Ulster Scots
The hard-edged, plain-spoken vocabulary of the north - inherited from Scotland and kept alive in everyday Ulster speech.
Ach
/ax/ · interj.
An interjection expressing mild annoyance, resignation, dismissal, or affectionate scepticism. 'Ach, away with you.' 'Ach, sure I don't mind.' The throat-clearing 'ch' marks the speaker's Northern register; the meaning is in the tone.
Read definition →Acht
/axt/ · n.
Property, ownership - usually with a jocular or contemptuous edge. 'Whas acht's thon?' = whose property is that? (= what's-his-name's that?). The construction often serves to identify someone obliquely or to disclaim ownership.
Read definition →Bake
/beɪk/ · n.
The mouth, or by extension the face. 'Houl yer bake' (= hold your bake) is the standard Ulster instruction to be quiet. 'Shut your bake' is firmer; 'put it in yer bake' is what's said when a parent has run out of patience offering food to a fussy child.
Read definition →Boak
/bəʊk/ · v.
To retch or vomit. Or, in milder use, to express disgust: 'that's gives me the boak' = that makes me feel sick (figuratively or literally). Used as verb or noun ('the boak').
Read definition →Bout Ye?
/baʊt jə/ · phrase, greeting
Hello, how are you? The standard Northern Irish informal greeting, contracted from 'what about ye?'. Not a question that expects an answer beyond a returned 'bout ye?' or 'grand, yourself?'. The greeting is the whole exchange.
Read definition →Carnaptious
/kərˈnæpʃəs/ · adj.
Quarrelsome, irritable, crabbed in temper. The word for an old man who picks fights, a dog that snaps, a relative who can't be left alone in a room with strangers. Stronger than 'cranky', warmer than 'foul-tempered'.
Read definition →Caul
/kɔːl/ · adj.
Cold. The Ulster Scots pronunciation of 'cold', written 'caul' to mark the dropped final 'd' and the vowel. 'It's caul out there' = it's cold outside. Used freely as an adjective; the noun 'a caul' (= a chill, a cold) is rarer.
Read definition →Claggerd
/ˈklaɡərd/ · adj.
Covered in something sticky and unpleasant - mud, food, paint, soup. A claggerd jumper has been wearing the contents of dinner; a claggerd dog has been in the bog. Always suggests the substance is hard to clean off.
Read definition →Client
/ˈklaɪənt/ · n.
A person - usually with a disparaging edge. 'A wudnae trust thon client' = I wouldn't trust that fellow. The word is used as a generic substitute for 'fellow', 'person', or 'character', with the speaker's tone marking the negative judgement.
Read definition →Cowp
/kaʊp/ · v.
To tip over. To fall over. To overturn. A bucket cowps; a chair cowps; a person who trips and falls has cowped. Transitive and intransitive: 'he cowped the bucket' (he tipped it over), 'she cowped on the ice' (she fell).
Read definition →Dander
/ˈdɑndər/ · n., v.
A slow, aimless, pleasurable walk - and the verb for taking one. Carries no destination and no haste; the dander is the point. Distinct from a hike, which has a goal, or a march, which has a pace.
Read definition →Drawk
/drɔːk/ · n., v.
Damp wet weather - mist, persistent drizzle, or rain that soaks slowly rather than pours. As a verb: to drench, to saturate. The adjective 'drawky' describes the kind of weather that does the soaking: damp, misty, sticky, the air itself wet.
Read definition →Fernenst
/fərˈnɛnst/ · prep.
In front of. Opposite. Facing. 'Fernenst the church' means right in front of the church, or directly opposite it. The preposition that English does without - 'in front of', 'opposite to', or 'over against' do the same work in three words rather than one.
Read definition →Footer
/ˈfuːtər/ · v., n.
To fidget, fuss, mess about. To waste time at a task while looking busy. As a noun: a person who footers, or the action itself. A close relative of 'fooster' but with a more idle and aimless register: footering is what you do instead of getting on with things.
Read definition →Foundered
/ˈfaʊndərd/ · adj.
Bitterly cold. Chilled to the bone. The Ulster Scots adjective for a person who has been outside in raw weather and cannot get warm again. 'I'm foundered' means I am freezing, not (as standard English assumes) bewildered or shipwrecked.
Read definition →Geg
/ɡɛɡ/ · n.
A laugh. A joke. A piece of fun, with the implication that the speakers had a good time. 'It was a geg' = it was funny and enjoyable. As a verb (to geg, geggin'): to joke around.
Read definition →Gutties
/ˈɡʌtiːz/ · n., plural
Plimsolls. Running shoes. Light rubber-soled shoes worn for PE in school or for casual wear. Always plural; the singular 'guttie' is rare. Now extending to mean trainers / sneakers in younger Ulster speech.
Read definition →Hallion
/ˈhæliən/ · n.
A rascal, a good-for-nothing, a layabout. Pejorative but not deeply so - a hallion is annoying rather than wicked. Often used affectionately about a relative who can't be relied on, or pointedly about a stranger behaving badly.
Read definition →Hesp
/hɛsp/ · n.
A scolding, sharp-tongued woman. Almost always pejorative. The female counterpart of 'hallion', applied to a woman who is known for cutting words rather than peaceful neighbouring. Heard mostly in older Ulster speech.
Read definition →Hoak
/həʊk/ · v.
To search through. To rummage. To dig around looking for something - in a drawer, a pocket, a handbag, a heap of papers. 'Hoaking through the cupboard' is a thorough domestic search.
Read definition →Houl
/haʊl/ · v.
