Aberdeenshire Doric Dialect and how to speak it - a guide and dictionary to the many Aberdonian words and phrases and Scottish words and their English translation:
Doric is the dialect and local lingo spoken here in the North East of Scotland, especially around Aberdeen City and the County of Aberdeenshire.
Go to The Broch, the Fraserburgh area, to hear a broad accent of the Doric. You may wish to take an interpreter!
Doric Film
In 2008 Aberdonian film maker Mark Stirton released the Doric Film One Day Removals. It was set in Aberdeen and most of the acting cast were Aberdonians. They spoke the Doric dialect throughout the Doric film and when the film was released throughout the UK fellow Britians were introduced to the Doric dialect without subtitles! Read the full About Aberdeen review of the film on our One Day Removals page.
Below is a list of commonly used Doric words and Doric phrases. After you have read them you should be able to read the latest Doric books which are
a collection of P&J columns by Aberdonian
Robbie Shepherd and
Thi Lyfe An Tyme's O An Enshoar Loon: Doric Scot's
which translates from Doric to English as The Life and Times of an Onshore Boy which is written by Gordon Morrison, a fisherman from Boddam village, just
outside Peterhead.
Maw Broon fae the Sunday Post has published a cookbook full of her favourite Scottish and family recipes.
Read More About It Or Buy Now!
Alternatively, use the guide below to the most common Aberdonian spoken words and Aberdeenshire Phrases:
Scottish Words
DoricEnglish
Aabody Everybody
Aathing Everything
Aff Off
Affa Awfully
Aifter After
Aneth Underneath or below
Anither Another
Atween Between
Aye Yes
Aye-aye min Hello
Baith Both
Bairn A baby or young child
Banter To gossip or chat away or have a friendly tease
Bawbee The old Scots word for a half penny
Ben Down or through
Bide Stay
Biodag Dagger or dirk
Birl Spin
Birling Drinking Match
Bitcallant Lad
Black Affrontit Embarrassed
Bleeter To talk aimlessly
Bogle Wark Ghosly action
Bosie A cuddle or hug
Brakk Break
Bratch Female Dog
Braw Good, great
Brawly Well
Bydand Steadfast (The motto for the Gordon Highlanders)
Cantrips Magic spells and incantations
Caul Cold
Clachneart Putting stone
Claik Gossip
Claes clothes
Clamjamfry Company or a mob
Clarsach Harp
Clart To put too much on something (also farm manure)
Clarty Dirty
Clype A Grass or Tell Tale
Coorse Coarse, to bully, be bad, difficult or nasty or to torment someone
Corrie Fister A left handed person
Craiter Creature
Deid Dead
Deray Uproar
Dhe God
Dinna Don't
Dinna Fash Yersel Do not fuss yourself
Dirdum Tumult
Dirled Vibrated
Div Do
Doited Foolish
Doon aboot the mou Fed up, depressed
Douche Kind or gentle
Dreich Cold, wet and windy
Drookit Drenched, soaking
Dyvour Bankrupt or debtor
Eese Use
Eneuch Enough
Fa's Who
Far Hiv Ye Bin? Where have you been?
Fash Trouble
Feadan The chanter which pipers practice with before playing the bagpipes
Feart Afraid
Feel Daft
Ficher Fumble
Fin When
Fit How
Fitbaa Football
Fit Like Hello, how are you?
Fit Wye Why
Fitya dee'in? What are you doing?
