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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

TEESIE-BEESIE, n. Also teesy beesy. Also attrib., a type of hopscotch; also applied to the last or furthest-off square in the bed or pattern of chalked squares on which hopscotch is played (Abd. 1930). [′tizi-′bizi]Sc. 1936 Gsw. Herald (10 Nov.):
“Hopscotch,” however, is an English name. We Scots called it “peever,” or “pallally,” or “pot,” or “the beds,” or “the pitcher,” or, most original of all, “teesy beesy beds.”

[A childish formation from T(urn) B(ack), the letters on the last two squares.]

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