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

NAE, adv.² Also ne(e). [ne:]

1. Not (mainly n.Sc. and rare south of the Tay, where No is now reg. usage). Hence nae but, -bit, no more than, only, merely, just (ne.Sc. 1963). Cf. colloq. n.Eng. nobbut, id. The neg. in this construction was dropped in Eng. in the 15th c. Comb. nae weel, unwell, ill. Cf. no weel s.v. No.Abd. c.1700 J. Maidment Sc. Ballads (1859) 20:
But women now are nae sae blate.Abd. 1772 Weekly Mag. (22 Oct.) 102:
Fat ivir ye've impriv'd in, Sir, weel I wite, it's ne i' your langige.Per. 1773 in Fergusson Poems (Grosart 1879) 76:
O' Whistledry I'm nae the laird.Ags. 1776 C. Keith Farmer's Ha' 21:
Take tent, and nae wi' strunts offend, I've seen queans dink, and neatly prin'd.Ayr. 1789 Burns O' Willie Brew'd i.:
We are na fou, we're nae that fou, But just a drappie in our ee.e.Lth. a.1801 R. Gall Poems (1819) 28:
Nae seeing whare we're gaun.Mry. 1873 J. Brown Round Table Club 117:
We wint kail, nae tawtie soup.Rxb. 1875 N. Elliott N. Macpherson 73, 77:
I'll nae mention your name . . . If Miss Eppie's nae sae young.Abd. 1884 D. Grant Keckelton 16:
The nae-to-be-misunderstood looks o' love.Cai. 1909 D. Houston 'E Silkie Man 3:
An' 'id's nee for me . . . t' pit tee'd nor tak fee'd.Abd. 1923 Banffshire Jnl. (8 May) 10:
A fisher wife was lying ill. “Foo's Mistress Laitin the day?” says one neighbour to another. “Ow, she's nae bit sowber.”Lnk. 1923 J. S. Martin Sc. Earth 37:
To pree the caller cress-grown spring And hear the white-throats flyte and sing Were joy that's nae to mene.Per. 1952 Scotsman (26 March):
Here is pure Crieff, as I have heard it during many years: — “A'll nae be lang.”Bnff. 1960:
She's nae bit a han'fu o' a craiter. The bairn's nae bit new waken't. It's nae bit new deen.Abd. 1961 People's Jnl. (19 Aug.) 3:
He'd been richt nae weel.Sc. 1991 Roderick Watson in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 102:
A bit houghmagandie was aa it was.
(Troy was an awfu place for that
aabody kent it, it was even expeckit,
tho nae by the Greeks at the city waas
- a gey conventional crood they were.) Abd. 1993:
Nae bad lookin. Abd. 2000 Herald 18 Sep 21:
"But I'll block the road wi' my coos. I'm entitled to block the road for 10 minutes to let them cross. And if you think that's nae enough, dinna worry. I'll let them oot one at a time and gie them ten minutes each."

2. Phrs., with imprecatory or strong neg. force: nae a bit, you don't say so, really, indeed (ne.Sc. 1963). See Bit, n.¹; nae a marrow, I never heard the like! (Id.) See Marrow.Abd. 1926 Abd. Univ. Review (July) 225:
Oh, nae a marrow! Folk surely lived in idleseat at that time.Abd.³¹ 1958:
“Mains left £10,000 tae the dother.” “Nae a bit! ”