Hurl
April 25th 2026
The Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL) define a hurl as “a ride or drive in a wheeled vehicle”.
DSL’s earliest example appeared in Thomas Carlyle’s Early Letters (1822): “We will not let you want a hurl up and down in the coach”.
In July 1922, the Kirkintilloch Gazette reported that the Dumbartonshire Education Authority had agreed to explore the cost of motor transit for “the hurl to school” for post-qualifying pupils.
In June 1954, Glasgow’s Bulletin referenced the joy of “a first hurl on a newly acquired birthday bicycle”.
The term is still widely used. In October 2005, a columnist in the Aberdeen Press and Journal lamented the fact that it’s a “helluva lang hurl, time-wise, fae Aiberdeen” when telling readers about a recent mid-week trip to Inverness.
In March 2013, the Herald summarised Scotland’s economic policies as: “Free medicine, no fees for university students, no charge for old folk to have a hurl on the bus”.
Despite the term’s continued popularity, some speakers seem to think it’s dated, as seen in this observation from the Daily Record in August 2019: “Other people would talk about going for an ice-cream cone, I’d say, ‘Let’s have a pokey hat’, or talk about going for a ‘hurl’ on the bus”.
Finally, in July 2020, a writer in the Edinburgh Evening News joked that: “[The NHS] should introduce a loyalty card. Three visits and you get a free hurl in an MRI”. It seems then that a hurl has developed past needing a wheeled vehicle.
Dictionaries of the Scots Language would like to thank Bob Dewar for illustrating our Scots Word of the Week feature.
