Scots Dictionary: The perfect wee guide to the Scots language. Collins Dictionaries
ballop (rhymes with gallop) In some areas, such as Galloway, the fly on a pair of trousers is known as the ballop: I suppose we’d better tell him his ballop’s open. Also called (elsewhere) spaiver.
balmoral (bahl-maw-rul) A balmoral is a type of round brimless cap, the top of which projects beyond the side and has a bobble on it. It often has a checked band round the side, and is usually worn at a slant. [It is named after Balmoral Castle, a private residence of the British royal family in Aberdeenshire]
bampot (bam-pot) A bampot is a colloquial term for a foolish, stupid, or crazy person, as are bam and bamstick. [These terms all probably come from barm, the froth on the top of a fermenting liquid, which is also the source of the English word barmy meaning crazy]
bandit In the Glasgow area, any thing, person, or event that causes pain or outrage may be referred to as a bandit, especially in exclamations such as ya bandit!
Banff Banff or Banffshire is a historic county of Northeast Scotland, consisting of part of the southern coast of the Moray Firth and the area inland from it. It is now part of the Aberdeenshire council area.
banjo (ban-joe) To banjo someone is a Glaswegian term meaning to hit them a single hard blow.
bannock (ban-nok) A bannock is a round flat unsweetened cake which is made from oats or barley and baked on a griddle. Bannock is also short for Selkirk bannock, a type of round fruit loaf originating in the Border town of Selkirk.
Bannockburn (ban-nok-burn) References to Bannockburn are generally to the battle which took place near Stirling in 1314, at which the Scottish army led by Robert the Bruce defeated an invading English army and secured Scotland’s position as an independent nation until 1707. The present-day village of Bannockburn is situated a few miles further down the Bannock Burn.
barkit (bark-it) Barkit is a word used in the Northeast which means very dirty, used particularly of something which is encrusted with dried-on dirt.
barley
barley Barley is a cry used, chiefly in the East of Scotland, to call for a period of truce or a temporary halt to a game among children at play, used, for instance, when someone is hurt or needs to tie their shoelaces. In Western Scotland, the word used is usually keys. [The word is probably derived from parley, a ceasefire for discussion]
barley bree See bree.
baronial (ba-roe-ni-al) The baronial style of architecture is one popular in the 19th century in which buildings are ornamented with pseudo-medieval features such as turrets and mock battlements: The magnificent turreted Scottish baronial style of the exterior of the hotel.
barra (ba-ra) A barra is a wheelbarrow. Something which is right into one’s barra is ideal and exactly in line with one’s interests or desires. To fancy one’s barra is to have an unduly high opinion of oneself. In the Glasgow area, a wee barra is an informal way of referring to any small person that the speaker likes, or at least does not dislike. The Glasgow flea market is known as The Barras.
barrie or barry (bar-ri) Something which is barrie is very good or very attractive: Your hair looks really barrie like that; We’d a really barrie time. [The word, which is of Romany origin, is mainly used in Edinburgh and the Southeast]
bashit Bashit vegetables are ones which have been mashed: bashit neeps.
bastartin (bass-ter-tin) or bastardin (bass-ter-din) Bastartin is a swear word used, like damned or bloody, to indicate dislike or annoyance: Watch whit yir daein wi that bastartin hammer!
bate (bait) Bate is a Scots form of beat or beaten: We got bate wan nil.
bauchle (bawCH-l) or bachle (baCH-l) A bauchle was originally a shabby or worn-out shoe. Nowadays the word bauchle is usually used to describe an ungainly or shabby-looking person, especially a small one: a wee bauchle.
bauldie or baldie (bawl-di) Someone who is bauldie or bauldie-heidit is bald: a wee bauldie guy. A bauldie is a bald person. A bauldie is also a very short haircut: You wouldn’t notice I’d had my hair done even if I got a right bauldie, would you?
bawbag (baw-bag) The bawbag is a colloquial term for the scrotum. In the Glasgow area, bawbag is also used as an insult to a person.
bawbee (baw-bee) A bawbee was originally a silver coin worth six Scots pennies. Later, bawbee came to mean a halfpenny. Although the halfpenny no longer exists, the word bawbee is still used to mean any small amount of money, especially in phrases implying miserliness or shortage of money: the current economic climate – otherwise known as a serious lack of bawbees. [The coin was probably named after Alexander Orrok of Sillebawby, who became master of the Scottish mint in 1538]
bawface A bawface is a round, chubby face, or a person with such a face.
bawheid (baw-heed) Bawheid basically means the same as bawface. However, it can also be used as a cheeky form of address for a person: Hey, bawheid!
beadle A beadle, also known as a kirk officer or church officer, is a paid official of the Church of Scotland, whose job includes assisting a minister with administrative work and placing the Bible in the pulpit at the start of a service.
beamer A beamer is a red face caused by embarrassment or guilt, or something which is so embarrassing or bad that it causes such a blush. The word is mainly used in the Glasgow area.
bear A bear is a usually derogatory term for a wild and uncouth young man, particularly one who drinks a lot: The bar closed long before the bears’ drooth was assuaged.
beast Among farmers, a beast is a calf, cow, bull, or bullock, irrespective of its age or sex. The plural can be either beasts or beas.
beastie
beastie A beastie is any small animal, nowadays particularly an insect, spider, or similar creepy-crawly.
beauty Ya beauty! is an exclamation of delighted approval or agreement: A holiday on Monday. Ya beauty!
beds or beddies In some areas of Scotland, the game of hopscotch is known as beds. The pattern of squares chalked on the ground on which the game is played is known as a bed. Also called pauldies and peever.
beel To beel is a Northeastern word which means to fester or turn septic.
beelin To be beelin is to be furiously angry. Beelin is less commonly used to mean very drunk. A beelin is a Northeastern name for a boil on the body. [All these senses are derived from beel (see above)]
beezer Something which is a beezer