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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

TIG, v., n., int. Also teyg (Sc. 1808 Jam.), tigg. Freq. form ¶tiggel. [tɪg]

I. v. 1. To tap or touch lightly with the hand (Sc. 1808 Jam.), esp. when playing the game of “Touch and Tig” (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Uls. 1953 Traynor). Gen. (exc. ne.) Sc., also in Eng. dial. Pa.p. (in children's usage) tug. Hence tigger, the player who has to touch the others in the game of hide-and-seek.Dmf. 1822 Scots Mag. (July) 42:
Black bird, white bird, wha will tig me first?Sc. 1825 Jam.:
He who has received the stroke, is said to be tiggit till he gives it to another.Ayr. 1890 J. Service Notandums 57:
I could tig the 'dividual spot wi' my wee finger the morn.Wgt. 1905 E.D.D.:
In Hie Spy there is one boy called the ‘tigger', or ‘toucher', who stays in the den, shutting his eyes until the others go and hide. They call out from their hiding-places, whereupon the ‘tigger' comes out of the den to search for them.Edb. 1964 J. T. R. Ritchie Singing Street 35:
The one that won has to go under these arms and not get tug in the passing.

2. tr. or absol. To tap, pat, twitch or pull about sportively, to tease in this manner, “to provoke a person, dog, or other beast, by twitching or other affected injury in play” (Mry. 1813 W. Leslie Agric. Mry. 468; Sh. 1972); “to entreat, tease, entice” (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.); also extended in I.Sc. to mean to annoy by thwarting or getting in one's way continually or by nagging and badgering (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928)). See also tig-tag s.v. III. 3. Ppl.adj. tigged, wearied with frustration, out of patience; adj. tigsam, vexatious, wearisome, tedious (Ork. 1958).Peb. 1702 C. B. Gunn Linton Church (1912) 83–4:
James Wilson's wife can give some account of tiggin betwixt the foresaid persons. . . . Archibald Wilson saw Robert T. “tigging her one day with carrots.”Sc. c.1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 205:
Streight to the mill the maiden went, and after tigging, smild consent.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
Young people are said to be tigging, when sporting with gentle touches, or patting each other. It properly applies to those of different sexes.m.Lth. 1812 P. Forbes Poems 56:
But I've cock'd up my sooty face, An' tiggel'd their foundation.Abd. 1832 W. Scott Poems 39:
It is as natural, man, for he an' she . . . To tig, an' teaze, an' chat, an' cuff, an' row.m.Sc. 1844 Nursery Songs 80:
He's aye tig tigging, And winna let me be.Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 134:
A single life's a tigsam life.Ork. 1889 in Ellis E.E.P. V. 807:
Da denner waits an we are tigged.Lth. 1921 A. Dodds Antrin Sangs 29:
Noo' dinnae be priggin', And temptin', and tiggin'.Abd. 1955 Huntly Express (25 Feb.):
They fell to tigging and horse play which sometimes ended in a spar.

Freq. intr. with at, wi: to dally, fraternise or consort with in a light-hearted, sportive or amorous manner (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 194; Sh., ne.Sc. 1972), also of illicit sexual relations (Gregor); to have to do with in gen., to meddle or interfere with, to work in a fussy fiddling manner with.Sc. 1720 A. Petrie Rules Good Deportment 13:
It is undecent and immodest to see Women tigging, wrestling, and working with Men.Ags. a.1823 G. Beattie Poems (1882) 189:
An' weel kend he, it was nae joke To tig wi' fiends that vomit smoke.Sc. 1862 A. Hislop Proverbs 151:
He that tigs wi' a stranger pays the smart.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xix.:
Nedder you nor Mr. Sleekaboot made yer plack a bawbee by tiggin wi' her.Cld. 1880 Jam.:
Ye're jist tiggin at it.Mry. 1887 A. G. Wilken Peter Laing 54:
The young lasses war sae aften tiggit wi' by the young chiels.Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
To tigg wi' a grice, wi' a dog.Abd. 1914 G. Greig Folk-Song cxliv.:
The nickum never tigget wi' her sneeshin' mull again.Abd. 1930 Abd. Univ. Mag. (March) 107:
Fa's the queynie 'at's tiggin' wi' 'er worset?ne.Sc. 1949 Scots Mag. (June) 229:
Tiggin' wi' butterflees; jeukin' ahin'.

