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justine
16-Feb-08, 14:05
I had been looking through lists of scottish proverbs and found these.I was wondering if anyone else had some to add to the list.I like to read proverbs..My signature is a vulcan proverb spoken by Spock to Cpt Kirk.Has anyone got and weird ones....


A child may have too much of his mother's blessing.
A dry Lent, a fertile year.
A penny saved is a penny gained.
A thistle is a fat salad for an ass's mouth.
Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead.
Better be ill spoken of by one before all than by all before one.
Better bend than break.
Better keep the devil at the door than turn him out of the house.
Bring a cow into the hall and she'll run the byre.
Confessed faults are half-mended.
Cutting out well is better than sewing up well.
Every fisher loves best the trout that is of his own tickling.
Fools look to tomorrow; wise men use tonight.
Fur coat and no breeches is all I've ever known it by. - Generally meaning a person who spends all on outwardly appearances, while not having the grounding to support it - ie; expensive car but no money for petrol/insurance.
He that has one sheep in the flock will like all the rest the better for it.
He that loves law will get his fill of it.
It is ill fishing if the hook is bare.
It's sin and not poverty that makes men miserable.
Learn young, learn fair; learn old, learn more.
Many haws, many snows.
Money is flat and was meant to be piled up.
Never go to the devil and a dish-clout in your hand.
Never marry for money. Ye'll borrow it cheaper.
One for sorrow, two for joy,
Three for a girl, four for a boy.
Five for silver, six for gold,
And seven for a secret that must never be told.- superstition relating to how many magpies (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magpie) one might observe at any given time.

One may ride a free horse to death.
Open confession is good for the soul.
The first dish pleaseth all.
They are good that are away.
To marry is to halve your rights and double your duties.
Twelve highlanders and a bagpipe make a rebellion.
What baites one, banes another.
What may be done at any time will be done at no time.
When all fruits fails, welcome haws.
What's for you will not go by you.Retrieved from "http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Scottish_proverbs (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Scottish_proverbs)"

nanoo
16-Feb-08, 18:35
Justine, we used to say that rhyme when we were skipping, But ours went:- One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a love that never grows old, Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss, Ten for a disappointment. Many a happy skip i had to it as well, :lol: ahhhhh childhood, wonderful eh? [lol]

sids
16-Feb-08, 19:21
There's ey a drop o' water where the stirk drooned.

sids
16-Feb-08, 19:23
The man that made time made plenty o' it.

justine
16-Feb-08, 19:26
There's ey a drop o' water where the stirk drooned.
Can we have an english translation on this one.What is a stirk....:confused

Dadie
16-Feb-08, 20:17
stirk= young male bull

justine
16-Feb-08, 20:32
stirk= young male bull

Thanks for that dadie.Could not make out what the proverb meant.......

sweetpea
16-Feb-08, 22:41
Justine, basically it means there's no smoke without fire;)

justine
16-Feb-08, 22:49
Justine, basically it means there's no smoke without fire;)

thanks sweatpea.I still have a language barrier with some of the scottish slang words.I am learning..I am trying to find out as much as i can about scottish sayings.Curious i suppose..........:D

sweetpea
16-Feb-08, 22:55
ME TOO! I can't understand half the things I hear scots or not! My OH told me the meaning for you

TBH
17-Feb-08, 00:02
Lang May Yur Lum Reek.

Thumper
17-Feb-08, 00:06
never cast a cloot til mays oot ;) x

TBH
17-Feb-08, 00:12
It tacks a lang spoon tae sup wi' a Fifer.
Whits fur ye'll no gin by ye.

Anne x
17-Feb-08, 01:20
A stich in time saves nine !!!

Oddquine
17-Feb-08, 01:47
Mony a mickle maks a muckle.

Oddquine
17-Feb-08, 01:53
Mony care for meal that hae baked bread enough.

Aaldtimer
17-Feb-08, 04:17
Justine, ..."scottish slang words"...they are not "slang", they are dialect words. There is a difference!

justine
17-Feb-08, 12:30
Justine, ..."scottish slang words"...they are not "slang", they are dialect words. There is a difference!

I do appologise there auldtimer.Being english with no accent except what some call upper english, you know pronounce all vowels and that,i just assumed that it was a form of slang.........I now stand corrected, although my hubby who is scottish says there is a difference between slang words and dialect.

hotrod4
17-Feb-08, 12:33
Man who go to bed with itchy bum wake up in morning with smelly finger?
(chinese i know not scottish ;) )

Dadie
17-Feb-08, 14:26
mums fave when she has the sewing machine out is-

measure twice cut once

Shabbychic
17-Feb-08, 14:46
War is not about who is right, it's about who is left.

I know it's not Scottish, but it's very true.

justine
17-Feb-08, 14:54
Man who go to bed with itchy bum wake up in morning with smelly finger?
(chinese i know not scottish ;) )

OOOOOOOOOOOHHHH.:eek:

justine
17-Feb-08, 14:56
He who laughs last is slow on the up take.........;)

Dusty
17-Feb-08, 15:37
Don't know if it is Scottish in origin or not, but my Grannie used to tell us:

"If yer amang the craws, ye'll be shot wi' them".

The meaning we took from this was that as crows were regarded as vermin and were shot for a bounty, you would come to grief by associating with the "wrong type".

Julia
17-Feb-08, 18:38
here's a few more...

A bark fae a teethless dog is as good as a bite
A fu' purse never lacks friends
After dinner sit a while, after supper walk a mile
A fool at forty will ne'er be wiseA fool is happier thinking weel o' himself, than a wise man is o' others thinking weel o' him

paris
17-Feb-08, 18:46
Man who go to bed with itchy bum wake up in morning with smelly finger?
(chinese i know not scottish ;) )
lol i like that one jan x:lol: