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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

UPSIDES, adv. As in colloq. Eng., alongside, on a level, freq. in Sc. in phr. to be upside(s) wi, to be even or quits with, to be revenged on (Sc. 1787 J. Elphinston Propriety II. 103, 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1905 E.D.D.; Uls. 1953 Traynor). Gen.Sc.; occas. upsides doun (Cai., Abd. 1973). Also in Eng. dial.Sc. 1752 Scots Mag. (Sept. 1753) 454:
He did not care though he should be upsides with him.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xxxii.:
I'll be upsides wi' you, as sure as my name's Madge Wildfire.Ayr. 1826 Galt Last of Lairds vii.:
I was determin't to be up-sides with them, for the way she had jiltit me.Abd. 1874 W. Scott Dowie Nicht 53:
Speed 'im, bit I'se be upsides doon wi' 'im.Kcb. 1897 Crockett Lad's Love ix.:
Waiting to be upsides wi' you for makin' love to their lasses.Sh. 1918 T. Manson Peat Comm. 39:
Betty wis juist in a aet ta get een tu ta be upsides wi hir.Sc. 1927 John Buchan Witch Wood 255:
One shilpit body in bands and a Geneva gown, the way things are guided now, is more powerful than a troop of horse and less easy to get upsides with. Gsw. 1930 Neil Munro Erchie & Jimmy Swan (1993) 389:
For the love of Peter shave yoursel's clean like me, or start a moustache, or a Captain Kettle beard wi' a peak to't, and be upsides wi' modern civilisation.Ags. 1932 Barrie Farewell J. Logan 49:
Knowing how ill it fares with a minister's usefulness if he does not keep upside with his flock.Sc. 1960 Scotsman (16 March) 7:
His successor, an ardent Tory, got upsides with him and introduced Beaconsfield Terrace.Sc. 1963 Neil Philip ed. The Penguin Book of Scottish Folktales (1995) 256:
When he heard that the laird of Fasnacloich had taken the land of his friends over their heads, he said 'I will be upsides with these men! I will see that a clod of land in Applin shall not be possessed by a Stewart.' wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 49:
"Weel ... aye I am. I'm comin' on noo, and I've a notion to be upsides wi' Bryce and Will ... " Gsw. 1984 James Kelman The Busconductor Hines 166:
You can just go along okay, keeping upsides the world, not doing anything except taking part in a low-key kind of manner; you go to your work and so forth, until getting punched in the fucking mouth. Gsw. 1985 Anna Blair Tea at Miss Cranston's 67:
The sedate colours of the tiles in 'good' closes were ornament enough, but the hoi-polloi [sic] kept upsides with the bien by decorating the floors of their entries at the wall-edges with pipeclay scrolls carefully and precisely applied in designs peculiar to each close . . . Abd. 1993:
He's a jealous body, aye likes tae be upsides doon wi eez neebors. Per. 2004:
If ye dinnae hae the richt trainers ye'll no be upsides wi the rest of the bairns.