Fizzenless Feeble
Fleg Fright
Flitt To Remove
Flitting To move home
Foostie Stale or Rancid
Foo's yer doos How are you doing
Forfauchan/Forfochan Exhausted
Futtret Weasel or Stoat (But Not Ferret)
Gads Horrible, Yucky
Galshiks and Smacherry (Sma-herry) both referred to the practice of buying lots of little
sweets like Sports Mixtures, Bananas, Milk Mice, Milky or Caramel Chews, Aniseed Balls etc. from the local paper "shoppy"
Gangrel A tramp or vagrant
Ganzie Sweater, Jumper or Cardigan
Gash Grim or dismal
Gaun Going
Ging Go
Gipe Stupid (also spelt Gype)
Glisk Passing Glance
Glunching Frowning
Graned Groaned
Grat Wept
Guddle Mess
Gyan Going
Hale Whole
Hech Cry of surprise
Heid Head
Hirpling Limping
Ill Tricket Up to tricks
Ingins Onions
Jaloused Suspected
Jis Just
Joco Happy, Pleased with oneself
Ken Know
Leesome Lane Quite Alone (also Lee-lane)
Loanings Bypaths
Loon Boy
Lugs Ears
Maist Most
Mare more
Mear A Mare
Messages Shopping
Mettle Spirited
Min Man
Mockit Needs a good wash (In Dundee it is called Barkit)
Mony Many
Moulds Graves
Nae No
Nae Wye Nowhere
Neuk Corner
Neen None
Neep Turnip
Nivver Never
Nivver fash Do not worry
Orra A person who is considered a fool and dirty
Piobaireachad Bagpipe lament
Plat Plot of ground
Puckle A few
Pucklie A small amount
Quine Girl (sometimes spelt Quean)
Richt Right
Rikkin Smoking or steaming
Riped Searched
Riving Raging
Routh Abundance
Rudas Carlines Witches
Sair Sore
Scaffie A binman, collector of rubbish and trash
Scowp Run
Scunnered Fed Up
Scutter Delay
Semmitt and draa'ers Vest and pants
Siller Silver coin
Skail School
Skelloch Shriek
Skelpit Slapped or smacked
Sotter Mess
Spik Speak
Spikin Speaking
Sotter Mess
Speerings Inquiry
Spew Vomit
Stammygaster Astonishment
Steen Stone
Stelled Stuck
Stocious Drunk
Stooshie A fuss
Stot To bounce
Stotter Beautiful
Sup A small amount of liquid
Swicking Cheating
Telt Told
Teuchter Someone who lives in the countryside
The Morn Tomorrow, In the morning
Thirled Under obligation
Thocht Thought
Thole Suffer or tolerate
Thrapple Windpipe
Thrawn Distorted
Toon Town
Toonser Someone who lives in the town such as Aberdeen City
Toom Empty
Tumshie An Idiot
Tossue Ruffle
Trachled Exhausted
Trig Active
Twaa Two
Un'erstn Understand
Waabit Tired
Wanchancy Wicked
Weegie or Weegies What people from Aiberdeen (Aberdeen) call people from Glesga (Glasgow)
Whilk Mair Which more
Wifie Woman
Wintit Wanted
Yersel Yourself
Yett A gate, commonly for castles
We also run the
www.findextrawork.co.uk website where there is information about earning more money from a
range of part time and full time jobs which can be done at home or out and about. Visit for more information.
The practice of adding a "y" to virtually any word or description is also recognised as very Aberdonian, eg
shop to shoppy,
Each year there is a Doric Festival which
celebrates the Aberdonian accent and Doric dialect.
Throughout the years Aberdeenshire authors have embraced Doric and written many books in the Doric dialect which
includes early Science Fiction and Fantasy by
George MacDonald and more recently Aesop's Fables and
a Scot's Bible by 21st Century author
Robert Stephen. More recent Doric authors include
George Morrison who wrote
Thi Lyfe An Tyme's O An Enshoar Loon: Scot's Doric in 2006.
Many journalists in Aberdeen write columns in Doric. The funniest is Mo Simpson in the Evening Express who punctuates
her wit with Doric words and phrases.
In 2006 Aberdeen Hotel The Carmelite recorded a special Doric voice for their lift. They asked Aberdonians to phone
in to a competition and say a few words and a poem in Doric. The winner was Aberdeen window cleaning business owner
Steve Taylor. Many guests of the Carmelite Hotel have commented on how friendly and welcoming the lift sounds! Phrases
said by the lift include Welcome To Carmelite, Doors Opening and Lift Going Up (Gyan Up), Lift Going Down (Gyan Doon)
atween flairs een and fower!
Buy Doric books:
Buy the Book
Teach Yourself Doric: A Course for Beginners.
