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Scottish Slang

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Rowan
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Scottish Slang

Post by Rowan » Tue March 6th, 2012, 8:45 pm

I can't seem to find what I'm looking for online. All the sites I've been directed to through Bing aren't very helpful, so I thought I'd come here. I'm looking for the slang equivalent of the phrase in red.

"They will really freak out when I tell them you're here!"

Also, if it matters, the setting for this story is in the Orkneys.

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Elizabeth
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Post by Elizabeth » Tue March 6th, 2012, 9:48 pm

This site might help... look a little way down on the right for the "Online Scots Dictionary," which has both an English-Scots and Scots-English section:

Pittin the Mither Tongue on the Wab

ETA: When does your story take place? Who is speaking? Would they use Scots slang or the Norse-related Norn? Not that there's much known about Norn...
Last edited by Elizabeth on Tue March 6th, 2012, 10:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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erechwydd
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Post by erechwydd » Wed March 7th, 2012, 11:24 am

I've not seen any direct equivalent of that particular phrase, but there might be something helpful on this page:

http://www.orkneyjar.com/orkney/dialect ... rchive.htm

I agree with Elizabeth, though, the date's going to be very important in working out what kind of language they'd have been using.

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Rowan
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Post by Rowan » Wed March 7th, 2012, 4:12 pm

It's modern day for the setting of the story. I don't write historical fiction, just love to read it, but I find a wealth of information here so I thought I'd ask. :)

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Post by annis » Fri March 9th, 2012, 1:52 am

What we think of as Scottish is a dialect (or some would say language in its own right) which belongs to Lowland Scotland- it developed from cross-border interaction with the Anglo-Saxons, reinforced by refugees when William the Conqueror took over England.

The dialect used in the Orkneys is a distinctive northern variant called Insular Scots which has added Norn language influences and is known as the Orcadian dialect, but I have a feeling, though I might be wrong, that like Scottish Gaelic it's pretty much been abandoned for the general use of English.

Edited to add this article about the Orcadian dialect and current efforts to revive its use:
http://www.orkneyjar.com/orkney/dialect

The Orkneyjar website has a Contact option- maybe your best bet would be to email them and see if they can answer your question?
Last edited by annis on Sun March 11th, 2012, 10:35 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Alisha Marie Klapheke
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Post by Alisha Marie Klapheke » Mon September 3rd, 2012, 10:32 pm

Hey there, Rowan. Have you found your answer? My current WIP takes place in Scotland and I recently visited so I'm studying the slang as well. I made a list of bits my highland guide told me on my blog. The link is in my signature. The closest I've heard (I don't have it in my post) would be They will be in a fankle when I tell them... I believe fankle is a state of confusion. Hope this helps! Keep me posted on your wip. I'd love to beta back and forth if you're looking for such help.

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