Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
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: 1790, 1873-1915
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
CALSHIE, CALSH, Calshich, Kalchie, adj. Crabbed, ill-humoured, surly. Known to Bnff.2, Abd.2 1938. The form calsh seems to be confined to Bnff. and Bch. Cf. Kelshie, adj. [′kɑlʃi, ′kɑlʃɪç, kɑlʃ]Mry. 1873 J. Brown Round Table Club 106:
Fat in the world is there aboot yer dress, madam, that's brakin' an' crackin' an' makin' the captain sae kalchie?Bnff. 1898 E.D.D.:
He's a gey calshich lad.Bch. 1915 (per Abd.15):
Ay, the dog's fell calsh an' snarly.Ags. 1790 D. Morison Poems 82:
Gin she but bring a wee bit tocher, And calshie fortune deign to snocher, Just bid her work, but na, fient hough her, Her head it dizzies.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Calshie adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/calshie>
