ee-en-ta-ted instead of or-ee-en-ted).
pants	underwear	His belt was so loose, you could see his pants. This is an important one to know because of the strange looks and snickers an American can receive when he says he needs to change his pants! Use the word 'trousers' instead.
paracetamol	tylenol	I need some paracetamol to kill this nasty headache. I'm not 100% sure that paracetamol is actually acetaminophen (tylenol), but it is definitely a non-aspirin substitute.
paralytic	drunk	Another 'drunk' word.
pashed	drunk	A polite(?) form of pished.
pavement	sidewalk	Children must be careful to stay on the pavement when playing near busy streets.
peckish	hungry	I started to feel peckish long before lunch, because I skipped breakfast.
pelters	abuse	She gave me pelters every time I walked into the room.
piccies	movies	He took his girlfriend to the piccies.
piece-on-jam	jam sandwich	I'm not that hungry, I'll just have a piece-on-jam. 'piece' is sometimes used to refer to sandwiches in general.
pished	drunk	Let's go out and get pished! I'm sure that there is a connection between 'pished' and 'pissed', but am assured that 'pished' is not merely a pronunciation anomaly. I'm told that pished is more drunk than pissed.
plaster	bandaid	You should go to the store and pick up a box of plasters for those cuts on your fingers.
platted	braided	Her hair was platted with a nice wee bow on top.
plonker	incompetant person	I can't stand plonkers who park at bus stops, forcing buses to stop in the street and hold up traffic.
plootered	drunk	Another word for drunk - sounds sort of like blootered...
plug	pacifier	The best way to keep a baby from crying is to shove a plug in it's mouth. (see also 'dummy')
pokey hat	ice cream cone	The kids all gathered around the ice cream vendor to choose various flavors of pokey hats.
pram	baby buggy	Some people in the mall will use their prams as missles to blast their way through the crowds. I'm not even convinced that there are babies in them...
prat	jerk	Joey was really kind of a prat and no one liked him.
punter	customer	I'm just standing at the checkout with the other punters. 'punter' is sometimes used to refer to just anyone.
queue	line	He joined the queue of other customers waiting at the bar for their drinks.
quid	1 pound sterling	That car must have set him back a few quid!
razzle	night out	My wife wanted me to stay home last night, but I went out for a razzle.
respray	paint job for a car	This car would look pretty nice with a good respray.
ropey	questionable	The book was rather ropey with pages bound together using paper clips, staples, and cellotape. This apparently derives from lashing things together.
rubber	eraser	In her pencil case, she had a pencil, pen, ruler, and a rubber. Very disconcerting when your ten year old daughter asks to go to the store for some rubbers!
ruck sack	back pack	She carried her books to school in her ruck sack.
rumdu	bum deal	Man, those guys at the tax office sure gave me a rumdu.
saloon (car)	sedan	I couldn't make up my mind between the 4 door saloon and the 5 door hatchback.
schemes	housing projects	I'm moving out of the schemes and into the country.
scone	biscuit	For breakfast, he usually just had coffee and a scone. A scone may or may not have meat, eggs, fruit, jam, or butter inside. For instance, an Egg McMuffin would definitely qualify for scone status. Potato scones are triangular potato pancakes and look nothing like other scones.
scoobie	clue	That idiot doesn't have a scoobie. Another example of rhyming slang and is a shortened version of scoobie doo (in reference to the cartoon dog).
scooped	drunk	He was really scooped after drinking 6 pints in about an hour. Yet another expression for drunk...
scratcher	bed	Not used with great frequency, this one can really throw an American when it does sneak into a conversation.
scunnard	annoyed	I'm scunnard - this software is crap.
shandy	beer & lemonade	Why anyone would want to pollute a perfectly good beer is beyond me, but it's pretty popular.
shattered	tired	After that long bike ride, I was shattered.
shiftie	look	Give this presentation a quick shiftie to make sure it's OK.
shooglie	shakey	This stack of books is all shooglie.
shot	try	Cindy asked her mum if she could have a shot on the swings. While this is not an unprecedented usage in the U.S., it is used here in greater frequency and more universality.
skelped	punched	I didn't like him so I skelped him!
skint	broke	After buying that new house, I'm totally skint.
skiving	being lazy	Joe was always skiving so he never got things done on time.
skoosh	soft drink	Sometimes I think there are as many different words for soft drinks as there are for being drunk... nah, my mistake. Ironically, skooshed is another word for drunk.
slag	put down	Why do you slag me whenever I walk into the room?
sledge	sled	Grab your sledge. There's snow on the big hill in the park.
smash	coins	I've got a pocket full of smash that I'd love to get rid of down at the local pub. While this may sound cheap, and far be it from me to dispell the Scotish cheap-skate stereotype, one should remember that the one pound coin is dominant as opposed to the one pound note, so it is not uncommon for people to carry around 10 pounds or more of coins in their pocket. By-the-way, they don't call it the pound for nothing...
snog	kiss	Give us a snog, would ya'?
solicitor	lawyer	If you find yourself in legal problems, you should call a solicitor.
spanner	monkey wrench	Hand me that spanner so I can tighten this water pipe.
spit	rain	What a dreary day, overcast with an occasional spit.
sporran	purse (male)	A Scotsman normally wears a sporran in the front of his kilt to hold it down in case a wind might try to lift the kilt.
spot on	exact	His aim is spot on.
