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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

FUNG, v., n.¹, adv. Also funk. [fʌŋ(k)]

I. v. ‡1. tr. and intr. To strike with the hands or feet, to beat, cuff (Mry., funk, ne.Sc., fung, 1953); to kick, throw up the legs, of a restive horse (Rxb. 1942 Zai, ne.Sc., Ags., Fif. 1953, funk). Also fig. and in n. comb. †funk-the-cuddie and funk, cuddies, funk, the names of a children's game (Fif. 1953).Sc. c.1707 Jacobite Minstrelsy (1829) 38:
You've curried the auld mare's hide, She'll funk nae mair at you.m.Lth. 1812 P. Forbes Poems 163:
The taylor had an awkward beast, It funket first an' syne did reest.Sc. 1822 Scott Pirate xxx.:
Set them to dancing, and see when they will tire of funking and flinging!Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch (1898) iii.:
Up and down philandered the beast on its hind-legs and its fore-legs, funking like mad.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 294:
'Gainst the freaks o' oor fate as weel we may funk.Fif. 1875 A. Burgess Poute 26:
To gar ye funk, or fling, or kick.Hdg. 1896 J. Lumsden Battle of Dunbar 22:
I'll funk his buttock weel some day! w.Lth. 1950: 
Funk, cuddies, funk, a game in which a boy stands with his back against a wall and the others on his side stoop with bent backs in a line from him backwards. Another player then leaps on the bent backs trying to reach the boy at the wall who calls "Funk, cuddies, funk," when the whole line begins to heave and twist to unseat the rider. If they are successful, he joins the line and releases another to become rider.Abd.²⁷ 1953:
If ye dee that again, I'll fung your lug til ye.Abd. 1953 Huntly Express (13 Nov.):
It funkit at ye and I've seen't get a gweed scoor or twa tae learn't tae keep doon its heels.

Hence funker, an animal that funks (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Bnff.² 1943). Also fig. of persons.Rxb. 1825 Jam.:
Dinna buy that beast. she's a funker.Lnk. 1893 J. Crawford Sc. Verses 26:
A thrawn auld crabbit loon was he, A kittle funker, sly an' croose.

2. (1) To throw violently and abruptly, to pitch, toss, fling (ne.Sc., Ags. 1943).Abd. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 142:
Ye witches, warlocks, fairies, fien's! Daft fungin fiery peats, an' stanes.Sc. 1821 Blackwood's Mag. (Nov.) 393:
The horse funkit him aff into the dub.Rnf. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls 36:
Bit neeps we'll howk for Hallowe'en, Shinties to fung the fleeing bool.Hdg. 1889 J. Lumsden Lays Linton 150:
Alang the plantin' sides they bicker, An' funk up their white fuddies quicker.Abd. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 37:
He-cats an' midnicht stravaigers geyan af'en gets beets fungt at them.

(2) To cheat in marbles by jerking the arm forward in delivering the marble (Mry.¹ 1925).Sc. 1900 E.D.D.:
Nane o' yer funkin', but knuckle deid doon.

3. To fly up or along at a high speed and with a buzzing noise, to whizz (Bnff., Ags. 1943, fung), “as when a cork is drawn” (Mearns 1825 Jam.). Also fig. to work with feverish haste and energy.Lnk. 1808 W. Watson Poems (1877) 2:
The taylors, too, maun fung awa', Or else they'll har'ly mak it.Per. 1845 C. Spence Poems (1898) 158:
Thick past my lugs the rackets fung'd, Hard stanes, auld turfs.Mry. 1897 J. Mackinnon Braefoot Sk. 122:
Ae day I wis stan'in enjoyin' the sicht o' the loons — half a dizzen at a time — comin' fungin' doon the brae on a railway sleeper.Abd. 1921 Swatches o' Hamespun 15:
Somebody wid be garrin't fung up the lum.

4. To fly into a pet or rage, to take quick offence, to sulk (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 56, funk; ne.Sc. 1953). Also tr. to give offence to. Ppl.adj. funkit, offended, in a huff (ne.Sc. 1953).Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 55:
Ye widna haud yir ill-tung, an' y've fungt 'im.Abd. 1889 Bon-Accord (27 July) 9:
She funkit aboot the hoose the hail foreneen, wi' a mou' ye cud hae tie't wi' a rape.Bnff.² 1928:
Airchie fung't at that an geed awa hame.

II. n. 1. A blow from the hand or the foot, a cuff (ne.Sc., Wgt. 1953, fung), a kick (Ags. fung, Clc., Fif. funk, Wgt. fung, 1953), a throw of the leg. Adj. funky, apt to kick, of a horse (Sc. 1855 J. Ogilvie Imp. Dict. Suppl.).Rnf. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 57:
Fir'd wi' indignance I turn'd round And basht wi' mony a fung The Pack, that day.Sc. 1827 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) II. 5:
Streek out your richt hind leg, like a horse geein a funk.Sc. 1833 J. Cairnie Curling 95:
One of the Lochwinnoch Curlers, went up to him and gave him a fung in the mouth, which knocked him down.Gsw. 1863 J. Young Ingle Nook 34:
Nor think to 'scape frae mony a fung O' rectitude's hard neive.Bnff. 1866 Banffshire Jnl. (27 March):
Gin wi sic frag I e'er forgather They'll learn my fung.e.Lth. 1885 “S. Mucklebackit” Rural Rhymes 256:
Up the glen in the moonshine awa, awa, Wi' volte an' caper, an' funk.Ayr. 1890 J. Service Notandums 73:
He taks him a fung i' the ribs and a stot on the nose.Abd. 1914 J. Leatham Daavit 36:
When ye gie 'im a fung he maks a bolt for the door.Fif.¹⁷ 1952:
I'll gie ye a funk in the backside.

