Shetland Idioms By John J Graham

A collection of Shetland idioms compiled by John J Graham. Some of these expressions appear in his Dictionary but many do not.

John Graham writes:  Idioms are clusters of words which have, over a period of time, cohered into a meaning different from that of the individual words.  They have strong metaphorical content and add greatly to the vitality and immediacy of the language.  Examples from Shetlandic are:

	Idiom	Meaning
	A'm seen da day!	At one time I would have taken that task
	Aa my mindin	As long as I can remember. Yon hoose is been yonder aa my mindin.
	Aetin da bread o idlesaet	Lolling around doing nothing
	Aff a leg an on a leg	Moving from one leg to another
	An aa	As well. He cam an aa.
	Apo da amp	In a state of watchfulness
(Also)	Apon a amp
	Apon a stowen dunt	Without warning
	As for dat!	What did you expect!
	At doon-drappin	At the point of exhaustion
(Also)	At da doon-drappin
	Athin cry-rekk	Nearby
	Back an fore	Now and again. He göd ta da fishin back an fore.
	Back o	After. Back o Hallomas
(a)	Bairn at shö hed	An illegitimate child
	Been apo der fit	Been on the move
	Böst ta be	Must be
	Böst til a been	Must have been
(a)	Braa start	Quite a while
	Cam eence a aerrent	Came to visit with a specific object in mind
	Cam in apo da flör	Came in
	Cam in mind o	Remembered
	Cassen awa	Lost, generally at sea
	Cast aff	Take off, as clothes; eliminate stitches, as in knitting
	Cast by	Discard
	Cast on	Add extra stitches in knitting
	Cast oot	Quarrel
	Cast up	Taunt by raking up the past
	Come aboot	Take a new tack in sailing; pacify
	Come at	Befall. Come dee wis, naething’ll come at dee.
	Come awa	To grow. Yon girss is fairly come awa efter da frost.
	Come awa in	Invitation to come into a house;
(Also)	Come dee wis in
	Come dee wis	Come this way
	Comin ta	Approaching. Hit wis comin ta nine afore I wan hame.
(a)	Cryin at da hert	Hysterics
	Da heicht o da day	Noontide
	Da laek a dat!	Such a thing! (Said of something outrageous)
	Da laek o dat!	Anything as odd as that!
	Da waar o it	(Feeling) worse as a result
	Da wye at	Because. I hed ta geng alang da wye at I hedna been for a start.
	Dat wye	A lot. He roars dat wye when you grip him.
(a)	Day for himsel	A day set aside wholly for a task
	Dere’s a odds!	What’s the difference!
	Doon apon it	Depressed
	Draa doon der broos	To resent; hesitate [or his/her broos, etc]
	Draa on	Pull on, as trousers
	Draa up	Approach. He wis draain up for Christmas.
	Du cam o da kind!	Your forebears were noted for this sort of thing
	Du’s no blate!	(ironic comment on an over-confident person)
	Du’s no fey yet!	You’re still game to tackle this sort of  thing
	Dy skyimp is wylcom!	(retort to a sarcastic remark)
	Faa aff or faa ower	Doze. Da bairn wis jöst faan aff.
	Faa afore	Occur to. Hit faas afore me at du’s been here afore.
	Faa apon	Come across. I wis faan apon wir aald yowe ida hill.
	Faa awa	To abate, to moderate, as wind. Da wind wis faan awa ida darkenin.
	Faa by	Collapse. I doot he’ll faa by afore da nicht is oot.
	Faa sindry	Fall apart, disintegrate
	Faa tö	To commence giving birth. I doot shö’ll faa tö afore nicht.
	(At da) Faain fit	Well advanced in pregnancy
	(On a) Fastin hert	Without breaking fast. He göd oot on his fastin hert.
	Fin his breeks a burden	Find a task too difficult
	Fine day a wadder	A fine day
	Fire lyin in coll-slock	Fire completely out
	Geng dee wis	‘Go your ways ’; go
	Geng near	To fit e.g. Yon jacket’ll never geng near dee - That jacket will be much too small for you.
	Gien da lang gaet	Died (past participle)
	Gien ta da lent	Grown fast
	Git aff o me/ dee/ wis, etc	Get undressed
	Git your fit apo da neck o da wark	Make a good start to a job
	(I) göd me lent	I sprawled
	(Is) Gotten a lass/laad	Is courting
	Gyaan ta da weemen	Courting
	Gyaan ta mak wye	Going to break (as a rope)
	Haand’s turn	Small amount of work. He wis hardly done a haand’s turn.
