Here in Scotland, there are plenty of words and phrases that are commonplace to us but are likely to raise an eyebrow of anyone south of the border and beyond.
From 'haud yer wheesht' to 'drouth' to 'I'm going to the pictures', many examples of both the Scots language and Scottish slang have remained popular over the years. One common word that is particularly fascinating is 'outwith'.
Meaning 'outside' or 'beyond', the word is used so frequently that you may be surprised to learn that few people outside of Scotland have even heard of it. If you have ever said it around a non-Scot, you likely will have been met with a confused reaction.
Every Scot will know the frustration of using the phrase in a program like Microsoft Word only for a red squiggly line to show up underneath it.
While it may not be recognised in the British English dictionary, outwith is undoubtedly a word. It origins are believed to lie in Middle English, as a transposed variant of the word 'withoute'.
It has been called a "covert Scotticism" by the Scots Language Centre (SLC), which states that it has been "unaccountably and irrationally lost from South British English".
The SLC adds that outwith has been used by national newspapers, universities, the Scottish Parliament and even the Law Society and the Church of Scotland over the centuries, with one of its earliest recorded uses being by 17th century lexicographer John Skene.
According to the SLC, Skene used it in his glossary of legal terms, 'De Verborum Significatione', to define ‘bastardus’ as “Ane bairne vnlauchfully gotten outwith the bande of mariage”.
Today, it has generally come to be used as the opposite of within. An example of its usage is: "It is necessary to work outwith these hours."
Are there any other words you have used that have resulted in raised eyebrows from non-Scots? Let us know in the comments!
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