Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
†GEG, n.2, v.2 Also gegg, ¶ggeg. Sc. (mainly Gsw.) forms of Eng. slang gag. [gɛg]
I. n. A trick, deception (Gsw. 1825 Jam.); a practical joke (Gsw. 1856 J. Strang Gsw. Clubs 401, geg).Gsw. 1830 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) II. 347:
But confess, at the same time, that you was bammed, sir. . . . Just sae, sir, — that's a Bam. In Glasgow, they ca't a ggeg.wm.Sc. 1837 Laird of Logan 51:
Willie had often been bitten by these gegs.Abd. 1922 Swatches o' Hamespun 66:
She wis at the eyn o' her teddir. By nae gegg nor idder cud she wile roon him.Uls.2 1929:
“Talkin' about veils,” ses she, “mines me av the best geg ivir ye heerd tell av in all yer born days.”
II. v. To hoax, play a trick on (someone) (Gsw. 1825 Jam.).Gsw. 1826 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) I. 111:
Sae sune as I turn the tables on you, gegg you, as they say in Glasgow, turn you into twa asses.Gsw. 1856 J. Strang Gsw. Clubs 403:
The party to be gegged would be present.
Hence ¶1. gegee, n., [gɛ′gi:] the person on whom a joke is played; 2. geggery, n., a hoax, practical joke, piece of deception (‡Ayr.4 1928); “a cant term commonly used in Glasgow in regard to mercantile transactions which are understood to be not quite correct in a moral point of view” (Jam.2).1. Gsw. 1856 J. Strang Gsw. Clubs 404:
The whole party, including the geggee, were in the highest spirits.2. Sc. 1826 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) I. 235:
A steamer took us to Glasgow, where . . . the punch was pleasant, and the people given to geggery, every house hospitable.Gsw. 1856 J. Strang Gsw. Clubs 327:
That class . . . loved fun and frolic, jest and song, geggery and gossip.Sc.(E) 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. Christ i. xx.:
Bot the sickerness o' the ill-deedy . . . i' the en' swees tae their ain geggery.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Geg n.2, v.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 31 Oct 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/geg_n2_v2>