3. (1) Of cattle: to run up and down, to dash about when tormented by flies (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Per., Knr. 1972). Ppl.adj. tiggit, tormented, goaded by flies. Comb. tig-biz, a cry by boys to startle cattle by imitating the buzzing of gadflies (Fif. c.1850 Peattie MS.).Fif. 1838 Wilson's Tales of the Borders V. 63:
The cow had been tigging in the afternoon.Fif. 1875 A. Burgess Poute 36:
It's folly for the Kye — i'm sure it is — To tig an' Rin when Laddies cry Tig-biz.Clc. 1882 J. Walker Poems 13:
Cattle tiggin' frae the clegs and flees.Fif. 1886 G. Bruce Poems 91:
Ha'e owre cheaply ta'en the gee Like tiggit coo.Fif. 1946 J. C. Forgan Maistly 'Muchty 26:
Gae pint your tails up to the sky, And roon the fences tiggin' flee.

(2) To take a sudden whim, to go off in a pet (Sc. 1880 Jam.; Ags. 1972). Ppl.adj. tigget, fitful, capricious; vbl.n. tiggin, capricious behaviour, tantrums.Ags. 1885 Mod. Sc. Poets (Edwards) VIII. 190:
Though Mammon aye deludes my grasp, the nasty tigget limmer.Abd. 1924 Trans. Bch. Club XIII. 29:
He [a horse] maybe tries on some o' 'is tiggin' wi' you, bit he daurna try's ginkums wi' me.

(3) Fig. of the heart: to race, thump.Per. 1895 R. Ford Tayside Songs 80:
Noo, a' at ance my heart's gane tiggin'.

II. n. 1. A light touch, tap, slap or twitch, usu. given playfully (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Uls. 1953 Traynor; Ayr. 1972), “sometimes used to denote a touch of a rougher description, amounting to a stroke, so as to cause a wound” (Sc. 1825 Jam.); specif. the tap given in the game of Touch, gen. accompanied by the exclam. “tig!” (Sh., Per. 1972). See also Tick, n.¹, 1. Comb. tig-and-gae-by, the touch in the game, hence any action of a trifling or brief nature.Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 243:
Many Masters, quoth the Poddock to the Harrow, when every Tine gave her a Tig.Ayr. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie v.:
It's bairnly to mak sic a wark for a bit tig on the haffet.Ayr. 1822 Galt Steam-Boat xiii.:
Ye'll just gie us a bit tig and gae by, in the shape of some wee couthy tale.Fif. 1825 Jam.:
He who in the game, communicates the stroke says to the person to whom he has given it, ye bear my tig.Ags. 1891 Brechin Advert. (21 July) 3:
Fan he made oot to touch anither he cried — “Tig for the day an' tig for the morn, Tig the day that I was born.”s.Sc. 1897 E. Hamilton Outlaws ii.:
Just a tig of the cheek, Gavin.

