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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BEGUNK, Begonk, Begink, v., n. and adj. [bə′gʌŋk Sc.; bə′gɪŋk n.Sc. + uv.; bə′gɔŋk Dmf.]

1. v.

(1) To cheat, to deceive, to jilt.Sc. 1821 Blackw. Mag. VIII. 426:
Whose sweetheart has “begunked” him — won his heart — Then left him all forlorn to dree the smart.Sc.(E) 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. of Christ i. iii. 6:
Oor ain judgment an' feelins aften begunk us.Ayr. 1929 J. Carruthers A Man Beset 82:
It's aye sairer to be begunkit when ye're young than when ye're auld.s.Sc. 1857 H. S. Riddell St Matthew xxiv. 4:
An' Jesus answiret an' said untill them, “Tak' tent that man begunk you.”

(2) To befool.Per. 1895 R. Ford Tayside Songs 284:
For her pawkie e'e-glances Had pierced him like lances, An' fairly begunk'd him.Slg. 1932 W. D. Cocker Poems 115:
But I jalouse they've begunked me fairly.Lnk. 1922 T. S. Cairncross Scot at Hame 53:
I ha'e leeved to be begunkit as I draigle through the snaw.Rxb. d.1860 J. Younger Autobiog. (1881) 93:
I began to smell that I was begunkit wi' you, ye ill-dessented, slee sinner ye.

(3) To stupefy.Lnl. 1834 J. Watt Ardent Spirits in Poets and Poetry of Lnlsh. (ed. Bisset 1896) 75:
A fourth distorts the senses a', Begunks the wits, lets breedin' fa'.

(4) To surprise (unpleasantly).Dwn. 1901 Northern Whig, Ulsterisms:
I was never more begunked in my life and I wished the ground would open and swallow me.

2. n.

(1) A disappointment, a misfortune.Ags. 1790 D. Morison Poems Chiefly in Sc. Dial. 137:
Our sex are shy, and wi' your leave they think Wha yields o'er soon fu' aft gets the begink.Edb. 1917 T. W. Paterson Wyse-Sayin's o' Solomon 49:
But the houp o' the wicked'll get a black begunk.Lnk. 1862 D. Wingate Poems and Songs 26:
And the otter, pike, and heron, Meet wi' mony a sair begunk.w.Dmf. 1925 W. A. Scott Vern. of Mid-Nithsdale, Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 17:
I got a sair be-gunk efter trauchlin' owre the muir.e.Dmf.² 1917:
Sic a begonk.

(2) A trick, a cheat.Sc. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Shepherd Act II. Sc. i. in Poems (1728) II.:
Ane ca'd Monk Has play'd the Rumple a right slee Begunk.Abd.(D) 1921 J. Wight in Swatches o' Hamespun 8:
But mony a begunk he got files wi' eemirsome breets takin' the rag o' him.Ags. 1893 “F. Mackenzie” Cruisie Sketches xii.:
Somebody has played a gey begunk on ye the day.

(3) A surprise.Lnk. 1860 W. Watt Poems 232:
Frae a' the lave he'd bear the gree, And gi'e them a begunk yet.

(4) A fool.Lnk. 1895 W. Stewart Lilts and Larks frae Larkie 78:
Gin the cuifs had but spunks, an' were men, no begunks, We'd sune prove their story a lie.

Phrases: (1) To gie the begunk, to give the slip; (2) to play someone the begunk, to jilt someone.(1) Kcb. 1897 A. J. Armstrong Robbie Rankine 42:
This was a proceedin' Robbie had nae relish for, an' wad hae gien't the begunk could he hae managed it.(2) Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto Tammas Bodkin (1868) xxxv.:
He micht hae been the very rogue wha had played her the begunk.

3. adj. Crazy. Prob. for begunkt. See Begeck, 3.Edb. 1866 J. Smith Merry Bridal, etc. 11:
He's taen the gee — I'm clean begunk.