Welcome to the revamped Things in Scots series. In this incarnation of TiS, I’m sharing the Scots language found in my upcoming romantic suspense novel, Running the Asset.
Okay, this week’s word looks like the English word “greeting”, with the g missed off at the end. But that’s where the similarities end with this Scots word.
Here’s the snippet… (unedited first draft)
Elle’s gamble had paid off. Though, it may have cost her emotionally to do it. Not that Adam cared. An asset’s mental wellbeing wasn’t his concern. All that mattered was getting the drive and ending the Consortium’s weapons trade. Besides, caring got assets killed.
She hadn’t reacted the way he’d thought she would. He’d expected her to be a greetin mess, but she was dry-eyed and radiating rage. So much so that even Ward had picked up on it enough to stay out of her way.
Running the Asset (Deniable Unit #1)
Hopefully, you can see that greetin in this context means crying without sounding too explainy.
Greetin comes from the verb greet, which means to cry, weep, complain, and grumble. As a noun, it means sob, a crying fit. Bonus phrase: greetin face is what we call someone who looks miserable or about to cry all the time, or is a constant complainer.
That’s it for this week
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 greetin as it appeared in the quote.
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.
If you want to see more Scots posts, check out the original series, Things in Scots.
Thanks for reading. Take care, and I hope to see you next week for more Scots on Manuscript Mondays!
No problem with that one, Susan!
Thanks for the feedback, Chris! Always appreciated 💖
I had a little trouble only because the first thing that came to mind was a hot mess. 🙂
Thank you, Judy. I’m tempted to say it’s close, but I might have the wrong idea of what a hot mess is 🤔 Okay, I just looked it up, not as close as I’d thought. He’d expected a teary, blubbering mess.
I would never have guessed that greet means to cry or grumble. Of course in the US it means salutations and an exchange of pleasantries. This seems a lot more honest sometimes. Your snippet makes me want to read more. I like your explanation. Very cool.
Thanks for the feedback, Marsha! It’s so helpful hearing how the words land with non-Scots speakers. And, thanks so much for the compliment on the snippet!🤩
It’s weird to see the same words in another language mean something so different.
I get mixed up every so often 😄
It’s common. that’s why we always heard (and spoke) a lot of Spanglish in CA where I taught a bilingual fourth grade class.
Love it 😃
Thank you, sweetie! 💖
The “dry-eyed” in the second part of the sentence is giving the hint into the right direction for those not familiar with this word, I think.
I learnt it only recently and am now realising that some of my posts in the Scots must sound a little weird… 😱😂
Fit dae ye say fer the Ingels “to greet” in the Scots, then?
A’d lik tae ken sae A can pit a stap tae the confuision.
Och, yer fine, we aye ken fit yer gettin at. The Inglish greet is goam in Scots. 🤗
Ay, A’m greetin at ma Scots. 😂
Muckle thanks fer lettin’ me ken the richt wird. “Goam”. A shall mind that ane.
Hit’s aye a pleesur tae help. 🤗
Stefanie Neumann: liked this. via twitter.com
I worked it out! Dry- eyed helped me to get it!
Thanks for letting me know, Aletta! Very much appreciated. 💖
You’re welcome!