Hiya! It’s getting pretty hard to find a Scots word in the manuscript that doesn’t contain spoilers. 😬 Even though this one comes from later in the story, it’s not much of a spoiler, thankfully!
Here’s the snippet… (mid-editing draft!)
White-hot pain lanced through Adam’s chest. He’d been hit more than once, and it had knocked him out. He blinked against the harsh sunlight, trying to put the events straight in his head.
A hand pressed him back down against the hard-packed ground beneath him. “Bide still, eh. Or I’ll fuck your stitches,” Ward said, with zero bedside manner before stabbing the needle through Adam’s skin again.
Running the Asset (Deniable Unit #1)
I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed that this common Scots word was easy to get, if not from hearing it before, then from the piece’s context. But, if it wasn’t, bide means to stay in English. (It has several other meanings like, “I uised tae bide in Peterheid.” — I used to live in Peterhead.)
Bide (as in stay) in Other Languages.
In Afrikaans it’s bly.
In German, it’s halt still. (Thank you, Stefanie!)
In Hindi, it’s ठहरना.
In Dutch, it’s afwachten.
And in French, it’s rester.
(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 bide as it appeared in the quote.
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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 thought “be” first without really reading, and then “hold.” Close enough.
Close enough is brilliant, Judy! Thanks for the feedback 💖
I got it from knowing the word abide. It was in some church psalm or hymn I guess 🙂
Excellent! Thank you muchly for the feedbackly, Brianly 🤗
Welcomely I am surely 😂
My eye ran over it twice. Via ‘abide’ I got to hold. So, a tiny stutter but not a problem.
Thanks for the detailed feedback, Chris! I might have to rethink the word–don’t want to cause too many reading stutters 👍 🤗
I enjoyed your out-take, Susan! 🔥🔥🔥
Thank you for reading it, Chris! (And the feedback 💖)
A’ve heard hit afore an kent hit frae the context.
I think, your Greman translation is well-chosen, albeit in this particular case we’d probably say:
Halt still!
Thanks, Stefanie! I kent ye’d git hit. Thanks for the correction on the German translation! I’ll get that done now. 💖
Hit’s nae correction fer the German. Anely a special case!
Ah, richt. Gin ye spot ony mair speeshal cases, let me ken, please. 🤗
A’m gled tae help. 🙂