a type of shellfish with a snail-like shell, some varieties of which are edible. [The term comes from buccinum, the Latin name for a whelk]
Buckie Buckie is an informal name for Buckfast, a tonic wine (brewed in Buckfast Abbey, Devon), the cheapness and strength of which make it popular with those whose aim is to get drunk as quickly as possible: C’mon we’ll get blootered on Buckie before the game.
Buddy A person from Paisley is sometimes referred to as a Paisley Buddy. St Mirren, Paisley’s professional football team, are nicknamed the Buddies. [The word comes from the pronunciation of the Scots word body, a person]
Bully Wee The Bully Wee is the nickname of Clyde football team. [The name comes from bully, an old-fashioned term meaning fine or admirable, plus wee reflecting the fact that Clyde were always one of the less powerful and successful of the Glasgow teams. (They now play in Cumbernauld)]
bum To bum is to boast or brag. A boaster or conceited person can be spoken of contemptuously as a bum. [These senses come from the earlier Scots sense, to make a humming or buzzing noise]
bumbaleerie (bum-bah-leer-ree) The bumbaleerie is an informal, often jocular, term for the backside.
bumfle A bumfle is a wrinkle, crease, or fold in something. If something is bumfled or bumfled up, it is untidily wrinkled or creased: My skirt had got all bumfled up at the back. [The word comes from the earlier Scots bumph meaning a lump or bump]
bummer In informal speech, a heid bummer is someone who holds a position of power or authority in a place or organization: The site gaffer told his men to make an effort because lots of heid bummers drive past there.
bum up To bum something up is to claim that it is very good, or to make it out to be better than it really is: Ach, it was okay, but it’s no all it’s bummed up to be.
bunnet The word bunnet usually refers to a man’s soft flat peaked cap. It can however be used of almost any flattish male headgear, such as a Tam o’ Shanter or balmoral, and is sometimes also used of similar hats or caps worn by women.
bunnet hustler A bunnet hustler is someone, usually middle-class or with a well-paid job, who deliberately puts on what they think is a working-class manner, or is excessively proud of their working-class origins; a derogatory Glaswegian term.
burgh (burr-a) A burgh is a town, specifically one which has been granted a charter by the monarch (a Royal Burgh) or by a noble (a Burgh of Barony) which formerly allowed the town certain legal privileges such as the right to hold a town fair and have its own town council: A host of events are being staged in the town to mark the 400th anniversary of the granting of burgh status; the burgh surveyor. [The word is the Scottish form of borough]
burgh hall A burgh hall is the same as a town hall: The meeting is to be held at the Burgh Halls in Linlithgow.
burn A burn is the usual Scots word for a stream or brook. Burn is often used as part of the name of a stream: the Swilcan Burn.
Burns Night The 25th of January, the anniversary of the birth of the poet Robert Burns (1759–96), is known as Burns Night, and a tradition has developed of celebrating his life and work on that date.
Burns Supper A Burns Supper is a meal held on or near Burns Night to celebrate the life and work of Robert Burns. It traditionally opens with a haggis ceremonially being brought into the room to the accompaniment of bagpipes. After someone has recited Burns’ poem “Address to a Haggis”, the haggis is eaten with turnips and mashed potatoes. After the meal, a speaker proposes a toast to “The Immortal Memory” of Robert Burns, before the evening continues with a variety of other toasts. The first Burns Supper was held in Edinburgh in 1815. They were originally men-only events.
buroo
buroo (buh-roo or broo) or broo The buroo is money that is paid to people who are unemployed, or the office at which people sign on for this benefit: Has your buroo money come through yet? To be on the buroo is to be unemployed. [The term comes from Employment Bureau, a former name for a Jobcentre]
bursar In Scotland, the word bursar can refer to a student who holds a bursary as well as to the chief finance officer in a university or college.
bursary A bursary is a scholarship or grant awarded to a student, either from a university or a local authority, usually as a result of financial hardship or obtaining one of the best marks in a special exam held by certain universities (a bursary competition). [The word ultimately comes from the Latin bursa a purse]
burst The phrase a hunger or a burst indicates that the speaker thinks there is always too little or too much of something, but never the right amount: We’re either sitting twiddling our thumbs or rushing about trying to do three jobs at once: it’s aye a hunger or a b urst around here.
but 1 In the Glasgow area, but is often used as the last word of a sentence to emphasize what has been said in the rest of the sentence, especially when this contradicts or qualifies what has previously been said, either by the speaker or by someone else: He’s dead nice. Ah dinnae fancy him but; Ah’m no goin till Tuesday but. 2 A but is the kitchen or outer room of a house, especially of the two-roomed cottage known as a but-and-ben. 3 But is the past tense of bite.
but-and-ben (but-and-ben) A but-and-ben is a type of old-fashioned rural cottage consisting of two rooms, usually a kitchen and living room.
Bute (byoot) Bute is an island and historic county in the West of Scotland, at the north end of the Firth of Clyde. It is now part of the Argyll and Bute council area.
Bute House Bute House is a house in Charlotte Square in Edinburgh which is the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland. [It is named after the Marquess of Bute, who bequeathed the house to the National Trust for Scotland in 1966]
buttery A buttery is a type of crumbly, butter-rich, bread roll originating in the Aberdeen area: Two cups of coffee and a couple of butteries, please. Also called (in the Northeast) buttery rowie or rowie.
by In phrases such as put by or lay by, by means aside or away: I’ll put the rest by for you and you can collect it later. By also means past: The rolls are by their best but still eatable; Ach well, that’s Christmas by for another year.
bye A bye or a bye kick is a goal kick at football, taken when an attacker has kicked the ball out of play over the goal line. While it is in general use, most commentators and sports journalists prefer to
