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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

NEBBIE, adj. Also nebby.

1. Biting, nippy, sharp in gen.; .fig., smart (Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 256; Fif., wm.Sc., Kcb. 1963). Phr.: look nebby, look sharp, hurry up.Lth. 1918 A. Dodds Lothian Land 10:
My losh, bit ye're a nebby chield [east wind]!Lnk. 1928 W. C. Fraser Yelpin' Stane 141:
Look nebby. If ye dinna stick in, I'll no let ye come back.

2. Sharp in manner, brusque, tart, (Arg.¹ 1882; Uls. 1953 Traynor; em.Sc. (b), wm.Sc., Kcb., Rxb. 1963); cheeky, impertinent (w.Lth., wm.Sc., Gall. 1963); inquisitive, “nosey” (em.Sc. (a), Edb., Gsw., sm.Sc., Uls. 1963).Gsw. 1860 J. Young Lays 133:
Before yon nebby police-court the smart o't ye may fin'.wm.Sc. 1888 Anon. Archie Macnab 82:
I wis gaun awa' to say somethin' nebby.Ayr. 1901 G. Douglas Green Shutters xiii.:
He was nebby owre a bill I sent in the other day.Gall. 1932 A. McCormick Galloway 171:
He got nebby wi' me, an' I jist took him by the seat o' his breeks an' the scruff o' his neck.wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 50:
" ... She's got a nebby tongue and she would soon mak' a door mat of you." wm.Sc. 1983 William McIlvanney The Papers of Tony Veitch 176:
That the event had by now hardened into itself he saw in the old woman's face looking out from the nearby window of a private house with nebby curiosity, as if misfortune was lowering the tone of the neighbourhood ... m.Sc. 1996 Bank of Scotland Magazine 12:
Pretty nebby? The old Scots word for 'nosey' or 'sharp' is probably a choice of adjective with which many of her interviewees would concur ...

Hence nebbily, adv., sharply, tartly; nebbiness, n., shortness of temper, asperity (Fif., Lth., wm.Sc., Gall. 1963).Ayr. 1889 H. Johnston Glenbuckie 178:
“When are they gaun to bury your mother?” “No till she dees, I hope,” says the lassie nebbily.Lth. 1930 A. P. Wilson Gundy Shop 30:
Ye cairry yer nebbiness juist a wee bit ower far ye ken.Sc. 1954 Scotsman (7 Sept.):
Ann Gudrun . . . is called upon to display a greater quality of brusqueness and nebbiness than was formerly her lot.