Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

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

FUNNY, adj., n. Also funnie. Sc. usages:

I. adj. Curious, anxious (to know). This rare usage is developed on analogy with the double meaning of curious in Eng. = strange, peculiar, and also inquisitive.Cai. 1869 M. MacLennan Peasant Life 280:
I'm funny tae ken yer mind on a pint like that.

II. n. A game, usu. of marbles, where no score is kept and all winnings are restored to the loser at the end of play, the game being played for fun only and not in earnest. Gen.(exc. I.)Sc. Also in comb. funnie-winnie (Arg.¹ 1937).Lth. c.1875 (per Lnk.³):
If the game was “winnie” marbles hit were kept by the winner, if “funnie” they were returned at the end of the game.Lth. 1885 “J. Strathesk” Blinkbonny 33:
Marbles or the bools was entirely a boys' game from the Ring, Winnie or Funny.Ayr.⁹ 1953:
We'll play for funny.