Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1768, 1822-2000
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FYKIE, adj. Also fyky, f(e)ikie, fik(e)y, feykie. [′fəiki]
1. Of persons: (1) restless, fidgetty (Sc. 1825 Jam., ne.Sc., Ags., Per., Fif., m.Lth., ‡Rxb. 1953). Hence fykiness, restlessness, agitation.Ayr. 1823 Galt R. Gilhaize I. xiv.:
My Lord there is hyte and fykie; there's a gale in his tail, said they, light where it may.Sc. 1874 A. Hislop Anecdotes 88:
I'm sure ye ken as weel as me that love's just an unco fykiness in the mind.
(2) Fussy, fastidious over trifles, particular, difficult to please. Gen.Sc. Hence feikieness, fussiness, fastidiousness (Ags., Slg., Fif., m.Lth., Slk. 1953).Ayr. 1833 Galt Howdie, etc. (1923) 228:
He was fiky, and made more work about trifles that didna just please him.Dmf. 1850 Carlyle Letters (ed. Bliss 1953) 263:
Poor Redwood is kind to a degree, but also fussy and fiky beyond measure.Ags. 1889 Barrie W. in Thrums xiv.:
Her feikieness ended in his surrender, and he was looking unusually perjink.Ags. 1893 F. Mackenzie Cruisie Sk. iii.:
Oy, just a fikey mannie; he was aye a parteeklar cat.Kcb. 1901 Trotter Gall. Gossip 362:
Sae Bob . . . gaed awa tae Englan somegate, whaur the folk's no sae fykie aboot divine appointment.Lth. 1925 C. P. Slater Marget Pow 117:
She couldna abide that; she's gey an fikie.Bch. 1943 W. S. Forsyth Guff o' Waur 78:
For slockin' the thirst, for a fykie inside, . . . Nae water can beat it ava.Fif. 1985 Tom Hubbard in Joy Hendry Chapman 40 30:
But oor faur-northren fikyness
Gecks at the thocht o sic a mess:
Oor betters wadnae think it meet
Tae tak oor native speirit neat! Edb. 1993:
Don't be sae fykie an eat yer mince - I dinnae care if it's lumpy.
2. Of a task or the like: tricky, troublesome, trying, intricate and difficult to manage (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Ork., n.and m.Sc., ‡s.Sc. 1953).Ags. 1822 A. Balfour Farmers' Three Daughters 78:
I have ither tow on my rock than to sit up learning the bairn the A. B. C; I cudna be fashed wi' sic a fykie job.Ayr. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 235:
I min' the day . . . whan I was na fley'd for the fykiest o' them [songs].Abd. 1899 W. D. Geddes J. Geddes 43:
When asked about the expedition, he said, "For the first mile or twa, ye see, it was funny, but efter that it grew fyky, an' I didna care about it."Bnff. 1918 J. Mitchell Bydand 18:
It's fikey wark for fouk like me.Sc. 1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 8:
His ain were gettin' past remeid, An' fikey cleanin' didna need.Ags. 1933 W. Muir Mrs Ritchie xii.:
"A fyky wearisome job," she said.wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 58:
He only means it fur the best!
He kens hoo riches are an awfy fikey test
O' a yince guid man's uncorruptibility, ... Dundee 1991 Ellie McDonald The Gangan Fuit 44:
Quince: Aa richt, but there's twa fiky thing. Hou tae hae muinlicht i the chaumer, for Pyramus and Thisby met bi muinlicht, ye ken. Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 86:
Partens tuik his fancy maist; syne octopus, jeelyfush-an at the hinner-en, ony kin o fush. In simmer, his hunts grew mair and mair gleg an fyky. Dundee 2000 Matthew Fitt But n Ben A-Go-Go 132:
Vermont quickly feenished the last fykie adjustment, wheeched the control panel back intae place an waited.
†4. Of dress: elaborate, finicking.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 28:
You're nae like this wi' a' your fiky dress, She dings you in her hamely gown of gray.
