Doric Phrase Week 2021
April 24th – May 1st 2021
The North-east o Scotlan enjoys a unique collection o Doric wirds an phrases. Maist o them are handit doon throw generations, an some are gyan oot o wir ivvery-day spik. So jine us an enjoy the fun, as we celebrate iss trissure o wirds an phrases.
Ye can sen us yer favourite wird or phrase bi email tae info@doricboard.com or press the wee buttonie aneth tae record yer wird or phrase, wi a fyow wirds aboot fit wye ye’ve pickit it. We’ll post the best o them here, sae keep comin back tae see fit ither fowk’s favourites are.
Here’s some o the favourites fae the Board members. Hae a watch an see if you hiv a better een.
Mair Doric Phrases
Janice Clark
Mark Findlater
Tom Spiers
Robbie Shepherd
Maureen Watt
Peter Chapman
Tracy Geddes
Rory MacDonald
John Easton
Willie Chisholm
Phil Reid
Cheryl Bremner
Brian and Jessie Wilkins
June Learmouth
Bob Mitchell
Jake Strachan
Gordon Greenlaw
Jean McKinnon
Alison Abel
Alasdair Brodie
Brian Wilkins
Moira Taylor
Douglas Hay
Irene Watt
Brian Wilkins (2)
Jake Strachan (2)
Your Title Goes Here
Doric Phrases Emailed
Flat oot like a dukes fit!
Mark Macdonald
Fit’s adee?
Betty Ellice
Dinna fash yersel
Gail Nixon
The belly keeps the back up.
Joyce Gibb
Fa yaas ee? Gwa ti yir ain gitind!
Tom Park
Ers a lot o killin in a kyard. Haud yer wheesht ye daft gype. Tie yer pints afore ye fa.
Anne Groat
Doric words n phrases at I like are aften t dee wi the wither. Single adjectives like ‘dreich’ n ‘mochty’ are gey descriptive, and ere’s ‘smore’ as in ‘smore drift.’ Een o ma favourites, though, is ‘dingin doon’ as in ‘e rain wis dinging doon’ – saying it oot loud ye can jist aboot feel e rain draps on yer face n see em stotten aff e grun, mair so fan it’s aboot bullits o sna.
Hinry Hepbrin
Hello. This is one my grandmother used to use and my very elderly mother still uses. Very rarely understood. “Nae a smad i waar” meaning not a mark on it, used in respect of clothing or possessions. Regards, V. Petersen
Ne’er cast a clout ’til May be oot.
Claire Macdonald
Like a gollach amun traicle
Peter Cromar, Fochabers
“A’the mair fir ither folk…” Granny, when you turned up your nose at something on your plate, especially if it could go back in the pot.
David Stewart
It’s a blin smore the day . Said on a thick foggy day on Buckie fishing boats long ago.
Colin Cowie
Fae Morayshire an at the table – ‘Pit Aist yer haun, haud Wast a scone’.
Richard Bennett
Ma faither wis the meenister o Rathen West Kirk during the Waar (WW2). Fan he cam ti Buchan fae the sooth, the Session Clark geed him the character o his parishioners, een o thiam being pit doon as “naethin bit a coorse bleederin vratch.”
Ma faither hid some gweed tales o the Hame Guard an aa. Een o the platoon hid sairved in the Great War. At trainin eftir the Kirk on Sunday the English trainin officer said, “Now Geordie show the men how to take up a firing position.” Geordie replied, “ Man, div ee think A’m gwine ti blaad ma gweed Sunday duddies bi liggin doon in amang at weet girse.” Ma faiter said the officer wis fair stammigastert!
Haud gyaan wi the gweed wark,
Gavin McEwen
Am gaun tae pinch a fyow wirds fae The Hash o’ Benngoak. The wirds say sic a lot – gie apt. Spot on!!
“Sharny-taes the baillie, he’s a sturdy chiel,
It’s roon aboot the kittly nouks he gars the barra reel.”
Jake Strachan.
It’s a sare fecht fer hauf a loaf o breid.
Marie Entwistle
Christine Bruce, Roseann Barber an Matthew Paterson
‘Thir wiser aitin neeps’
Lisa Buchan
An old favourite of mine is “snochter dichter”. If you don’t know what it means, ask a loon or quine from 1950s schooldays at Cullen J.S.
Ken McBeath, Vancouver Island an ex-Cullen
Lorraine Grant