Hold. The Ulster Scots pronunciation, written 'houl' to mark the dropped 'd' and the distinctive vowel. Used in imperatives ('houl on a minute', 'houl yer bake') and in narrative ('she houl'd the rope tight').
Read definition →Jap
/dʒæp/ · v.
To splatter or splash. A passing car japs mud up the back of your trousers; a poured drink japs onto the counter. Almost always for liquid or semi-liquid splash, never for a deliberate throwing.
Read definition →Jouk
/dʒuːk/ · v.
To dodge, duck, or move quickly out of the way. To slip behind something to avoid being seen. 'Jouk in there' = duck into that doorway. As a quick action: 'he jouked round the corner.' Standard English 'dodge' is the nearest equivalent.
Read definition →Loanin
/ˈloʊnɪn/ · n.
A narrow lane or unpaved track, typically running between fields or from a farm out to the road. The Ulster Scots word for a country path that doesn't quite warrant the name of road. Heard particularly in rural Antrim, Down, and Tyrone.
Read definition →Oxter
/ˈɒkstər/ · n., v.
The armpit, plain and simple - and, by easy extension, the act of carrying something tucked under the arm or supporting a person under it: 'she was oxtering him home.'
Read definition →Poke
/pəʊk/ · n.
An ice-cream cone - the conical wafer plus the scoop or scoops of ice cream on top. Also (older) a bag or sack, in the sense preserved in the English idiom 'a pig in a poke'. In Ulster the ice-cream sense is the dominant one in modern speech.
Read definition →Put-on
/ˈpʊt ɒn/ · n.
A pretence. An act. The kind of performance that the speaker can see through. 'Thon foofin an greetin wuz al a put-on' = the fussing and crying was all an act. The construction is hyphenated as a single noun: 'a put-on'.
Read definition →Scunner
/ˈskʌnər/ · v., n.
To disgust, annoy, or sicken - and the feeling itself. As a verb: 'he scunners me'. As a noun: 'I've taken a scunner to him'. The Ulster pronunciation /ˈskʌndər/ adds a 'd'; the standard Scots is without.
Read definition →Sheugh
/ʃʌx/ · n., v.
A narrow open drain or ditch, especially a wet one running between fields. Both noun and verb. Comes laden with rural specificity: the rough working trench at the edge of a meadow, dug by hand or by plough.
Read definition →Shore
/ʃɔːr/ · n.
A street drain or gutter, especially the open one beside the kerb. Distinct from the standard 'shore' meaning sea-edge. 'The shore was blocked' = the gutter was clogged. Heard mostly in Ulster and parts of Scotland.
Read definition →Slabber
/ˈslɑbər/ · v., n.
A noisy, slack-mouthed talker - someone whose chatter is loud, mostly empty, and hard to switch off. Also a verb: to drool, to dribble, or to talk nonsense at length. The bodily and verbal senses share the same logic.
Read definition →Snig
/snɪɡ/ · v.
To snap off, to lop off, to break off a small piece. 'Snig a bit off the bread for me' = break off a piece. Often used for branches, bread, twigs, or anything that needs a quick clean break.
Read definition →Tae
/teɪ/ · n.
Tea. The Ulster Scots pronunciation of the same word, preserved in writing as 'tae' to mark the distinctive vowel. Also (by extension) the evening meal: 'come round for your tae' = come for dinner.
Read definition →Targe
/tɑːrdʒ/ · n.
A sharp-tongued woman, often older. Heard in Ulster and Scots speech for a woman with a reputation for cutting remarks. Pejorative but with a slight admiring edge: a targe gets what she wants, even if everyone wishes she'd ask more nicely.
Read definition →The-day
/ðə ˈdeɪ/ · adv.
Today. The Ulster Scots construction that places the definite article before 'day' (and equivalently before 'night' and 'morrow') to mean today, tonight, tomorrow. 'I'll see you the day' = I'll see you today.
Read definition →Thon
/ðɒn/ · pron., adj.
That, over there. A third demonstrative beyond 'this' and 'that', marking something further away or more pointedly identified. 'Thon man' is more specific than 'that man'; 'thon house' is the house we are both looking at, distant from us both.
Read definition →Thonder
/ˈðɒndər/ · adv.
Over there - especially something distant but still visible. 'Thonder's the church' = there's the church (some way off but pointable to). The adverb pair to the demonstrative 'thon': if thon is 'that one', thonder is 'over there'.
Read definition →Wae
/weɪ/ · prep.
With. Also: because of, on account of. 'A couldnae get wae the snaw' = I couldn't get there because of the snow. The preposition does double duty in Ulster Scots speech, marking both accompaniment ('with') and cause ('because of').
Read definition →Wean
/weɪn/ · n.
A child, particularly a young one. Always used as a noun ('the wean is asleep'); plural 'weans' or 'weans'. Distinct from English 'child' and softer than 'kid'. The standard everyday word in Ulster Scots for any pre-adolescent.
Read definition →Wee
/wiː/ · adj.
Small, little - but also the universal Northern softener. 'A wee cup of tea' isn't necessarily a smaller cup of tea; it's a polite cup of tea. The word can shrink a noun, mark intimacy, soften a request, or do all three at once.
Read definition →Wheeker
/ˈʍiːkər/ · adj.
Excellent. Brilliant. The standard Belfast superlative for something that has gone very well: a wheeker night, a wheeker goal, a wheeker idea. The Northern Irish equivalent of 'cracking' or 'brilliant', with a particular Belfast flavour.
Read definition →Wheen
/ʍiːn/ · n.
A few, several - or, depending on the speaker, quite a lot. Almost always in the construction 'a wheen of [thing]'. 'A wheen of pints' is more than two and probably fewer than ten; the exact number is the listener's problem.
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