Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1930
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0]
KAE, v.2 To waste time, to dawdle, fritter the day away in a trifling manner. Ppl.adj. kaean, dawdling, procrastinating.Ork. 1930:
A kayan ting. Never a bit o' him could get on wi his wark, he just gaed kaean about aa the day.
[Orig. uncertain. Poss. a verbal usage of Kae, int., sc. to go about saying kae, or, less likely, from Kae, v.1]
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Kae v.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/snd00088990>
