Scottish

Here are 22 words and phrases you’ll only know if you’re from Edinburgh

~ Michael Stevenson ~ 1 Comment
Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting was almost entirely written in Edinburgh (or more accurately Leith) slang

Like all big cities, Edinburgh has a language of all its own. Or at least that’s how it must seem to outsiders.

Bog – toilet

Bunker – worktop, kitchen counter

Cheesin: happy

Chore: To steal something

Chum – join on a journey (Chumming a friend doon the road)

Deek – look at

Dinnae – don’t

Embra – Edinburgh

Hud-oan – wait, as in wait for me

Haud yer weesht – be quiet

Ken – Know. (‘I ken what you mean’)

Feart – afraid of

Foostie – stale

Gadgie: usually used to describe a man or boy who engages in loutish behaviour.

Nash: Hurry up

Radge – crazy or uncontrollable (A person can either be a radge, ‘go radge’, or do something radge)

Reekin’ – drunk

Steamin’ – see above

Scoobied – clueless (Scooby Doo is rhyming slang for clue)

Shan – a shame, or disappointing (A bad day at work could be ‘well shan’). Can also mean unkind (‘that was shan saying that to him’)

Source: Here are 22 words and phrases you’ll only know if you’re from Edinburgh

Recording “Long Time Sun” – Getting It Wrong and Making it Right

~ Michael Stevenson ~ 2 Comments

By Karan

Growing up in the Kundalini Yoga community, the Long Time Sun song was woven into the fabric of our lives.  Anyone who has taken a Kundalini Yoga class knows it is sung at the end of every class.  But in our communities, we also sang it at the end of  birthday parties and community gatherings and sometimes even before going to sleep at night.  We sometimes sing it at the end of meetings and to end large events.  It has become a way to close almost anything in a positive way.  I don’t remember where it’s origin story first became a part of our collective consciousness, but many of us thought that these words were an old Scottish blessing:

“May the Long Time Sun Shine Upon You, All Love Surround You, and the Pure Light within you, guide your way on.”

At some point in my teens, I discovered that the words were originally recorded by the Incredible String Band in 1968.  This didn’t initially seem Continue reading →

‘Fancy a pint of Chic Murray for dinner?’ – A Guide to Scottish rhyming slang

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

 

Though most people will be familiar with Cockney rhyming slang, they perhaps won’t know that Scotland also has its own version.

Keeping up with Scots words, the accent and even regional dialects can be hard enough, but throw in Scotland’s love of word play and it can leave many without a Scooby (as in Doo – clue, get it?).

From asking someone if they are Corned Beef to going for a Chic Murray – here are some of our favourite Scottish rhyming slang phrases.

Chic Murray – Curry

Though many have started using another famous Scottish Murray for this one (Andy), it will always be the original and best for us.

Example: “Fancy a wee Chic Murray for dinner tonight? I canny be bothered cooking.”

Corned Beef – Deif/Deaf

This one sees corned beef rhymed with deif (the way Scots would pronounce deaf), and is usually aimed at someone who isn’t listening.

Example: “Listen pal, are you corned beef? I told you to beat it.”

Hauf Inch – Pinch

A good one for someone who is known to be on the light-fingered side.

Example: “Aye it’s a cracker eh? Wee Davey hauf inched it for us.”

Mick Jagger – Lager

If someone asks if you fancy a Mick Jagger, it’s usually an invite for a pint and not referring to the great man himself.

Example: “I’m guessing most us will be choking for a Mick Jagger when the restrictions are over and the pubs re-open.”

Hampden Roar – Score

Though you might think this would be used for football, it’s more likely to be used when asking for more details about something.

Example: “What’s the Hampden for later? Where are we going?”

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Glasgow singer-songwriter Lizzie Reid about her debut EP “Cubicle”

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

by Skye Butchard

Glasgow singer-songwriter Lizzie Reid arrives with a fully-formed sound on her debut EP, Cubicle. It’s a warm and intimate collection of folk and rock songs that showcases her clear skill for storytelling, and a surprisingly diverse range of sounds for a compact collection. The project documents a break-up, and her first same-sex relationship. But its welcoming homespun atmosphere acts as its hidden strength. Recorded at her home in ten days before the first lockdown in March, the project truly exists within that period of stasis.

“We were kind of disconnected by what was going on in the world,” Lizzie says during our Zoom call. “Everyone was freaking out about COVID and isolation, and we were in a completely different headspace. Lockdown came about two days after Oli [Barton-Wood, the record’s producer whose credits include Nilüfer Yanya and Molly Payton] left. I remember at the time thinking, ‘wow those ten days, what a long time to just be in the house.’ Little did I know that would be the next nine months of my life.”

Despite the intimate setting, there was an underlying pressure on the recording process. “We’d already announced that we were going to be releasing music this year so this needed to be the one,” Reid says. “I had recorded a few times with the idea of releasing, but it was never quite right, I felt like it could go one of two ways, but when it came down to it, this had to be the one. I’m a very anxious person… I do always have a sense of time. There was less of that because we were at home the whole time.”

That homely quality manifests through a wonderfully close recording. The gentle fingerpicked guitars of Always Lovely, the closeness of Reid’s breath on the mic – and even the gentle meowing of her cat Ivan at the end of Seamless – all offer heartfelt textures that might not have been captured without a home recording. The sense of home continues with her bandmates, with Reid’s cousin Catriona playing cello twice across the project.

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