2. The children's game in which one player, also called tig, chases the others until he succeeds in touching one who then becomes tig in his turn (Fif., Lth., Slk. 1825 Jam.; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein). Gen.Sc., also in Eng. dial. (see I. & P. Opie Children's Games (1969) 66 sqq.). Also in combs. denoting this game or variants of it (See quots. and J. T. R. Ritchie Golden City (1965) 50): chain(y) tig, high tig (Gsw., Kcb. 1972), lame tig (Id.), low tig (Kcb. 1972), tig about, tig and wadds, tiggy touchwood, tig-me-if-you-can, tig-my-narkie, tig on the dykes, tig touch timer, tig tow (Ags. 1825 Jam.; Rng. 1837 Crawfurd MSS. X. 189; Dmf. 1925 Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. XIII. 42), tig-tow-hett, -tow-touchwood.s.Sc. 1821 Blackwood's Mag. (Aug.) 33, 38:
I can jink as nimbly at tig touch timmer. . . . To join in the merry ring at Tig me if you can.Sc. 1847 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes 259:
All the boys go to some distance and hide themselves, except the tig.Gsw. 1854 Gsw. Past & Present (1884) II. 191:
The games of “Smugglers and Gaugers,” “I Spy,” “Tig, tow, touch wood.”Bnff. 1880 J. F. S. Gordon Chron. Keith 146:
Where they were to have a game at Tig.e.Lth. 1886 J. P. Reid Facts and Fancies 199:
At tig or horny, race or play.Sc. 1888 Stevenson Across the Plains (1892) 194:
Some of the town's children profanely playing tigg.Ags. 1891 Brechin Advert. (21 July) 3:
The last to be coontit oot was ca'd “tig.”Knr. 1891 H. Haliburton Ochil Idylls 116:
Wastlin winds are playing tig Round ae bewildered craw.Edb. 1893 J. Livingston Our Street 7:
Every house and most of the individual flats had each its own back green, separated by stone walls. These walls were the favourite playground of both boys and girls, and “Tig on the Dykes” was, if a dangerous, yet a very exciting play.Lnk. 1893 J. Crawford Verses 30:
Whiles tig-tow-hett, whiles hide-an'-seek Amang the bussy trees.Kcd. 1901 J. C. McLure Marykirk 35:
Tigabout, some kind of ‘Tig and Wadds.'Wgt. 1907 J. Donnan Poems 3:
Whiles we played at Tiggy Touchwud.Dmf. 1912 J. L. Waugh Cracks wi' R. Doo 72:
A wheen weans had been playing tig-tow roon the trees.Lnk. 1925 Bellshill Speaker (24 July):
Whaur tig, bools an' rounders I played wi' the weans.Ags. 1934 G. M. Martin Dundee Worthies 187:
“High Tig” was played in similar fashion, but if the boy or girl was able to get to some object higher than the ground he or she was “untigable.” In Lame Tig every player who was touched on any part of his person had to feign as if that part of his anatomy was injured.Gsw. 1947 J. F. Hendry Fernie Brae 34:
When they chose someone in tig to be het, they all stood against the wall and were counted.w.Lth. 1948:
Tig-my-narkie. A boys' game. The narkie is a tin can placed in a slight depression. The one who is “hit” tries to spot the others who are in hiding. When he sees one, he dashes back to the narkie and touches it first, which makes the loser take over.Rnf. 1965 T. E. Niven East Kilbride 264:
In high tig, you could not be tagged if you reached a “dult” in time, but in low tig there was no such refuge.Sc. 1966 Scotland's Mag. (March) 28:
Chainy tig in the back lane.

3. A sudden whim, mood or humour, a caprice, crotchet (Ags. 1907; Abd. 1972), a pet, a fit of sullenness (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 193; ne.Sc., Ags., Per. 1972). Hence tiggie, -y, pettish, fractious (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Ags., Per. 1972).Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 211:
What tig then takes the fates, that they can thole, Thrawart to fix me in this weary hole.Abd. 1832 W. Scott Poems 89:
I henna skill, but I'm right sure o' that, It's just a tiggie capricious brat.Bnff. 1869 W. Knight Auld Yule 226:
I whiles micht tak the gee, An' fash ye wi' my tantrum tigs.Per. 1895 R. Ford Tayside Songs 71:
She left me in a tig.Abd. 1916 G. Abel Wylins 111:
They that war aboot him kent his tigs an' tantrums weel.Bnff. 1955 Banffshire Jnl. (6 Sept.):
It's funny, fat queer tiggs will tak' a buddy noo an' than.

Phr.: to tak a or the tig, (1) to take a sudden whim or notion (ne.Sc., Ags., Per. 1972); freq. of bad temper: to get a fit of sulks (Sc. 1808 Jam.; ne.Sc., Ags. 1972); (2) of cattle: to rush hither and thither when tormented by flies. See I. 3. (1).(1) Abd. 1832 W. Scott Poems 116:
Ae gloumin' just he took the tig, An' aff the set down ower the rig.Ags. 1853 W. Blair Aberbrothock 19:
Ye ken he whiles teuk tigs.Per. 1895 R. Ford Tayside Songs 30:
He's a wee wicked imp when he tak's the tig.Ags. 1950 Forfar Dispatch (12 May):
I wiz that raized I teen the tig and gaed fae speakin tae them.Abd. 1969 Buchan Observer (7 Jan.) 4:
She's teen a tig t' weer A set o' fluttrin' beauties.Ags. 1990s:
Uh doot shuh's teen the tig: I fear she's taken offence.(2) Fif. 1875 A. Burgess Poute 36:
The Beast i here alude to is a gleg, wha's Bite gars Kye an' Cattil tak' the tig.

4. A bargaining, wrangle, haggle.Per. 1895 I. MacLaren Auld Lang Syne 155:
They've hed mony a lauch in the train ower ma tigs wi the dealers.