spread	margerine	It is important for Americans to be aware of this, because the term 'spread' is used in conjunction with sandwich making. The Scots love their margerine on sandwiches, with beef, ham, cheese, and many other things that seem rather odd when combined with margerine... By-the-way, it taste just like you'd think it would...
stollen	fruit cake	There are a number of cakes and puddings that look like fruit cake in various stages of overdoneness. For instance, a Christmas butter cake looks and taste like a very overdone fruit cake... just when you thought you couldn't make a lousy thing any worse. I didn't taste one, but a stollen looks the part of a typical fruit cake.
stone	14 pounds	The average weight for a man is about 13 stone or 182 pounds.
stookie	cast	He broke his arm and had to wear a stookie for 6 weeks.
stroppy	angry	Don't act so stroppy just because you're having a bad day. Sometimes I hear this word used in a different context (bothersome, perhaps?).
subway	underground walkway (not a train)	To catch a train on the 'tube', you need to walk up the street a ways, cross over to the other side of the road via the subway, then the underground station will be a block further along.
sugar	mild expletive	Sugar! I hate it when that happens!
surgery	doctor's office	Wait in the lounge until the doctor calls you into surgery to look at that nasty cold.
suspenders	garter belt	Men asking about suspenders will raise a few eyebrows. I say this from experience. See / say "braces".
swally	drink	Let's go out tonight and have a swally.
swanning	acting important	Joe was always swaning when he wore his new suit.
swing park	playground	There's a small swing park just down the street where the kids like to play.
ta	thanks	If I open a door for someone, they might respond with 'ta'. This is sometimes uttered in a sharp, guttural grunt that bears a remarkable similarity to a Klingon battle cry.
taking the mickey	the butt of a joke	At first I didn't know what everyone was laughing at, but finally realized that I was taking the mickey. I no clue as to the origins of this expression...
tally	Italian food	Another culturally insensitive expression, included here for completeness.
tart up	make pretty	The report was looking pretty rough, just now, but it would tart up quite nicely once he put in some effort.
tattie	potato	Just throw a few tatties next to the meat on this plate.
tattoo	festival	I'm not sure if this is technically correct, however there is a very popular military presentation put on in Edinburgh called the Tattoo. It is basically a stationary parade with lots of marching, music, etc..
tea	a meal	Boy am I hungry. I guess I'll go in for tea now. 'tea' also refers to the drink made from dried leaves and a break for consuming tea and coffee.
teaker	really good	That was a teaker of a fight that broke out in the bar last night.
that's us	we're done	We have this one last page to print and that's us.
theater	operating room	I'm sorry the doctor will not be able to see any patients because he is in the theater all day. Imagine what I thought the first time I heard that...
tickety-boo	great	No problems; everything is going along just tickety-boo.
tin	tin can	She was a lonely girl who often sat at home eating tuna from a tin.
toob	crazy nut	Joe was always acting peculiar - everyone tought he was a real toob.
torch	flashlight	You'll need a torch if you want to look around that dark attic.
trainers	sneakers	Some pubs in Glasgow will not let you in with Nike trainers.
trolly	shopping cart	Nothing irritates me more than shoppers who park their trollies such that they block the already too narrow aisles.
tuition	instruction	Jane wanted to learn to play the piano, so she signed up for piano tuition. This refers to the actual instruction not the fees for instruction.
tuppins	two pence (not much money)	I can't go out tonight, I hardly have a tuppins.
typix	white out	Interesting that both of these are named for the brand that made them famous.
tyre	tire	Mentioned only to highlight the spelling.
uni	university	Sharon hadn't added two numbers since she graduated from uni. Obviously just a shortened version of university, though it is normally used as if a proper name or a specific university.
vest	undershirt	Stephen often wore a vest under his jumpers to keep them from itching. What Americans call a vest is called a waist coat, here.
waist coat	vest	Stephen preferred three-piece suits because he liked the look of a waist coat.
wanker	unpleasant person	I don't hang around with Gordon too much; he's a wanker. 'wanker' has a mastabatory reference, but that doesn't seem to keep it out of general conversation.
washing up	doing the dishes	After dinner she got the dishes ready for washing up. Dish washing liquid is called 'washing up liquid' in the grocery store.
weans	kids	I'd go out, but someone needs to watch the weans. 'weans' is pronounced like 'waynes'.
wellied	drunk	Another word for drunk, probably derives from the expression "well on" which means... drunk... well, what did you expect???
wellies	rubber boots	Better put on your wellies, the mud is very messy.
whinge	complain	Bill hated his job and did nothing but whinge about it.
windy house (or is it Wendy house)	play house	The little girl loved to play with her dolls in her windy house. I've been too embarrased to ask if it's a windy house because the wind blows right through it or a Wendy house, perhaps after Wendy in Peter Pan?
wonky	wobbly or wierd	After the accident, one of the wheels seemed to be a bit wonky.
wooly	not clear	He had a plan, but most of his mates thought is was a bit wooly.
zed	zee (the letter)	He really knows everything that can be known about the game of cricket, from A to zed. This example is, of course, a fabrication since it is theoretically impossible for one person to know everything about something as complex as cricket...

Scottish-isms

Scottish expression

American equivalent

Scottish

American

Example usage, notes, etc.