Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
PHRASE, n., v.1 Also phraise, phra(i)ze; fra(i)se, fra(i)ze; and derivs. freazock; faizle. Sc. forms and usages. [fre:z]
I. n. 1. An elaborate, flowery speech, gushing and effusive talk (Sc. 1808 Jam., fraise; ne.Sc., ‡Rxb. 1965), flattery, cajolery. Hence phraisy, phraisie, fraisie, adj., gushing, effusive, fulsome, complimentary (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., fraisy; Lnk. 1958; Abd. 1965); fraisiness, n., effusiveness, flattery (Jam.); fraisilie, adv., in a gushing, ingratiating way (Jam.). Phrs. to mak (set up) a phrase, to talk in an exaggerated, flowery way, to gush; to mak a phrase o' (wi', for, etc.) someone, haud a phrase wi, to flatter, “butter up”, wheedle, cajole (Sc. 1782 J. Sinclair Ob. Sc. Dial. 21; Sc. 1808 Jam.; Ags. 1927; Abd. 1965, haud).Sc. 1701 Collect. Dying Test. (1806) 171:
He is against flattering, frazing pretenders to unwarrantable zeal.Sc. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Shep. i. ii.:
Mak meikle o' ye, with an unco Fraise; And daut ye baith afore Fowk and your lane.Edb. 1788 J. Macaulay Poems 195:
I never like to mak a fraise Or yet be lovich o' my praise.Mry. 1806 J. Cock Simple Strains 118:
My wooer, then, set up a phrase, Says, Meg, ye sanna want bra claise.Slk. 1827 Hogg Shep. Cal. (1874) xviii.:
There was sic a fraze about me by the winning party.Ags. 1860 A. Whamond James Tacket xxxv.:
If I liket tae gae up and mak' a wark an' a fraise wi' him aboot it, I wad sune gar him think that it was the most fortunate tumble that ever he got.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xxxviii.:
Mrs Birse begood wi'a fraise aboot foo I hed been keepin', an' this an' that.Lth. 1890 M. Oliphant Kirsteen ii.:
Ye ought to feel yourself a great personage with all the phrase that's made for you.Ayr. 1901 G. Douglas Green Shutters xvii.:
It was true that Allan made a phrase with a withered wisp of humanity like young Wilson.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 26:
Juist a weary, yammerin' phrase O'“Saunts” and “Heaven” and “love” and “praise.”Sc. 1976 Roderick Watson True History on the Walls 21:
Though I paid him rent for a room like a ditch,
I owe him neither fags nor ale
An I winna be his fraisie bitch. Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 13:
Ay, and sae it micht be
wi mysel, and my foot'rin phraisie style:
snashgab, nocht mair, a silly dashelt screed, ...
2. (1) A wordy fuss, a great or ostentatious talk about something, a palaver (Abd., Ags. 1965). Phr. to mak (¶raise) a phrase, to make a “song and dance”, to “gush”, to talk in order to impress. Adj. phrasie, fussy, fastidious (Bnff., Abd. 1965).Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 118:
Gin that's the gate, we need na mak gryte fraze.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 114:
Then, what is Man? why a' this Phraze?Kcb. 1815 J. Gerrond Works 159:
I would not give the sweets of single life For all the phrase folks make about a wife.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality x.:
He disna mak sic a phrase about it as some acquaintance o' yours.Rxb. 1821 A. Scott Poems 49:
Marking things that hap't in ancient days, The twa auld birkies made an unco phrase.Abd. 1824 G. Smith Douglas 118:
Lat other poets raise a fraize 'Bout bonny Catherine Ogie.wm.Sc. 1836 Sc. Annual 176:
I did na mak' sic a phraze aboot his declining years as the rest.Sc. 1856 J. W. Carlyle Letters (1903) II. 126:
When I am very ill I can't endure to be “made a phrase” over and used up for purposes of emotion!Abd. 1920 A. Robb MS. iv.:
The fisher wives wisna very fraisy aboot the smell fan the pot wis on the fire.Ags. 1924 A. Gray Any Man's Life 44:
I wat you mak an unco phraise O bakin' bread and mendin' claes.
