Happy New Year! I hope 2022 finds you all well. I’m finally venturing out of my cave with a post series I’ve been dying to work on.
In 2019, I teamed up with my wonderful husband, Jez, on our Scots Language project, Things in Scots. Unfortunately, with ever-increasing demands on our time, the project got shelved. Ever since then, I’ve been itching to get back to sharing Scots.
In October 2021, I finally saw the perfect opportunity when Dr Michael Dempster announced on Twitter that there would be a daily Scots language challenge called Scotstober.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep up with the challenge but decided to give it a go, jumping in at the last moment. I’m so glad I did, as I loved the experience of writing entirely in Scots.
Unfortunately, the daily posting on top of writing Running the Asset took its toll on my health—CRPS—and it’s taken a lot for me to get back to posting to the blog.
Which brings me to this post
While I was doing Scotstober, an idea for bringing back Things in Scots struck me. Why not share the bits of the Scots language from my work in progress?
As most of my target audience speaks English and hasn’t much experience with Scots, I’ve written my manuscript in English. My Scots heroes dae drap wee bits o the language in, here and there. But, I’ve tried to avoid the need to have the characters explain the words by relying on context (though some phrases the heroes do explain).
So, here’s the first snippet… (apologies, this is an unedited first draft)
“He’s heading North, K.” Adam sprinted in that direction.
“Got him,” Killian said over the comms. “He’s nearing the shopping centre. Take the next left and go in through the multistory parking. You can intercept him before he gets lost in the crowd.”
Adam pumped his arms and legs, willing them to go faster. He skitit around the corner, almost hitting the opposite wall as he lost traction on the gravel.
Running the Asset (Deniable Unit #1)
Skitit is the past tense of skite (check out my post on skite). Skite means to slide, slip, go fast—and much more—and is pronounced skiyt.
Skitit is pronounced skiy-tih. You’ll notice that the t at the end isn’t sounded. Well, that’s not entirely true. It’s a glottal stop, so the sound comes from the throat.
And that’s it
I hope you enjoyed this post. I’d love to hear your comments on how easy or difficult it was to get the gist of skitit as it appeared in the quote.
This isn’t exactly a challenge series, but if you find yourself inspired by the Scots words I share, add the tag #TiS or #ThingsinScots to your writing/art/photo post and drop your link in the comments.
Thanks for reading. Take care, and I hope to see you next week for more Scots on Manuscript Mondays!
That one was easy and fun. 🙂
Thanks for the feedback, Judy! I’m so glad you found it fun. 😊
Happy New Year, Susan!
Thank you for taking up TiS, again. That’s braw!
Happy New Year, Stefanie! Thanks for reading, and the feedback.
Happy New Year, Susan. That’s an easy one – sounds (reads) to me like ‘skittered’ – a word I use.
Happy New Year, Chris! Yeah, skittered is pretty similar. I chuckled at the word skittered. In Scots, skitter, generally means a mess, but in my bit of Scotland it means “the runs”. 🤣
I may never view the word in the same way again! 😉😂
I’m half sorry, half not. Now you can chuckle everytime you hear it. 🤣
Also, thanks for the feedback! My brain is in forget mode today.
Hi Susan HNY 🍾🎆 I even had the earlier one worked out “My Scots heroes dae drap wee bits o the language in, here and there” Looking forward to again trying to discover a bit of Scots 🙂
Hi, Brian and Happy New Year! Thanks for the feedback. Great work on catching the wee sneaky bit of Scots in the lead up. You get an extra biscuit. 🤗 🍪
Nom nom 👍😁
Stefanie Neumann: liked this. via twitter.com
Diane Anderson: Things in Scots is finally back after its two year break! But, there’s a twist. This time, it’s personal…well, eh, kinda? Take a keek at how I’m using Scots in my modern romantic suspense novel. #ScotsLanguage #Scots #ScottishHero #amwriting susantbraithwaite.com/2022/01/03/thi… via twitter.com
Stefanie Neumann: Things in Scots is finally back after its two year break! But, there’s a twist. This time, it’s personal…well, eh, kinda? Take a keek at how I’m using Scots in my modern romantic suspense novel. #ScotsLanguage #Scots #ScottishHero #amwriting susantbraithwaite.com/2022/01/03/thi… via twitter.com
Happy New Year Susan! I am looking forward to learn more about the Scots language!
Happy New Year, to you, too Aletta! Thanks for reading!
You’re welcome
Woohoo 🎉 Things in Scots is back; I’ll hopefully be able to add the odd photo as well 😃
🥳 I can’t wait to see what you come up with, sweetie. 😘