Scottish words of the week: The Edinburgh dialect
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In upper-crust areas such as Stockbridge and Morningside, residents pride themselves on their flawless diction and restrained vocabulary. While the more refined areas of Edinburgh channel the spirit of Miss Jean Brodie, it’s the likes of Leith and Tollcross that offer the more interesting slang.
Leith in particular is a hotbed for interesting words and phrases, with the work of Irvine Welsh key in bringing the area’s language to the fore.
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Hide AdThe likes of Trainspotting and Filth are written almost entirely in Welsh’s Leith dialect, with some exciting and interesting turns of phrase used along the way.
Some of the sayings are a little choice for these pages, but we’ve collected a few here with the help of our friends on Facebook.
An Edinburgh glossary
Embra - Edinburgh
Baffies - slippers
Barry - fantastic or great
Bunker - worktop, kitchen counter
Chum - join on a journey (Chumming a friend doon the road)
Cludgie - toilet
Deek - look at
Dinnae - don’t
Feart - afraid of
Foostie - stale
Radge - crazy or uncontrollable (A person can either be a radge, or ‘go radge’)
Reeking - drunk
Scoobied - clueless (Scooby Doo is rhyming slang for clue)
Shan - a shame, or disappointing (A bad day at work could be ‘well shan’)
• Have we forgotten any great Edinburgh slang or sayings? Let us know in the comments.
Scotland’s Dialects
• Glasgow
• Dundee