(2) boasting, verbal showing-off, “big” talk. Phr. to make a phrase.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. Gl.:
We say “one makes a frais,” when they boast, wonder, or talk more of a Matter than it is worthy or will bear.Abd. 1739 Caled. Mag. (1788) 501:
Rob Roy heard the frieksome fraise Weel browden'd in his graith.Rnf. 1799 R. Tannahill Poems (1900) 123:
Let auld Kilmarnock mak a fraise, What she has dune in better days.Lnk. 1827 Blackwoods Mag. (July) 48:
She began to stump and mak a great phrase about the way she had outcrawed the puir body.
3. A clamour, noisy to-do, a hullaballoo.Sc. 1851 G. Outram Lyrics (1874) 34:
If he raised an unco fraise, I'd greet an' say I wasna weel!Abd. 1925 R. L. Cassie Gangrel Muse 41:
The blackie clocks, the craws an' kaes Set up an awfu' flyte an' fraise.
4. Something false and misleading, a pretence, feint, delusion (ne.Sc., Ags., ‡Rxb. 1965); specif., of the weather: a promise of improving conditions which fails to materialise, a misleading omen. Adj. fraisie, false, deluding, mendacious. Phr. to mak a phrase o' doing something, to make a pretence or show of doing something (Sc. 1808 Jam.).Abd. c.1890 Gregor MSS.:
If the breeze calms quickly and the wind shifts to the east, south-east or south it is called a “phrase”. In the same way, when the wind veers only for a short time, the saying is: — “The ween 'ill be roon wi a phrase.”Bnff. 1954 Banffshire Jnl. (20 July):
Dinna be teen in wi' that fraisie promise o' the neist day's weather.
II. v. To flatter, make much of, praise in an ingratiating, fulsome and often insincere manner, fawn on, wheedle (Sc. 1808 Jam.; ‡Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; ne.Sc. 1965); also used intr. with wi' and absol., to make fine speeches, indulge in flowery and effusive language (ne.Sc. 1965). Dim. or freq. forms freazock (Ayr. 1825 Jam.), faizle (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.; Fif. 1816 A. Mercer Craw-Court 21; Per. 1881 D. MacAra Crieff 143), fraisle, id. Ppl.adj. phrasing, fraising, fulsome, ingratiating, prolix, insincere in speech (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 125; Abd., Mry. 1925; Lnk. 1958); vbl.n. phraising, frasing, flattery, speciousness, “gush”, clamour. Derivs. phraser, fraiser, n., a wheedler, sycophant, toady (Jam.; Bnff., Abd. 1965).Ayr. 1786 Burns To Gav. Hamilton iii.:
To phrase you an' praise you, Ye ken, your Laureat scorns.e.Lth. a.1801 R. Gall Poems (1819) 7:
What a fyke, an' what a fraising!Sc. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxiii.:
It was a bletherin' phrasin' chield they ca' Fairservice, that cam at e'en.Per. 1883 R. Cleland Inchbracken xxiii.:
All the lords and great men in the country are to come bowin' and fraislin' for a glint o' your e'e.Sc. 1888 Stevenson Across the Plains (1892) 268:
A . . . tale of some worthless phrasing Frenchman.Kcb. 1912 G. M. Gordon Clay Biggin' 4:
He was ane wha had ne'er made muckle phrasin' ower a wuman.Bnff. 1921 Swatches o' Hamespun 17:
Francie the file makkin fearsome faces an fraisin' wi' the quines.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
What a phrasin' the twaesome had.Abd. 1929 Banffshire Jnl. (29 Jan.):
We've priggit sair, we've fleecht, we've fraised.Abd. 1995 Flora Garry Collected Poems 18:
Fyles ye myurr-myurr to me ma leen,
Yer quaverin myowies thin an smaa,
Sae saft they're scarce a soun' avaa.
Ye're couthy in yer fraisin teen.