	Hadd aff	1) Keep away 2) Hold child to do toilet
	Hadd dee tongue!	Be quiet!
	Hadd oot a langer	Prevent from getting bored
(a)	Hard tweet	A hard struggle
	Hardly ever aff o da go	Hardly ever inactive
	Hardly won athin da door	Hardly entered
	He jöst lowsed	It started to rain heavily
	He’s hed him a nicht	He’s made a right carry-on
	He’s him a day	It’s a bad day
	(Dey) Hed dem a fun	They enjoyed themselves
	(A’m) Hed me a day o’m	I’ve had a difficult day
	Her/him abön aa!	Her/him of all people!
	Hit wis a mercy	It was fortunate
	Hit wis come awa	(...an ill day) It had become  (...a bad day)
[NB: ‘hit’ and ‘it’ are both used. Any of the above might be heard using ‘it’.]
	I hear dee	Ironic remark suggesting that I’m not believing you
	I hed I me mind	I thought; I surmised
	Ill-best ane	Best of a poor bunch
	In pör hoger	In extreme poverty
	Infant bairn	Child
	It admires me	I am amazed
	It’ll never odds	It won’t make a difference
	It’s a mercy	It’s a good thing
[NB: ‘hit’ and ‘it’ are both used. Any of the above might be heard using ‘hit’.]
	Jöst weel back	Just got back
	Kinda weety wye	Rather wet
	Kinda wye	Somewhat
	Laek ta glaep you	As if to eat you. If you questioned him he was laek ta glaep you.
	(I) Laid me owre	(I) Lay down to rest
	Laid on	Planned. We wir laid on ta meet.
	Laid up	Ill and unable to work
	Lay by	To put away
(Also)	Laid by	Exhausted. I wis fairly laid by wi kerryin paets aa moarnin.
	Less an dule	Alas (Lament)
	Lichtit til him	Got on to him
	(A) Little ago	Recently
	Look alang da door	Call along
	Lyin in saat	Waiting for punishment
	Made a wark	1)Made a fuss  2) Fussed ower, as of a child
	Mak apo me	Get ready.  I’ll awa an mak apo me.
	Mak maen	Moan
	Mak on	Pretend
	Mak up	Plan to do something
	Mak wye	Come apart, break. Yon rop is gyaan ta mak wye.
	Mak wye for	Head for
	Mooth a maet	Morsel
	My jewel at du is	My dear
	Na, dat abön aa!	You don’t tell me!
	Na, dat in traath!	“    “    “
	Nae faer o wis	Have no doubts about our doing it
	Never aff o da go	Always on the move
	Never ant	Pay no attention (also never leet)
	Never say clowe	Don’t reveal anything
	Never wan	Never managed to go/come
	(A) Nicht o’m	An extremely bad night
	No datn ill, No sae ill	Not so bad
	Noo an sae	Neither one thing nor another
	Oot o yun	As a result. Oot o yun we set wis doon an sheeksed.
	Owre weel aff	Reasonably comfortable
	(We) Pat apo wis	(We) Got dressed
	Peerie start	Short period of time
	Pinned ta da door	(Said of a building) Completely full. Da hall wis pinned ta da door.
	Pit a ply apon	Fatten, as sheep
	Playin da kyittums	Frolicking, as lambs
	Sae be dat!	That is so!
	Seein at	Since (meaning because) Seein at du canna win.
	Sent airrants	Shopping given to others
	Set at	To sit and relax. We hed wir denner an dan set wis at.
	Set da door ta da back	Open/opened the door fully
	Set me hert apon	Concentrate/d fully on
	(I) Set me ta da fire	(I) Stay/ed at home
	Set on	Encourage/d. I set him on ta howe da tatties.
	Set wis aff for Setter	Set off on a journey
	Set up	Develop, as a shower
	Shuttin ta da lent	Growing. He’s fairly shuttin ta da lent.
	Stack apon him	Broke down, as car
	Taen til	Noted; notorious
	Tak aboot	To secure, as crops in yard
	Tak aff	Take aback. I wis fairly taen aff whin he cam in.
	Tak at	Go ahead. So, tak at an we’ll be feenished afore dark.
	Tak ill wi	Take badly with
	Tak in for	Speak in support of
	Tak on	Take the consequences; celebrate; work hard; lament
	Tak up	Increase, as wind
	Tak up	Look after. Yon’s a heavy burden ta tak up yon bairns.
	Takkin aff	Making fun of
	Tane fornenst da tidder	One against the other
	Tell no me!	That’s exactly as I foretold!
	Took a swaander	Staggered
	True tale!	Affirmation ('That’s correct.')
	Up in his/her cuddy	In high spirits
	What shö laeks!	Do as she pleases for all I care!
	Whatna day o’m!	Such a day!
	Win trowe	Arrive. Lat wis ken whin du wins trowe.
	Wir neebor man	Our neighbour ( male)
	Yockit horns	Grappled