5.?A teasing or vexatious person or thing.Ags. 1921 D. H. Edwards Fisher Folks 46:
“What do you have today?” inquired the gauger. “Naething,” replied the woman, “but a tig o' a bairn here.”

III. Combs. of I. or II.: 1. tig and tie, touch and go, a close thing. Cf. 5. below and Eng. and Uls. dial. tick and toy, to dally, trifle; 2. tigmateeze, v., to pull one about, to torment, annoy (Cld. 1825 Jam.). Also used as a n., one who teases or annoys others (Dmf. 1920). See Ma-; 3. tig-tag, tjig(g)-tjag(g) (Sh.), (1) v. intr., to dally, tease playfully (Sh. 1972); to bargain pertinaciously, to haggle, also in freq. form tiggle-taggle (Fif. 1825 Jam.). Vbl.n. tig-taggin; tr. to detain with vexatious delays, keep in suspense; (2) n., a state of suspense, gen. in phr. in tig-tag (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., 1908 Jak. (1928), 1914 Angus Gl.; I.Sc. 1972); 4. tig-tire, -tyre, n., id., esp. in phrs. in or on tig-tire (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 194; Ork., Bnff., Abd., Kcd. 1972). For tig-tired see Tike, n.¹; 5. tig(g)-tow, tig-toy, also tig and tow, (1) v., to play at tig (see I. 2.); to romp; to dally, to flirt light-heartedly (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Gall. 1972); to play fast and loose (with), act without serious purpose or decisiveness; to quarrel pettishly (Fif. c.1850 Peattie MS.); (2) n., the game of tig (see II. 2.), used fig. in phr. to play at tig-tow, “to pat backwards and forwards, to dally” (Sc. 1825 Jam.); a petty altercation (Fif. c.1850 Peattie MS.). For the form cf. O.Sc. tig and tar, Eng. †tick and toy, with sim. meanings.1. Gall. 1905 E.D.D.:
It was tig-an'-tie wi't.3. (1) Dmb. 1844 W. Cross Disruption xxxv.:
Tig-tagit for years, waiting on this Bill and the ither Bill.Dmb. 1936 A. J. Cronin Hatter's Castle i. vi.:
The milkin', and the showin', and the jiggin' after, and then the tig-taggin' on the long drive hame.(2) Ork. 1920:
He keepit her in tig tag by pretendin he widno come tae her waddin.4. Abd. 1824 G. Smith Douglas 17:
Keep him in tig-tyre till I reach the house.Abd. 1928 J. Baxter A' Ae 'Oo' 3:
Sae weel the wee bit bonneties Mak' nane for bairns' tig-tire.Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick xviii.:
Come awa than, Mains, an' nae haad a boddy in tigtire.5. (1) Sc. 1823 Scots Mag. (April) 411:
She had a kind of natural turn for romping, gaffing, and tigging, and towing, and every variety of robust and rustic amusement.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 449:
To tigg tow wi' a lass, to seem inclined to marry her, yet to hang off. . . . To tig-tow with talents, to show the world a part and keep a part.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xi.:
I was tig-towin' wi' Tibbie i' the lobby.Gsw. 1865 J. Young Homely Pictures 135:
That wild tig-towin' out an' in, Bout closes, lobbies, toom coal-cellars.Gall. a.1900 “Mulciber Veritatis” Gallowa' Herds 6:
Ye his micht set at nocht, wi' his doure ill-will focht, Till amaist he tig-towes wi' contrition.Dmf. 1925 Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. XIII. 42:
They're tig-towin' wi' ane anither.Gsw. 1987 Matt McGinn McGinn of the Calton 97:
The Street itself was well known as being almost entirely inhabited by Catholics which had angered Mick McLatchie, who was not a true Mick but in fact a very devout Orangeman, and, who, in order to display his devotion to the cause of Prince William and the Protestant ascendancy had only a few months before slashed both his wrists, thereby gaining a promise from his only daughter Betty that she would not marry the Catholic boy with whom she had been tig-toying in spite of the fact that she was then six months pregnant to him.(2) Lnk. 1844 J. Lemon St Mungo 50:
The noisy glee at skailin' time, Tigtow an' ither splores.

IV. int. The exclamation uttered in the game of tig when the pursuer touches one of the pursued. Gen. (exc. ne.) Sc.; also as an exclamation of derision.Dmf. 1844 W. McDowall Man of the Woods (1882) 188:
Oh, tig, tig, your mother's a Whig, An' a carline sour is she.