Welcome to day ten of Things in Scots!—a fun collaboration with my husband, Jez (Mind an gie Jez’s post a keek.)
It’s wet and wild today in Glasgow, and with that comes boots coated in mud. The potential for having to clean up after said boots got me to thinking of some of the words we have for dirt.
So, today’s things in Scots is: Maukit (and other filthy words).
The word maukit comes from the word mauk, which means maggot. And maggots tend to conjure images of filth and decay. So, it’s not too much of a stretch to see that maukit means something is filthy.
Other dirt-related words are:
- Durt, which means dirt.
- Clart means mud, and also lumps or clods of something unpleasant.
- Clatty means dirty, muddy, and can also be used to describe someone.
While I was thinking of my favorite dirt words, several words for foul smells popped into my head.
Like:
- Boggin (also bawgin) means dirty, foul-smelling.
- Bowfin (also bouffin) means stinking, foul-tasting.
- Mingin not only refers to something being malodorous but also means being drunk.
(On occasion, I’ve heard most of the smell related words used to mean ugly.)
To close out today’s post, here’s an example of one of my favorites in use.
Ye cannae mak us aet at! Yon cuik’s hauns ur clatty!
You can’t make me eat that! That cook’s hands aren’t clean!
If you want to ken the Scots for anything, just ask in the comments section.
Thenks fur stoapin by, and hae a wunnerfu day.
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