Aye. Aye means yes, often replacing the latter in day-to-day life in Scotland. Conversely, 'aye, right' is used when expressing feelings of disbelief (think of it as the Scottish equivalent to 'yeah, right').
We also commonly say aye instead of yes, wee instead of small, ken instead of know and uch instead of oh. Aye, it's getting a wee bit harder noo.
Aye is the Scots (and Scottish English) word descended from Middle English for yes. Some regional dialects of England (especially in the north) and some dialects in Northern Ireland also use aye for yes.
Although it technically means 'know', some Scots will use it to punctuate their sentences till the point where it feels like it has lost all meaning. Often used in conjunction with 'ye' meaning 'you' and 'fit' which means 'what'. “Di ye ken fit like, y'ken”.
Perhaps the most famous Scottish sayings of all time is “Auld Lang Syne”. This was made famous by Robert Burns' song, sang globally at New Year. The translation can be taken as “old long since” or “old long ago” meaning “days gone by” and when sung at New Years really means “let's drink to days gone by”.
Meaning: Baby, Small child. Example: 'Aw, look et the bonnie wee bairn' Translation: 'Aw, look at the beautiful little baby'
Because it is a Scots word, it is a verb, “to ken”, to know. It comes from the same place as “Ich kenne” (German), in the sense of “to be familiar with”. So you would say “Ich kenne Thomas”, but use the verb “weiß” to know a fact - “Ja, ich weiß das” means “yes, I know that”.
Weegie word: sook
Translation: an adjective to describe someone who sucks up to a person.
Scots are known for pronouncing traditional words in unpredictable ways. Listen out for “yes” pronounced as “aye”, “dae” as “do” and “dinnae” as “don't“. It's probably worth having a look through a guide to Scottish slang before your trip.
In the House of Commons of the British Parliament, MPs vote orally by saying "aye" or "no" to indicate they approve or disapprove of the measure or piece of legislation.
The Oxford English Dictionary (1st edition) states: "The name of the letter, now jay, was formerly jy, rhyming with I, and corresponding to French ji; this is still common in Scotland and elsewhere."
: very small or very young. He's just a wee lad.
Derived from wee, meaning little, and ane meaning one, wean is a word most commonly used in the West of Scotland to refer to a young child, and is sometimes also spoken as wee yin or 'little one'.
“Tatties o'wer the side”.
Translation: “It's all gone horribly wrong – a disaster”
The most popular of these phrases, "Purple Burglar Alarm", is a well-known one that often trips up anyone with a Scottish accent. While the second and less known one is "Irish Wrist Watch", which also results in some genuinely funny attempts to pronounce them properly.
Other newly included Scottish words include bam, bampot and bamstick, which mean someone who is foolish, annoying, obnoxious, belligerent or disruptive.
Scotch is an adjective in English, meaning "of or from Scotland". Many Scots dislike the term Scotch and some consider it offensive. The modern usage in Scotland is Scottish or Scots, and the word Scotch is now only applied to specific products, mostly food or drink, such as Scotch whisky, Scotch pie and Scotch broth.