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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

OUT O, prep. comb. Also oot o, oota, ootay, uta (Sh.); and, where o = on, out(e)n, ooten (see O, prep., 2). The form ootad (Cai. 1959 John o' Groat Lit. Soc. 7) is for oot o'd (see 'D, pron.).

1. (1) Out of, from out, outside, beyond; (by purchase) from. Gen.Sc.Dmf. 1831 R. Shennan Tales 37:
A mickle boy and youngish lass Had danc'd till he was out o' brass.wm.Sc. 1854 Laird of Logan 441:
I cud get as gweed a yane onyday out'n a hedge at the road-side.Sc. 1884 Stevenson Letters (1899) I. 337:
The words were nae weel ooten ma mouth.Dmf. 1894 J. Cunningham Broomieburn 100:
We'll see ye oot o' the yett.Fif. 1896 D. S. Meldrum Grey Mantle 233:
There was a talk o' a professor out o' Edinburgh . . . He can do me no good.Abd. 1900 Abd. Weekly Free Press (1 Dec.):
I've gotten little gweed ooten't, weel-a-wat.Rxb. 1915 Kelso Chron. (10 Dec.) 4:
Oo sud shairly get twa guid yins oot'en the fowerteen.Abd. 1923 Banffshire Jnl. (8 May) 10:
Fahr come ye ooto?Ags. 1945 Forfar Dispatch (6 Sept.):
Ye're aye tryin tae mak an auld wumman ooten me.Sc. 1975:
"Where did ye get that dress?" "I got it out o Jenners."Edb. 1993 Irvine Welsh Trainspotting (1994) 10:
Fuck sakes Johnny, listen tae yirsel. Git a fuckin grip. Wuv goat the fuckin hirays here. Ah pulled some notes ootay ma poakit.

(2) Governing the reflex. pron. after verbs of shouting, screaming, etc., with emphatic force: at the pitch of one's voice, loudly and forcibly.Abd. 1956 People's Jnl. (25 Aug.) 3:
They sat an' scraich't oot o' 'em the hale day.Abd. 1964:
I roart out o me; she skirlt out o her; the kye were bulliein out o them.

2. Phrs.: (1) oot-a-daeks, -decks, utadeks, -dikes, outside the dyke which cuts off the hill-grazing from the cultivable ground or home pasture (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., 1914 Angus Gl.; I.Sc. 1964). Also found as a farm-name in Ork. (H. Marwick Ork. Farm-names (1952) 69). Cf. in-a-daeks s.v. Deck, n.³ and O.N. útangarðs. Gen. of pasturing animals. Also fig.; (2) oot a face, wildly, without restraint, recklessly (Ork. 1964). See also Face, n., 3. (3); (3) utagjets, fig., eccentric, unconventional (Sh. a.1903 E.D.D., 1914 Angus Gl., Sh. 1964). Cf. oot o (the) gate s.v. Gate, n., 4. (8), (9); (4) oot o' ither, disjointed, disintegrated, in(to) pieces, apart, lit. and fig. (ne.Sc., Ags. 1964). See also Ither, II. 1. (3); (5) oot o' anesel, beside oneself, as with grief, anxiety, pain, rage, etc. (Gall. 1964); (6) oot o' one's heid, off one's head (Ork., Uls. 1964); (7) oot o' one's time, old for one's years; (8) oot o reel, out of order, disarranged. See Reel; (9) out o' the body, in a state of great excitement or exaltation, beside oneself, in transports; (10) out-of-the-law, in Heriot's School slang: an outlaw, one who bas been sent to Coventry; (11) oot o the need o, with neg.: in need of, requiring. See Need, n.¹, 1. (3); (12) to be (aa) out o't, (i) to be in an exalted state of mind (ne.Sc. 1964). Cf. (9); (ii) to be mistaken, in error; (13) to call out o one's name. See Name.(1) Sh. 1886 B. Anderson Broken Lights 85:
[He] guid troagin' oot-a-daeks until, Bewilt wi' mist i' ta da hill, He staagit lost.Sh. 1949 J. Gray Lowrie 37, 103:
Dey tak ony bit o' barren truck oot-a-daeks juist to shaa wis whit can be don. . . . I tink he bides oot-a-daeks frae London.Sh. 1964:
Du's no lyin out a daeks — You are in good condition, you are being well-looked after. A figure of speech from sheep sent to hill ground in spring where pasture was poor.(2) Arg. 1936 L. McInnes Dial. S. Kintyre 22:
He's jist drinkin' oot a face.(4) Bnff. 1895 N. Roy Horseman's Word xxxii.:
Awa, he'll no win ower't. He's a' fair out o' ither.Mry. 1923 Banffshire Jnl. (25 Sept.) 3:
Some in cairts nearly rattled fouke's banes oot o' ither.(6) Sh. 1898 Shetland News (27 Aug.):
Come an' shak' him aff or A'll be oot o me head.Gall. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 34:
Whiles an odd Christian took a notion o' a Papist lass, an' “gaed oot o' his heid” aboot her, an actually marry't her.(7) Sc. 1897 W. Beatty Secretar 213:
She was mair gentle-mannered than it behoved a cottar's lass to be; deed, it aften kam ower me that she was a thocht oot o' her time.(9) Ayr. 1822 Galt Provost xi.:
The major part of the council had become, as it may be said, out o' the bodie, cracking their jokes with one another, just as if all present had been carousing.(10) Edb. 1859 F. W. Bedford Heriot's Hosp. 344:
Boys who committed any great violation of the laws, such as maliciously destroying any of the carved work of the Hospital building, were declared out-of-the-laws, or outlaws, even although they were garrers. In such cases no boy was allowed to play with or even to speak to them, and the youngest boy might insult them with impunity.(12) (i) Abd.¹⁵ 1924:
He's fairly oot o't the day, oot o's box, an' jumpin on the lid.(ii) Sc. 1952 Daily Record (10 May):
“Ye're a' oot o't and into strae”. Simply — You're quite mistaken about the whole business.Abd. 1961 Huntly Express (29 Dec.) 7:
The minister's gyan clean oot o't a'thegither noo.