Dr Maggie Scott, a researcher in
Scots and
Scottish English at Salford University, said: “It’s difficult enough to decide if Scots is a
dialect or a language. The fleeting nature of a word can determine if it’s
slang or not. If it’s a word you can use with three different generations of your family, it’s more likely become part of the language."
Experts due to gather next year at the first-ever global
conference on slang said it needs to be taken more seriously as
words can become deep-seated in the language, rather than exist as just temporary local or regional terms.
Scots slang:
Corned beef - deaf
Cooncil juice - water
Shan - unfair
Dingie - to deliberately ignore smb.
Numpty - stupid person, idiot
Cooncil telly - freeview TV
Ginger - fizzy drink
Gadgie - bloke, man
Jakey - an alcoholic, tramp
The Scottish Government has provided £200,000 to the charity Scottish Language Dictionaries this year towards the updated Concise Scots Dictionary.
