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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

FRAIK, n., v. Also frake, fr(a)ick, freck, frekk; †friek, †freik (Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems 9); and irreg. form frack [phs. a mistake for fraek]. Sc. forms and usages of Eng. freak. [fre:k]

I. n. 1. As in Eng., a whim, caprice, odd notion, crotchet.Abd. after 1768 A. Ross Works (S.T.S.) 200:
Yet by my saying sae I dinna mean That fouk sud take a frack [sic] an' marry nane.Ayr. 1789 D. Sillar Poems 169:
Start at ev'ry whim an' fraik That blaws up Hell the better.Kcb. 1814 W. Nicholson Tales 18:
[N]or let his [poet's] dreams ken aught about ye For, 'las! he's fraiks anew without ye.Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 13:
It's my weird's caa, or sae I blaw, tae show whit it micht be,
this leid, yased aricht. That's mebbe a fraik
but's the brag that sets me oot on this raik.

Hence †frieksome, frick-, capricious, freakish, whimsical.Abd. 1739 J. Skinner in Caled. Mag. (1788) 501:
Rob Roy heard the frieksome fraise Weel browden'd in his graith. [1809 ed. fricksome]

2. A superstitious notion (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Prob. confused with Freit, q.v.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch (1898) ix.:
But we would not hear tell of it till he came in and took a dram out of the bottle, as we told him the not doing so would spoil the wean's beauty, which is an old freak.

3. Flattery, cajolery, wheedling (Ork., Cai., Ags., Fif. 1953); a fuss by way of affection. Also one who cajoles to get something, a wheedler, esp. of children or animals (Ags., Fif., Dmf. 1953); one who is petted and pampered, a spoilt child (Fif. 1953). Also in deriv. forms fraikas (Cai. 1907 D. B. Nicolson in County of Cai. 72, Cai. 1953), †fraikesse, with dim. frixie. Hence ppl.adj. ‡fraeksit, spoilt, petted, peevish (Sh.¹⁰ 1953). Phrs. to haud (mak) a fraik wi, to mak a fraik o' (somebody), to make a fuss of (someone) (Ags. 1897 Arbroath Guide (20 March); Ags.¹⁹ 1953); to mak a fraik aboot, make a fuss about, esp. to make a show of reluctance (Ork., Ags. 1975).ne.Sc. 1773 Weekly Mag. (25 Feb.) 274:
For Fortune's fraikesse or her frown I dinna care.Ags. 1808 Jam.:
He maks a great fraik, he pretends great regard.Clc. 1850 J. Crawford Doric Lays 42:
The fool . . . For a' his fraiks an' wylie gaits Gets owre the shins a kick.Ags. 1856 in A. Reid Bards Ags. (1897) 198:
They've ribs and joints and inner warks, The same's oor ain: Why, then, sic fraiks o' title marks?Mry. 1873 J. Brown Round Table Club 380:
I never like tae see an 'oman makin' a fraik about takin' a gless, declarin' she canna taste it.Ags. 1887 A. D. Willock Rosetty Ends 134:
In its anxiety to mak' a fraik wi' folk, it had a way o' pittin' its forepaws on their chests to lick their faces.Sh. 1891 J. Burgess Rasmie's Büddie 101:
Time is spraechin, laek a fraeksit bairn, Ipo da bosim o Eternity.Fif. 1896 “G. Setoun” R. Urquhart ii.:
She's a rale frake when she's wantin' onything.Fif. 1901 “G. Setoun” Skipper of Barncraig vi.:
I dinna' see ye makin' a frake o' wee Mary as ye do o' him.Cai.⁴ c.1920:
'Ey made a great frixie owre him.

4. One, esp. a child, who is unusually prone to complain or cry out, a mollycoddle (Ork. 1953); a weak, delicate creature (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., frack, 1900 E.D.D., fraick, 1914 Angus Gl., 1953, fraik); a troublesome, whimsical person (Sc. 1818 Sawers). Also a slight or imaginary ailment about which one makes an undue fuss or complaint (Ork. 1929 Marw.; Ork., Ags. 1953).Sh. 1899 Shetland News (13 May):
Pick apo' da kirn fil I see if I can rin doon wi' yon fraik o' a grice.Ork. 1927 Peace's Ork. Almanac 135:
Ay, an' am seur Mrs Rade so'od a been black affronted, sae foo o' frakes, wi' a face like a hairst meun.

II. v. 1. To flatter, wheedle, cajole (Ags., Fif. 1808 Jam.; Ib. 1953); to pet, pamper, to caress, fondle (Ork., Ags., Fif. 1953). Sometimes with wi (Ags. 1953). Adj. fraikie, frecky, coaxing, wheedling (Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 247; Ork. 1953).Fif. 1806 A. Douglas Poems 79:
Yet some will fraik, an' say, “My dear, O how I do adore you!”Abd. 1844 W. Thom Rhymes 104:
When a' ither bairnies are hushed to their hame, By aunty, or cousin, or frecky grand-dame.Clc. 1850 J. Crawford Doric Lays 34:
O' fleechin' and fraikin' ye've got a guid nack.Ayr. 1859 in Carrick Anthol. (ed. Finlayson 1925) 209:
I had a notion ye war saft, An' gayan fraikit.em.Sc. (a) 1894 “I. Maclaren” Bonnie Brier Bush 280:
Nae man can thole that kind o' fraikin.Fif. 1896 “G. Setoun” R. Urquhart xvii.:
Man, when I saw ye on the ice, wi' your hands frakin' about her throat, I could feel mine at yours, an' wi' little o' the frake in them.Ork. 1949 “Lex” But-end Ballans 23:
[He] pulled twa knaeves o' girse, “Tae Rose an' Meg,” he said, “Twa frekkid t'ings, Dey'll no stert wi'oot 'id.”Ags. 1953:
I canna be bothered fraikin wi cats.Abd. 1992 David Toulmin Collected Short Stories 170:
A fraiky kind of wye of speaking to animals.

2. To sham illness, to malinger, to complain unduly about trifling ailments (Ags. c.1900; Ork. 1929 Marw.; Ork., Ags. 1953). Adj. fraiky, fretful, complaining (Ork., Ags. 1953).Ags. 1945 “S. A. Duncan” Chron. Mary Ann 41:
Mary Ann needs plenty coddlin' fin she's onweel, but gin I get a hoast, I shud juist tak' better care o' mysel, or else I'm freckin'.