2. (1) A throw, a toss (Bnff.² 1943).Abd. 1928 Word-Lore III. 148:
He lap back, an' takin' Meggie in's oxter made tae gie 'er a fung across.

(2) In marbles: a jerk of the arm so as to propel the marble more forcibly than is permissible (see 1904 quot.).Sc. 1823 Blackwood's Mag. (July) 93:
Ne funk. (A term used by children at marbles), no flinging.Abd. 1904 Abd. Weekly Free Press (9 April):
The “funk” was considered much less objectionable than the “nieve,” which crept gradually forward till well over the stroke, and was thus a mode of cheating other players.

3. A whizzing noise (Mearns 1825 Jam., fung; Bnff. 1943), as of a bird's wings in swooping (Arg. 1936 L. McInnes Dial. S. Kintyre 14). By extension: brisk, fizzing ale.Mry. 1888 J. McQueen Beauties 57:
Ye'll get it in a pint o' fung, But nae fan 't 's flat.

4. A bad temper, a dudgeon, a huff, tantrum (Sc. 1808 Jam., Sh., ne.Sc. funk, Ags. fung, m.Lth., Kcb. funk, 1953). Phr. to make a funk, to create an angry scene. Adj. fungie (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 56), funkie (Cld. 1880 Jam.), funkey, apt to take offence, easily offended, “huffy.”Bnff. 1834 Abd. Shaver (6 Feb.) 46:
Lizzy has left me, gone in a funk!Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 55:
He took the fung fin that wiz spoken o'.Gsw. 1878 W. Penman Echoes 93:
He'll mak' nae funk tae see me drunk, he'll say I'm no tae blame.Abd. 1880 Bon-Accord (11 Sept.) 3:
The Prime Minister has been decidedly “funkey,” and the cause of his wrath is the treatment, or rather absence of treatment, received at the hands of Aberdeen.Kcb. 1885 A. J. Armstrong Friend and Foe 195:
It puts me in a funk that I canna dae naething.

5. A state of pleased excitement or enthusiasm, commotion. m.Lth. 1857 Misty Morning 65, 271: 
The folk are a' unco weel-pleased wi' him, an' in a terrible funk aboot him some places. . . . We've haen an awfu' time o't the last twa day's aboot this waddin' an' ae thing and anither. It made sich a funk and kick-up.sm.Sc. c.1900 W. G. Tarbet In Oor Kailyard 12: 
I met Anera carryin' a bandbox in a great hurry. 'Hullo, Anera,' I says, 'yer in a great funk the day.'

III. adv. Forcibly, violently (Cld. 1880 Jam.; Bnff., Abd. 1953); with a whizzing movement. Also in comb. clean fung.Abd. 1787 A. Shirrefs Jamie and Bess Pref. vi.:
Or else, mayhap, my hilted rung, . . . Which, nittled anes, I use, clean fung, Amo' my Foes.Abd. 1845 Stat. Acc.² XII. 624 note:
Fung it [a huge stone] gaed thro' the air.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 55:
The cork geed fung oot o' the bottle to the reef o' the hoose. She ran fung oot at the door.Bch. 1929 J. Milne Dreams o' Bch. 6:
It's the rovin' bleid gyaun fung tae my heid.

IV. Phrs.: 1. like fung (funkie), violently, with great vehemence. Prob. influenced by Eng. phr. like fun; 2. to cry fung, to go crack, whizz, with a wallop; 3. to lat fung (wi), to let fly (with) (Bnff., Abd. 1953); 4. to play fung, = 2.1. Rnf. 1873 J. Nicholson Wee Tibbie's Garland 58:
Till the tea grew mair cuil [he] wadna bide, Sae he at it like fung an' he scadit his tongue.Rnf. 1884 J. Nicholson Willie Waugh 295:
It's then ye'll see me face aboot, An' spiel the braes like funkie.Ayr. 1912 G. Cunningham Verse 33:
An unco disgrace While Frank couldna staun; so he at him like fung.2. Abd. 1832 A. Beattie Poems 120:
But Johnny, wi' an' awfu' whack, Gard it cry fung behind his back.3. Abd. 1913 D. Scott Sc. Stories 56:
I loot fung at it wi' ma fit, an' sent it richt throw the shafts o' the Gallopers' goal.Bnff.² 1931:
The vratch loot fung a steen 'at cam within an ace o' ma face.Abd. 1941 C. Gavin Black Milestone xiii.:
. . . tellin' him when to lat fung wi's bombs.4. Mry. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 79:
Syne gart his rung ower Jock play fung.