Listening to a native Scotsman speak English should give us all a newfound appreciation for the might of the Roman Empire. That Hadrian's Wall could prevent the spread of the English language north is a true tribute to the ingenuity and skill of those Roman craftsmen. Even today some of Scotland still speaks a significantly different language to English. Some of the Western Isles speak Gaelic yet, and on the East Coast Doric still has a few strongholds left.

Scotland has not only different words for things, but different pronunciations for words that English speakers from around the world may not be familiar with.

Pronunciation

The most common pronunciation problem people visiting Scotland have is with the soft 'ch', as in loch. The English, especially, have difficulty with this. The correct sound is not made by the vocal chords, but is basically just a noisy breath, like a cat hiss. Once this basic is commanded then the rest of the quirks are easily mastered. The 'r' is normally rolled at the front of the mouth so 'car' is pronounced as carrrr, not as the Anglified ka. Some words are shortened, losing bits that slow their roll off the tongue, so 'awfully' becomes offy and 'cannot' becomes canny.

The List

Here are some of the more common words that may be heard when visiting Scotland. Some of the words are normally considered taboo¹ in polite society, but who among us doesn't curse from time to time?

Please bear in mind that for most of these words have never been written down, so spelling is done phonetically.