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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PISSLE, v., n. Also pissel, pisl (Jak.); pistle.

I. v. 1. To husk (a seed, etc.), shell, decorticate (Ork. 1929 Marw.).Ork. 1966:
Pizzlan oats, mettins, shelling oats with one's teeth and swallowing the kernel, as frequently in the harvest field.

2. To trifle, work in an ineffectual manner, potter. Adj. pisslin, of persons: useless, ineffectual, fiddling.Ork. 1908 Old-Lore Misc. I. viii. 318:
Dat peerie trowie pisslin taed — Rosebery— waas Lord Rector. Ork. 1927 Peace's Ork. Almanac 134: Dat peerie pistlin' ting Jeanie o' da Roondal, wi' her falderals an' a snirl i' er nose.

‡II. n. A trifle, a thing of little value, a detail, in pl., odd jobs, “trifling employments” (Sh. 1966).Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
Dey will tell dee every pissell.

[Ad. Norw. dial. pusla, to fiddle, do trifling work, shell, peel, Sw. pyssla, to fuss about, of L.Ger. orig. Cf. L.Ger. pusselen, pöselen, to work in a fiddling, trifling manner, Du. peuzelen, to nibble or pick at one's food. The word may have been borrowed direct from L.Ger. as the vowel sound suggests. Cf. Peysle.]

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