Hiya! I thought I’d open this week’s post with a huge thanks to everyone who gave me feedback on the stick the heid oan post. You’ve saved my future readers a big headache (đ ) in figuring out what it means. There are a couple of ways to deal with it, either I mention the word headbutt close to the phrase, or I just remove it. I’m leaving it for future Susan to deal with đ.
This week’s word is an everyday word in Scots, as is its translation into English. Oh, and it’s pronounced mih-bey.
[I don’t tend to add a set-up for these scenes, but when I read this wee snippet back, I realised I had no clue where they were. Adam and Elle (and Dani–Elle’s sister who is offscreen) are in a restaurant in Marseille, France–the bulk of the book is set there.]
Here’s the snippet⊠(unedited first draft)
Adam grabbed a slice of bread from the table and leant across Elle for the butter. âWhat pissed your wee sister off?â
âNothing, sheâll be back any second, and you canât be here when she does.â
âYouâre a touch more uptight than normal. Either that stick up your arse went deeper, or youâre planning on running. Best be warned, doll, running away from me will only piss me off.â
A sweet smile curved her lips. âHow would I know the difference?â
âKeep it up, and youâll find out. Mibbe Iâll start with investigating Daniâs hacking activities.â Elleâs eyes grew wide. âOh, you didnât think we knew about her extracurricular activities?â
âYou’re blackmailing me?â
âYip.â
Elle’s eyes narrowed into slits of anger. âIf you threaten Dani again, weâll disappear, and you can deal with thisâwhatever the hell this isâon your own.â
Adam leant close to her. âThereâs nowhere in this world you can hide from me. Iâll always find you. And if I have to drag you back here to do whatâs right, I will.â He eased back and bit off a chunk of bread.
Running the Asset (Deniable Unit #1)
Hopefully, this was much easier to understand đŹBut, if it wasn’t, or you just want confirmation that you’re guess was correct, mibbe means maybe in English.
Having looked at the top ten locations my visitors access the site from, I thought I’d google the translations for their local languages.
In Afrikaans it’s miskien.
In German, it’s vielleicht.
In Hindi, it’s à€¶à€Ÿà€Żà€Š.
In Dutch, it’s mĂ„ske.
And in French, it’s peut-ĂȘtre que.
(If I’ve made a mistake, let me know, and I’ll change it. Thanks in advance!)
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 mibbe as it appeared in the quote.
Interested in some Scots words from Running the Asset that are a wee bit too hot for the site? (The first newsletter exclusive spicy snippet hits inboxes this weekend!)
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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 Fiction Friday!
I knew the word when you said how to pronounce it!!
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know, Aletta đ
You’re welcome!
I know that one; it’s also used by Fat Bastard in Gold Member đ
Of course thatâs where youâd have heard it! đ€Łđ€Łđ€Ł
Easy as Susan đ
It’s clear from the context, no probs with this on the page, Susan!
Sweet! Thanks for the feedback, Chris đ
Hi Susan, Definitely, the pronunciation guide was a huge clue for me. Great story.
Oh, thanks, Marsha! And, a huge thank you for the feedback! đ€
You are more than welcome. How are you doing with your book?
Thanks for asking! I just started the editing process a couple of weeks ago. đđŹ
That’s great. Do you send it out to someone?
When I’ve got all my edits done, and I’ve polished it to death, I’ll send it out to an editor. And that’s when I’ll start to panic đ
I understand that feeling. I never recovered from that, but I’m not dead yet, so maybe I will still. đ
There’s nothing like paying someone to tell you how bad your work is đ€Ł
How true! đ