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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Quotation dates: 1929

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BLIRT, v.2, n.2 [blɪ̢rt, blrt, blʌrt]

1. v. Sc. form of St.Eng. blurt, to burst out with. (1) In Sc. extended from speech to action: to move clumsily or jerkily; (2) "to flit about thinly clad" (w.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.).(1) Lnk. 1929 T. S. Cairncross in Scots Mag. (March) 454:
He blirts aboot Like a lowse stirk the laddie has let oot.

2. n. Sudden noise.Ags. 1929 J. S. Buist in Scots Mag. (May) 148:
She heard . . . the blirt o' soond frae ootside.

[Of blurt the N.E.D. says "app. a modern onomatopœia expressive of a discharge of breath or fluid from the mouth after an effort to retain it." The change from [ʌ] to [ɪ] is common in Sc.]

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