Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
IDLE, adj. Sc. usages in phrs.: (1) idle-employed (Wgt. 1958), (2) idle o' wark (Mry. 1958), at a loss for work, with little to do; (3) to fyte the idle pin, to lounge about wasting time. See Fite, v.(2) Sc. 1846 J. W. Carlyle New Letters (1903) I. 216:
Robertson had called ten days ago, and left a request that I “would send him word to the club when I returned”! I should have been “gey idle o' wark” I think!
