LL-L "Etymology" 2008.01.31 (07) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L  -  30 January 2008 - Volume 07
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From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at scotstext.org>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2008.01.31 (01) [E]

> From: Glenn Simpson <westwylam at yahoo.co.uk>
> Subject: LL-L "Etymology" [E/N]
>
> O' yi alreet theor Rurn bonny laird!
>
> You may be right re 'codger'. 'Cadge' is used in
> Northumberland meaning to 'beg'.

In Scots when we call someone a "cadger" the implication is that they
keep trying to get money, food or suchlike out of someone by dropping
hints, tactical manoeuvering and so on.

> Northumbrian has this tradition of 'mangling' words. A
> couple of possible examples jump to mind: 'beil' or
> 'beal', which means cry or whinge, which I suspect is
> the Northumbrian version of the middle or old English
> 'bale' to cry. And possibly a better example is
> 'bezzalar' to be 'greedy' - is it a mutation of
> 'embezzle'? Also, 'hinny' for 'honey' (In Scots =
> 'hen'?).

"Hinny" meaning "honey" is traditional in Scots - usually only applied
to women, I think. "Hen" however, belongs to a group of words where the
name of a bird or "nice" animal is used as a term of endearment for a
woman, along with lamb and dou (dove).

Leeze me on liquor, my todlin dou,
Ye'r aye sae guid-humoured when ye'r weetin yer mou,
Sober sae soor ye'll fecht wi a flee,
It maks a blythe nicht for the bairns an me,
  When todlin hame, todlin hame,
  When roond as a neep ye come todlin hame!

Not a lot of this translates well, but anyway...

"leeze me on...": I'm very glad of...
"todlin dou": toddling dove/sweetheart
"aye sae guid-humoured": always so good-humoured
"soor": sour
"fecht": fight
"flee": fly
"blythe": happy, merry
"bairns": children
"hame": home
"roond as a neep": round as a swede

Sandy Fleming
http://scotstext.org/

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Thanks, Sandy. That's fun.

Here's just a footnote for American readers, since I have to explain this
over and over around me:

A "swede" is a rutabaga in other English-speaking countries (*Brassica
napobrassic*a, or *Brassica napus* var. *napobrassica*).

German *Steckrübe*, Dutch *koolraap*, Low Saxon *Wruck*, *Ramanke*, *
Rutabaga*, *Smultrööv'*, etc.

Cheerio!
Reinhard/Ron
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