SUSAN TIPPETT BRAITHWAITE

The spelling of this week’s word might make it a bit difficult to pronounce, as vowels in Scots don’t sound the same as they do in English. A good example is the word wash. In Scots, wash rhymes with rash/cash/mash.

And onto today’s word. The letters ae sound like the ay you find in hay/bay/say, and ey sound like eye/why/die. Altogether, naewey sounds like nay-why.

Regardless of whether you needed the quick vowel explainer or not, I’m sure the meaning of this week’s word is clear.

Here’s the snippet… (unedited first draft)

Leigh Frost didn’t scare easy. She hadn’t bothered to put up a fight when Ward had gone to bag her. According to Ward, it was as if the hitwoman had been expecting him, even offering him coffee as he held his gun on her.

Something more was going on, but Adam was naewey close to figuring it out. He leant back into the chair, feigning a relaxed calm that he didn’t feel. “You know, I’m wondering who you thought was coming for you?” It was possibly another buyer or some part of Blackwell’s plan that they hadn’t twigged onto yet.

Leigh’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Why, you boys, of course.”

Running the Asset (Deniable Unit #1)

I’ve got my fingers crossed that naewey was as clear as I hoped. But, if not, naewey means nowhere, no place.

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 naewey as it appeared in the quote.

Bonus question: Did you need the mini pronunciation guide to know how to say the word?

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!