Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

TAE, adj. Also t'ay(e), tey. [te:]

1. Used to qualify or denote the one of two (Sc. 1825 Jam.), gen. contrasted with Tither (Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 271; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai). Gen.Sc. See also Tane.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 220:
Bring hame the tae haff o' my Saul.Sc. 1751 W. Macfarlane Geneal. Coll. (S.H.S.) II. 336:
Betwixt the Said White Friars on the Tae part and Lord Rankin on the other part.Dmf. 1797 Edb. Mag. (Dec.) 458:
Her tae fit amaist is i' the dowie grave.Sc. 1817 Scott Rob Roy xxviii.:
To gang frae the tae end o' the west o' Scotland to the ither.Slk. 1817 Hogg Tales (1874) 154:
Here, sir, I'll gie ye the tae half o' mine, it will ser' us baith.Ayr. 1842 Children in Trades Report ii. 137:
McDonald's master played sometimes t'aye day and worked t' other all night.Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) 12:
Gien his heid a gey impident cock to the tae side.m.Lth. 1895 J. Hunter J. Inwick 93:
It juist gaes in at the tae lug an' oot at the tither.Sh. 1926 Shetland Times (4 Dec.):
Tellin dee whar dey bide da tae nicht an whaar dey wir headin for neist.Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick xxvii.:
Noo A've only the tey bit roomie.

2. Combs. and phrs.: (1) every tae (day, week, etc.), the tae —, in expressions of time: every other or alternate (day, etc.) (Dmf. 1899 Country Schoolmaster (Wallace) 345; Kcb. 1972); (2) tae ee, -eie, a favourite child, a pet, the apple of one's eye (s.Sc. 1873 D.S.C.S. 176; Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 79; Fif. 1921 T.S.D.C.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; ne.Sc., Slg., Lnl., Lnk., Kcb. 1972). Cf. ae ee s.v. Ee, 3.(6); someone who tries to curry favour by tale-bearing (Bnff. c.1930); (3) taegate, adv., to one side. See Gate, I. 1. (2); (4) tae-sided, one-sided, biased, prejudiced.(2) Rxb. 1870 J. Thomson Doric Lays 18:
Ye're just your mammy's lammie yet, And daddy's tae e'e.Rnf. 1877 J. Neilson Poems 59:
My lad was my mither's tae e'e.Lnl. 1889 F. Barnard Chirps 106:
The only lass we ever had, An' dootless, my tae e'e.Abd. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 49:
He wis jist his midder's tae e'e.(3) Gall. a.1900 “Mulciber Veritatis” Gallowa' Herds 6:
Tho' she claims but her richt, ye taegate it wad dicht, As a scholar dis count aff his sklate.(4) Fif. 1862 St Andrews Gazette (15 Aug.):
Your very ‘Times' is naething better than a tae-sided organ o' Lord Palmerston's.