Funny old scottish sayings
70OLD SCOTTISH SAYINGS
We all have sayings that our Parents and Grand parents used to quote depending on the situation,for example "the devil creates work for idle hands".
You may have heard some of the sayings i write here, but they all have 1 thing in common they are all from scotland.
"Never marry for money. You can borrow it cheaper."
"They talk of my drinking but never my thirst."
"Twelve highlanders and a bagpipe make a rebellion"
"Be happy while you're living, For you're a long time dead."
"Be slow in choosing a friend, but slower in changing him. "
"Egotism is an alphabet of one letter"
" Fools look to tomorrow. Wise men use tonight."
"Get what you can and keep what you have; that's the way to get rich"
"They that will not be counselled cannot be helped"
" Willful waste makes woeful want."
Ofcourse I couldn`t finish this hub without adding what my dad used to say to me when i was a teenager goiNg out on a Saturday night."If your not in bed by ten oclock its time to come home"
have fun.....jimmy
ty paul im glad you didn`t mention the pic in my high heels banned hub lol.....jimmy
"They talk of my drinking but never of my thirst!" LOL. That is GREAT!! Another great hub.
ty wajay lol.....jimmy
where does the old saying, "he couldn't run a tuppeny menage" come from, and what is it's literal meaning?
a menage like a savings scheme. where a group of say 10 people put in lets say £10 every week each week 1 of the 10 gets the £100 if i was number 5 i would get the £100 in week 5. after the 10 weeks you either stop or start again. hope that helps .....jimmy
a menage is easy to run you just write the names, draw them out of a hat to decide which person gets the money which week......jimmy
Hope you can run faster than the bull Jimmy.
the sign on the fence said if you can sprint across this field in ten seconds dont bother the bull does it in 9.....jimmy
I like the ""Twelve highlanders and a bagpipe make a rebellion"
I like the first three and the one about egotism.
Ah Jimmy, you're my new favorite person! My family's Scottish (my maiden name's Maben) and those are very familiar. We've been many generations here in the US, but we still visit Scotland when we can. (Well, the rest of the family - I haven't been yet). Of course my favorite sayings from Scotland involve much more swearing. Nowhere else have been I referred to as a "daft b*tch" and have it meant affectionately. ;-)
I always wondered why so many cliches seem to get started in Scotland. Even the very commonly used word deal comes from Scotland. But yet deal is the Scoth word for Devil. I guess the devil really is in the details. (LOL)
thanks tim lol beter the deel you know than the deel you dont.....jimmy
wher does the sayin the cats deed come from meaning your trousers are to short
Great post
My Grandparents had a huge hand in raising me and they were both Scottish Canadians. They always said "Wheesht" when they wanted us to shut up and my Grandfather always said"Whoa betide yor hide" meaning keep it up and see what you will get I guess. We never pushed it . That warning made us stop what ever misdeed we were doing.
Hi Barbara, you brought back a memory of my childhood there, i heard those words often too, thankyou for your lovely comment......jimmy
:) passing through for the smile.
I was wondering if there are any sayings about fathers and daughters?
hahaa well its sounds like your dad knows what he's talking about! haha go the scottish.
my mate used to say something like LANG ME A LUMRICK it means may you always have smoke in your chimney can you tell me the correct spelling please .....
Hi anne, Lang may yer Lum Reek, is the proper spelling thanks for your comment.....jimmy
I was born and bred in Scotland but Live in Australia now. My Grandmother always said " Scott you have an auld heid on young shidders!" ha ha ha. Meaning I was wise past my years.
We have this gathering ever year, called the "Boogie". There is always a different theme. Last year it was "Arabrian Nights". Not such a good notion considering we were 20 miles from a miliyary base. On Saturday evening, everyone dresses up based on the theme. Having over a thousand people dressed as Arabs, well guess you get my drift. This year it a Scottish Highland" theme. Since I'm from the McKinney clan,(I was told once that we were a bunch of "horse thieves", I can realte) it feels like a much better fit. Looked up your site for old Scottish sayings and loved what I found. My favorite, your father's "God bless him" was ."If your not in bed by ten oclock its time to come home". I just about fell out of my chair laughing. Thank you Jimmy...and do have fun!
Don
Hope this works 'cause I'm not a member...
Anyway; I'm doing a bit of research on the bagpipe and now I'm stranded somewhere between some Scottish sayings. (sorry for the bad English, I'm from the country across the sea, called the Netherlands, you probably heard of it).
I'm wondering what the saying ' twelve highlanders and a bagpipe make a rebellion' really means. I hope you can help me, can't find a place where is some explaination..
Thanks already! :)
When i was younger, like Barbara i was told to "hauld your wheesht" from my mother and grand parents if i was making too much noise. Could you possibly tell me the correct spelling??? Cheers Jimmy
someone asked about Scottish sayings about fathers & daughters. I'm one 6 children and the only girl. Back in the 50s my grannie used to say to my mum... * a man's no' a man till he's fathered a daughter *. His persistence paid off.
Paul Edmondson Level 4 Commenter 5 years ago
Your pops and the marrying saying cracked me up. Thanks for the laugh.