As a Scots speikir wha haes bin ettlin tae lairn a wee bittie o oor braw Gaelic leid, am ay delichtit whan a cam ower wirds whaur richt awa a juist ken whit thae mean! Wirds like ‘briogais’ soondin like oor ain Scots wird fir troosers, ‘breeks’.
In Gaelic ‘driùchd’ is the wird fir ‘dew’. Noo we can aa mind as bairns, rinnin aboot in the wet gress an gettin oor feet ‘drookit’ an oor mithers gaein daft at the state o oor shin! An oor lik soondin Scots wird ‘dreich’ sets doon the luik o a wet miserable day!
In the press in oor kitchen we hae a muckle trencher tae haud the turkey at Hogmanay. In Gaelic the wird fir a plate is ‘truinnsear’ an soonds lik ‘trencher’ – an nae doot thae keep thir plates in a ‘preas’ in the ‘cidsin’.
Thinkin oan a kist (ciste) wi claes in it, A jaikit or a jerkin in the Gaelic leid is a ‘seacaid’ pronooncit ‘shircat’ an a ‘coat’ is a ‘còta’. The wird fir ‘drawers’ or underpants is ‘draahis’ spelt (drathais) an a ‘hat’ is an ‘ad’.
A ‘geansaidh’ in Gaelic an a ‘ganzie’ In the Scots Doric – thats the leid o the nor east o Scotland – is the wird fir a jersey in baith. ‘Socks’ an ‘stockins’ are ‘stocainnean’
If ye hae a cauld, the wird fir it in Gaelic is ‘cnatan’ an sayin it soonds like a neb blockit up wi catarrh ! Whiles the soond o the wird fir a sneeze ‘sraahart’ ay maks me think o the green ‘snotters’ slidderin fae monys a bairns neb in the winter!
Elizabeth Hepburn
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