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 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BUBBLY, Bibblie, adj. Also bubblie. Sc. usages of Eng. bubbly.

1. “Snotty” (Sc. 1808 Jam.); dirty with mucus from the nose. Gen.Sc.n.Sc. 1898 E.D.D.:
He's a puir, sma-facet, bibblie bit bairnie, that.ne.Sc. 1881 W. Gregor Folk-Lore of N.-E. Scot. 16:
Various members of the body were celebrated in the following way: — “This is the broo o' knowledge, This is the ee o' life, This is the bibblie gauger [nose], And this is the pen-knife.”Abd. 1998 Sheena Blackhall The Bonsai Grower 61:
At a quarter till echt, he wis aff ower the hills fur the schule run, drivin frae fairm tae fairm, uplifting littlins, wytin fur mithers tae dicht bibbly snoots, or tie pynts, or caimb the antrin hudderie heid.Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 13, 139:
It's no auld bubly Tammy. . . . A walloping white thing hanging like a snotter at a bubbly wean's nose.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
A bubbly nose or snoot; a bubbly bairn.

2. Tearful, blubbering, snivelling. Gen.Sc. Also absol.Ags.(D) 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) xiv.:
“You're juist like a muckle bubbly laddie, Sandy,” says I.em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 89:
When he stumbled back to the flat, hours later, and looked at himself, haggard, bubbly, wretched, the mirror was silent. Edb. 2003:
Stoap greetin, bubblie!wm.Sc. 1998 Alan Warner The Sopranos (1999) 153:
... An Orla nearly died an ahm sat here like a big, bubbly baby. Lnk. 1887 A. Wardrop Mid-Cauther Fair 217:
A bubbly whalp like Gawvin sittin' there that greets for naething.

3. Combs.: (1) Bubbly Babies, also Bubbly Bairns, nicknames for The Boys' Brigade; (2) bubbly-bark, “the bark of the elm tree; often chewed by children long ago” (Lnk.³ 1936); (3) bubbly-cuffs, “one who wipes his snotty nose on the coat-sleeve. Frequently as a term of abuse” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); (4) bubbly-fisher, a fisher who has failed to catch any fish.(1) Ags. 1990s:
Bubbly Bairns: The Boys Brigade.w.Lth. 2004:
The Boys Brigade team in the Midcalder annual gala day is known as the Bubblie Bairns.Gsw. 1988 Michael Munro The Patter Another Blast 10:
Bubbly Babies Literally meaning crybabies, this is a disrespectful name for the Boys' Brigade. Another such cheeky interpretation of the initials B.B. is the Bad Boys.(4) Bnff.² 1936:
I doot ye're a bubbly-fisher.