Concise Scots Dictionary
The Concise Scots Dictionary (2nd edition) is the ideal reference work for readers, learners, speakers and students of the Scots language. Updated in 2017 from the first edition in 1985, it is the single most authoritative volume on the history, pronunciation and geographical distribution of Scots words. It is also an invaluable guide for anyone with an interest in the history of Scotland, her people and their way of life.
Drawing on the 22 definitive volumes of the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (covering the period to 1700) and the Scottish National Dictionary (1700 onwards), with new words gathered from our national reading programme, the Concise Scots Dictionary offers an accessible, one-volume dictionary for all readers and writers.
Reviews of the first edition:
- “A masterpiece … an endless source of entertainment as well as fact. A book for every household in the land.”
The Scotsman. - “…this dictionary is the best thing to happen to Lowland Scottish Culture since the Kilmarnock edition of Burns”
Caroline Macafee, University of Glasgow. - “[An] outstanding achievement.”
The Herald.
The second edition has been revised and updated throughout to reflect modern Scots usage, alongside coverage of older Scots. It contains:
Over 1,100 words and usages new for this edition, including:
beamer ‘a blushing face’; pagger ‘a fight’; puggie ‘an ATM, a gambling machine’; sitooterie ‘a conservatory, an outside seating area’
Coverage of Orkney and Shetland Scots
cloor, kloor ‘a cat’s claws; a scratch’; pooster ‘physical strength’; shoormil ‘the foreshore’; the brucks o Yule ‘the last days of the Christmas festive season’
Thousands of idioms, phrases, and proverbs, including:
wee goldie ‘a small measure of whisky’; ya dancer! term of approval; success or triumph; I wouldn’t call the Queen my Auntie ‘we’re as good as the next person’; yer heid’s fu o mince ‘you are talking nonsense’
It has, in addition
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- Over 40,000 headwords: 23,000 full entries and 17,000 cross-references
- Comprehensive coverage of variant spellings and regional forms, including Ulster Scots
- Updated and extended pronunciation information
- Information on grammar and register showing how and when to use the words
- Improved and extended information on etymologies
- Extensive coverage of language, from older Scots to modern-day usage
Ordering details
The Concise Scots Dictionary is available from the publishers Edinburgh University Press, Amazon and from other booksellers, who may offer it at a lower price.
ISBN no: 9781474432313 (hardback)