Doric TV Comedy Aberdeen Darts Team
In August 2007 actor, director and writer David McKay from Glasgow revealed that he is writing a Doric TV comedy series based on an Aberdeen darts team. David McKay has appeared on TV and films many times and Scottish viewers may remember him as Screech the nephew of Rab C Nesbitt on BBC 2 and as a soldier in the Mel Gibson film Braveheart. David McKay also appeared as Bacio in Ae Fond Kiss, McTaggart in Shoebox Zoe and Tony McCreary in Hamish MacBeth. Other film roles include Frankie in As Far As You've Come, Dougy in Once Upon A Time In The Midlands, Liam in My Name Is Joe, an Informer in Les Miserables, Malcie in Looking After Jo Jo, Wee Archie in Hard Nut: A Love Story,
The TV appearances of David McKay also include Nightlife as Steve, Red Shoe Diaries as the Photographer, Bad Boys as Dodie, The Girl in the Picture as Ken and in Stookie as Stookie Doyle.
David McKay has also worked as a director and directed the TV series High Life about life in a Scottish high rise flat. He has also directed episodes of The Basil Brush Show, Tinsel Town, My Parents Are Aliens and Caesar. His writing credits include Caesar and Tinsel Town.
David McKay lived in Aberdeen in the early 1980s and draws on his real life experiences for episodes of the Aberdonian darts team TV Doric comedy.
Grampian Police Doric Ban
In June 2007 Grampian police officers were requested not to speak the Doric dialect of the Mither Tongue when using their radios. This was because they had a new UK wide radio system called Airwave. The Grampian Police Doric ban is aimed to make communication easier and readily understood throughout the country and other regions have been told to use standard English rather than local dialects. As an example there was 50 ways to say yes reported throughout the UK.
Doric Poem
In June 2007 Aberdeen school pupils were encouraged to contribute Doric poems for inclusion into a new Doric poetry book. It was part of the Aberdeen Reading
Bus scheme to celebrate the Scots language and Doric verse.
In August the readingbus mobile library took to the streets of Aberdeen to increase interest in the Doric dialect and the new Doric book that is being written. Sheena Blackhall, an Aberdeen author and the MSP Maureen
Watt launched the dialect show. Maureen Watt was the first member of the Scottish parliament to take an oath at the parliament in the Doric dialect.
On Monday 17 September 2007 MSP Maureen Watt helped to launch a Doric language DVD made by the Aberdeen Family Learning Team project.
Another Doric Poem in the news in 2007 was the winner of the Banffshire Maritime Heritage Association poetry and writing competition in September. James Johnson of Portsoy won the adult category for his Doric Poem The Fisherman's Bairn. He received his cash prize and trophy from Banff and Buchan MSP Stewart Stevenson.
Torry Doric Classes
An initiative in the district of Torry in Aberdeen sees locals teach Polish people Doric words of the Mither Tongue during Torry Doric classes so that they can feel at home in
Aberdeen City and understand the local lingo a bit better. Funding for the Torry project was given by Aberdeen City Council because it united the community and
reduced tension between the Polish people and Aberdonians. Funds of £4,000 were allocated from the National Priorities Action Fund.
The Torry Doric classes are run by Iwona Lamb of Bridge of Don who came to Aberdeen from Poland in the 1970s. She already had Polish relatives in Scotland who has settled after World War Two. The group is called The Polish Ladies Group and meets at the Tullos Community Centre in Girdleness Road, Torry, Aberdeen each Wednesday morning from 9:30 am to 11:30am.
Polish Language Lessons
Other language initiatives in Torry include Polish language lessons to teach immigrant workers and their families English. The same group, East English Aberdeen, also provides a Polish language class for Aberdonians. Many health care workers and police force members take part in the Polish lessons to assist Poles in an emergency. Qualified tutors include Andrea Robertson, Erica Wallace and Margaret Morrison.
which translates from Doric to English as The Life and Times of an Onshore Boy which is written by Gordon Morrison, a fisherman from Boddam village, just
outside Peterhead.
