Useful Scots phrases

A collection of useful phrases in Scots, a West Germanic language spoken in Scotland. Scots is considered a separate language from Scottish English and from the English of England, and is recognised as such by the Scottish and UK governments.

Note: These phrases come mainly from the sources listed below, especially from L Colin Wilson's Luath Scots Language Learner, which focuses particularly on the Scots of North East Scotland, or Doric. There are other dialects of Scots, and other ways of writing Scots.

Jump to phrases

See these phrases in any combination of two languages in the Phrase Finder. If you can provide recordings, corrections or additional translations, please contact me.

English	Scots Leid (Scots)
Welcome	Wylcome
Hello (General greeting)	Hullo
How are you?	Whit like? Whit like are ye? Hoo are ye? Hou'r ye? Hoo's it gaun? How ye daein?
Reply to 'How are you?'	No bad, hou's yersel? Nae baud, yersel? A'm daein fine, whit aboot yersel?
Long time no see	Lang time nae see It's been dunky's since a last saw ye
What's your name?	Whit's yer name? Whit ye cawit? Whit dae they cry ye?
My name is ...	Ma name's ...
Where are you from?	Whaur ye fae? Whaur ar ye fae? Whaur dae ye come fae?
I'm from ...	A'm fae ...
Pleased to meet you	Gled tae meet ye A'm gled tae meet ye
Good morning (Morning greeting)	Guid mornin
Good afternoon (Afternoon greeting)	Guid efternuin
Good evening (Evening greeting)	Guid evenin
Good night	Guid nicht
Goodbye (Parting phrases)	Guidbye Bye Bye for noo See ye efter
Good luck!	Guid luck!
Cheers! Good Health! (Toasts used when drinking)	Cheers! Here's tae ye! Here's tae us, wha's like us? Gey few, an' they're a' deid
Have a nice day	Hae a guid day
Bon voyage / Have a good journey	Hae a guid journey
I understand	A unnerstaun A forstaw
I don't understand	A dinnae unnerstaun A dinnae forstaw
Yes	Ay(e)
No	Naw
Maybe	Eblins
I don't know	A dinnae ken
Please speak more slowly	Can ye talk mair slow?
Please write it down	E, want tae write it doon fur iz
Do you speak English?	Dae ye talk English?
Do you speak Scots?	Dae ye talk Scots?
Yes, a little (reply to 'Do you speak ...?')	Ay, a wee bit
Do you speak a language other than Scots?	Dar ye knapp ony leid ither than Scots Leid? Dar ye knapp ony leid ither than yer ain?
Speak to me in Scots?	Talk tae iz in Scots
How do you say ... in Scots?	Hoo dae ye say ... in Scots?
Excuse me	Excuise me
How much is this?	Hoo/hou muckle is this?
Sorry	Sorry
Thank you	Thank ye
Reply to thank you	Nae problem
Where's the toilet / bathroom?	Whaur's the toilet? Whaur's the lavvy? Whaur's the wattrie?
This gentleman will pay for everything	This gentleman will pey for awthing
This lady will pay for everything	This leddy will pey for awthing
Would you like to dance with me?	Will ye dance wi me?
I miss you	A miss ye
I love you	A love ye
Get well soon	Get weel soon
Leave me alone!	Lea iz alane! Lea me alane!
Help!	Help!
Fire!	Fire!
Stop!	Stop!
Call the police!	Phone the polis! Get the polis!
Christmas greetings	Blythe yuil
New Year greetings	A Blythe Hogmanay (tae ye)
Birthday greetings	Happy birthday
One language is never enough	Ane leid is neer/ne'er eneuch
My hovercraft is full of eels	Ma hovercraft's full o eels Ma hovercraft's lippin-fou wi eels Ma hovercraft's lippit wi eels Ma hovercraft's breemin' ower wi eels See ma hovercraft? See eels? Hit's pure hoachin wi them. (Glaswegian)

Sources

- Robinson, Mairi, Concise Scots Dictionary (Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1985)
- Wilson, L Colin, Luath Scots Language Learner (Edinburgh, Luath Press, 2012)
- DSL - Dictionary of the Scots Language / Dictionar o the Scots Leid
- The Online Scots Dictionary

Download the audio files (Zip format, 1.74MB)

Corrections, additions and recordings by Michael Dempster of Mind Yer Language, and John Goldberg

If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.

Links

Collections of Scots phrases
http://www.linguanaut.com/english_scots.htm
http://www.scots-online.org/grammar/goamins.htm

Phrases in Germanic languages

Afrikaans, Alsatian, American Norwegian, Bavarian, Cimbrian, Danish, Dutch, Elfdalian, English (British), Faroese, Flemish (West), Frisian (North - Bökingharde), Frisian (North - Sylt), Frisian (Saterland), Frisian (West), German, Gothic, Icelandic, Limburgish, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Norwegian, Old English, Pennsylvania German/Dutch, Scots, Stellingwarfs, Swedish, Swiss German (Basel dialect), Swiss German (Chur dialect), Swiss German (Lucerne dialect), Värmlandic, West Jutlandic, Westrobothnian, Wymsorys, Yiddish

Phrases in other languages

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