- Home
- Dictionaries
- Shetland Idioms
Shetland Idioms
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 |