bate (bait) Bate is a Scots form of beat or beaten: We got bate wan nil.
bauchle (bawCH-l) or bachle (baCH-l) A bauchle was originally a shabby or worn-out shoe. Nowadays the word bauchle is usually used to describe an ungainly or shabby-looking person, especially a small one: a wee bauchle.
bauldie or baldie (bawl-di) Someone who is bauldie or bauldie-heidit is bald: a wee bauldie guy. A bauldie is a bald person. A bauldie is also a very short haircut: You wouldn’t notice I’d had my hair done even if I got a right bauldie, would you?
bawbag (baw-bag) The bawbag is a colloquial term for the scrotum. In the Glasgow area, bawbag is also used as an insult to a person.
bawbee (baw-bee) A bawbee was originally a silver coin worth six Scots pennies. Later, bawbee came to mean a halfpenny. Although the halfpenny no longer exists, the word bawbee is still used to mean any small amount of money, especially in phrases implying miserliness or shortage of money: the current economic climate – otherwise known as a serious lack of bawbees. [The coin was probably named after Alexander Orrok of Sillebawby, who became master of the Scottish mint in 1538]
bawface A bawface is a round, chubby face, or a person with such a face.
bawheid (baw-heed) Bawheid basically means the same as bawface. However, it can also be used as a cheeky form of address for a person: Hey, bawheid!
beadle A beadle, also known as a kirk officer or church officer, is a paid official of the Church of Scotland, whose job includes assisting a minister with administrative work and placing the Bible in the pulpit at the start of a service.
beamer A beamer is a red face caused by embarrassment or guilt, or something which is so embarrassing or bad that it causes such a blush. The word is mainly used in the Glasgow area.
bear A bear is a usually derogatory term for a wild and uncouth young man, particularly one who drinks a lot: The bar closed long before the bears’ drooth was assuaged.
beast Among farmers, a beast is a calf, cow, bull, or bullock, irrespective of its age or sex. The plural can be either beasts or beas.
beastie
beastie A beastie is any small animal, nowadays particularly an insect, spider, or similar creepy-crawly.
beauty Ya beauty! is an exclamation of delighted approval or agreement: A holiday on Monday. Ya beauty!
beds or beddies In some areas of Scotland, the game of hopscotch is known as beds. The pattern of squares chalked on the ground on which the game is played is known as a bed. Also called pauldies and peever.
beel To beel is a Northeastern word which means to fester or turn septic.
beelin To be beelin is to be furiously angry. Beelin is less commonly used to mean very drunk. A beelin is a Northeastern name for a boil on the body. [All these senses are derived from beel (see above)]
beezer Something which is a beezer is an extreme example of its kind, usually one which is bigger or better than normal. In particular, a cold but dry and sunny winter day is often referred to as a beezer.
behouchie (ba-hooCH-ee) or bahookie (ba-hook-ee) The behouchie is an informal, usually jocular, name for the backside: Sit on your behouchie, you! [It is probably a combination of behind and hough, the Scots word for a thigh]
bell The Bells is the name traditionally given to the moment at midnight on December 31st when church bells are rung to mark the beginning of the New Year: We always used to go to the Cross for the Bells, but it’s got a bit rowdy these days. When a group of people are drinking in a bar, the person whose turn it is to go and buy the next round of drinks is often said to be on the bell.
belong to To belong to a town or area is to live there: I belong to Glasgow. In Scotland, people sometimes say that the owner of an object belongs to that object, rather than the object belonging to the person: Who belongs to this coat?
belt The belt, also known as the tawse, was a leather strap with which schoolchildren were struck on the hand for punishment. Its use is now illegal: I got six of the belt for fighting. To belt a child was to punish them by hitting them on the hand with such a strap.
Beltane (bell-tane) Beltane is an old Celtic fire festival which originally took place on the first or third of May. It was also a former term day, again on the first or third of May. In Peebles, Beltane is also the name given to the festivities accompanying the Riding of the Marches, which are held in late June. [The word comes from the Gaelic belltainn]
beltie (bell-ti) A beltie is an informal name for the belted Galloway, a variety of Galloway cattle which is black at the front and rear but has a white band round its middle. They are most common in Galloway in the extreme Southwest of Scotland, where they were first bred.
ben 1 A ben is a mountain. Ben is often used as part of the name of a mountain, such as Ben Nevis or Ben Lomond. [In this sense the word comes from Gaelic, where it is spelt beinn] 2 Ben also means in, within, or into the inner or main part of a house or other building: Come ben the hoose; She was ben the kitchen making tea. A ben is also the inner or main room of a house, especially that of the old-fashioned two-room cottage known as the but-and-ben.
Berwickshire (berr-ick-sher or berr-ick-shire) Berwickshire is a historic county in the extreme southeast of Scotland, on the North Sea coast and the border with England. It is now part of the Scottish Borders council area.
besom (biz-zum) Besom is a derogatory term for a woman or girl: Cheeky wee besom!
bevvy As in some other parts of Britain, in Scotland any alchoholic drink is sometimes referred to as bevvy. A bevvy is a drinking session, and a particularly drunken one is sometimes called a heavy bevvy: It’s just another excuse for a good bevvy. To bevvy is to drink alcohol, and hence, someone who is drunk is sometimes said to be bevvied. [The word is an informal shortening of beverage]
Bhoys
Bhoys (boys) Celtic football team and its supporters are sometimes referred to as the
