SUSAN TIPPETT BRAITHWAITE

For the longest time, I had no idea that this week’s word wasn’t English. One of its meanings is the same as its English counterpart–earwig. But there is another meaning in Scots (and quite possibly Northumbrian), which you’ll find in the example below.

Here’s the snippet… (unedited first draft)

Elle took her time, lingering in the kitchen, inching closer to the two men who no doubt had forgotten her. There were a couple of stools at the end of the countertop, close enough that she could listen in without either Adam or Ward noticing. With her back to them, she focused all of her concentration on their hushed voices.

Ward was doing most of the talking, something about an auction, but she couldn’t catch anything more than that.

“Want him to repeat that, or were you able to catch enough while you were eariwigin?” Adam’s tone was more irritated than angry.

There was no point denying that she’d been eavesdropping on them. She spun around on the stool, coffee mug cradled in her hand. “I missed most of it.” She took a sip of coffee, just enough to appear unfazed by his sudden acknowledgement of her existence. “What’s the auction for?”

“None of your concern,” Adam said.

Running the Asset (Deniable Unit #1)

Hopefully, Elle and Adam made the meaning of eariwigin clear. But, if not, eariwig means eavesdrop; eariwigin is the act of doing it.

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 eariwig as it appeared in the quote.

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Thanks for reading. Take care, and I hope to see you next week for more Scots on Manuscript Mondays!