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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

FUN, n.1 Also †funn. n.Sc. form of Whin, n.2, gorse and Whin, n.1, whinstone. See P.L.D. §§ 59, 134. [fʌn]ne.Sc. c.1805 Laily Worm in Child Ballads No. 36 xv.:
He has sent to the wood For hathorn an fun.
Bnff. 1878 Ellis E.E.P. V. 779:
Fin [th]is fun bleems, i.e. never. [A pun on the two meanings of the word.]
Abd. 1916 G. Abel Wylins 124:
He rase a' dreepin' wi' the dyow Fae bed o' funs an' steens.
Bnff. 1927 Banffshire Jnl. (29 March):
Still the time of “chappit funs” as winter feed is not beyond the span of some lives yet.

Freq. attrib. and in combs.: 1. fun-buss, a whin-bush (ne.Sc. 1953); †2. fun chackert, the whinchat, Saxicola rubetra (ne.Sc. 1903 G. Sim Fauna ofDee” 77); †3. fun egg, an addled or infertile egg (Cai. 1916 T.S.D.C. II.) quasi made of whinstone; †4. fun lintie, = 2. (ne.Sc. 1903 G. Sim Fauna ofDee” 77); †5. fun mull, a kind of mill for grinding whins as cattle fodder; 6. fun-stane, -steen (ne.Sc. 1953), whinstone.1. Abd. 1868 G. Macdonald R.Falconer I. xx.:
The glory of his red hair . . . once mistaken for a fun-buss on fire.
Abd. 1929 Sc. Readings (ed. Paterson) 91:
An egg that had been lyin' in a funn-buss for months.
5. Abd. 1914 A. McS. The Bishop 33:
That wis a' 'at some o' the beasts got last winter, excep' at toons faur there wis a fun-mull.
Abd. 1926 Trans. Bch. Field Club XIII. 79:
Whin shoots crushed with the powerful fun-mull.
6. Abd. 1748 R. Forbes Ajax 8:
In hell . . . Where a fun-stane does Sisyphus Down to the yerd sair gnidge.

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"Fun n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/fun_n1>

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