Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 2005 (SND, online supplement).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
BACK COURT, n. Garden/yard at the back of a tenement building. Also dim. back-coorty.Dundee 1987 Norman Lynn Row Laddie Sixty Years On 59:
Football and cricket were discouraged in the confinement of the back-coorty, so Beezy, where the ball was struck with bare hand and less likely to cause damage, was substituted.Gsw. 1991 John Burrowes Mother Glasgow 17:
The best way, he was to discover after the couple went into the house, would be out the rear of the building into that area they called the back court, where they housed the refuse bins in brick shelters.Gsw. 1999 Jimmy Boyle Hero of the Underworld 52:
It's not as though he could take her into the backcourt and have a knee-banger.
