Scottish Book Trust, the national charity transforming lives through reading and writing, has today revealed ‘dreich’ as the winner of their iconic Scots word vote. The online Dictionary of the Scots Language records usage of dreich from as early as 1420, revealing the word has survived – and indeed thrives – in the vocabulary of Scots in Scotland and around the globe.
‘Dreich’ was closely followed by ‘glaikit’, while newcomers to the list include ‘scunnered’ and ‘shoogle’ coming in third and fourth place respectively. A total number of 1,895 votes were cast.
The iconic Scots word vote was launched as part of Book Week Scotland, a week-long celebration of reading and writing that takes place between 18-24 November. This year’s theme is conversation, and the public were encouraged to submit their favourite Scots in order to prompt discussion around well-loved and well-used words.
Iconic Scots Word Vote – top ten final results
- Dreich
- Glaikit
- Scunnered
- Shoogle
- Wheest
- Fankle
- Outwith
- Braw
- Beastie
- Bumfle
Dreich originally meant ‘enduring’ or ‘slow, tedious’ but over time these meanings gave way to ‘dreary, hard to bear’ and from there to ‘dull, gloomy’. The word has also stood the test of time as it was highlighted as the nation’s favourite Scots word in 2013, when it also topped a YouGov poll for Burns Night.
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “We were overwhelmed by the many submissions for our iconic Scots words vote – it’s certainly a subject close to people’s hearts. Dreich is such an evocative word with the ability to sum up the Scottish weather, or mood, perfectly. It’s also a word that is very well used here in Scotland and beyond.”
Thank you to everyone who took part in the vote. It’s fantastic to see the vibrant conversation around Scots language as we celebrate Book Week Scotland.”
Rhona Alcorn, CEO of the Scots Language Dictionary, said: “Once again, dreich has been chosen as the most iconic Scots word, with glaikit taking the silver medal. Dreich has been part of the core vocabulary of Scots for hundreds of years so it is especially fitting that one of its primary meanings is ‘enduring, persistent’.”
Tying in with A Year of Conversation and the International Year of Indigenous Languages, the public were invited to submit iconic Scots words through the charity’s social media channels and website. A panel of Scots language experts whittled down the many submissions into a shortlist of twenty words, which were then voted for by the public via Scottish Book Trust’s social media and website.
As part of Book Week Scotland’s Digital Festival, illustrator Alex T Smith doodled his own favourite Scots words, inspired by the vote. To celebrate the 20th birthday of The Gruffalo, Scottish Book Trust will host a special BBC Authors Live on 21 November. Julia Donaldson’s classic tale will be read by James Robertson in Scots and Catriona Lexy Campbell in Gaelic.
The Gaelic Book Council also ran their own poll on social media to discover the country’s favourite Gaelic word, using the hashtag #facal. Two trends emerged from the longlist: firstly, people were likely to choose words connected to nature e.g. ‘fairge’ (‘wave’) and ‘muir’ (‘ocean’); secondly, words with the ending ‘ag’ were also popular e.g. ‘piseag’ (‘kitten’) and ‘srùpag’ (‘small sip’). Gaelic Book Trust staff narrowed the submissions down to shortlist of ten and the public was invited to vote for their favourite. ‘Cailleach-oidhche’, the Gaelic word for ‘owl’ which translates literally as ‘old woman of the night’ topped the poll.
National charity, Scottish Book Trust, is working with a wide range of partners to deliver a diverse range of events and activities, many tying in with the Year of Conversation including the Digital Festival with free events that can be accessed online by all.
The Book Week Scotland 2019 programme is available to view here.