Locky Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Seen a feature on the Scotsman website today with a wee collection of Edinburgh words. I know there's been many threads like this but never get tired if hearing some almost forgotten words. Anyway, I've got a wee question. I've seen people say lately that 'bunker' is an Edinburgh word. Is this right? It's a word I've always used but thought it was a fairly widely used word all across the country. Anyone on here not call a bunker a bunker? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
droid Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 I've created a thread on this in the past and also a facebook page Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dicksojo Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 My girlfriend's family are from... Lanarkshire! And they do not know the word bunker as in the kitchen worktop. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gershwin Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Is SHAN an Edinburgh word? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lemongrab Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 I hadn't heard worktops called bunkers till I moved to Edinburgh. I think it's came from the tenements where the coal bunker, with a lift-able lid, was in the kitchen. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
neave Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 The bunker is normally found ben the room. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eckauskas Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 I've never heard the term 'bunker' used in reference to kitchen worktops. No-one west of Harthill seems to know what a 'scaff' is, though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Locky Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 I'm finding this so hard to get my head around I'm aware of most of my vocabulary being very unique to Edinburgh, the east coast or Scotland in general. I genuinely thought that bunker was an actual word though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lotus jambo Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Is SHAN an Edinburgh word? Yes, never heard it elsewhere Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Christian Benteke Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 I'm finding this so hard to get my head around I'm aware of most of my vocabulary being very unique to Edinburgh, the east coast or Scotland in general. I genuinely thought that bunker was an actual word though. Always said kitchen bunker, don't know it as anything else. Mrs always looks at me funny when I come out with 'Edinburghisms'. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rossthejambo Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 It's not until you speak to folk that aren't from Edinburgh that you realise how many words are slang. Bunkers a good example, chore (as in steal) is another one I think. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GlasgoJambo Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Is SHAN an Edinburgh word? I grew up in Cumbria - just outside Carlisle - and shan was a word we used at primary school a lot. It mainly was a way of describing doing something knowingly nasty but we'd also use it in the phrase 'shanny on you' when someone was worthy of humiliation. I never really used it much in Edinburgh and always thought it a northern English thing - only on here that I've seen it being used readily. I've introduced it recently to my work colleagues in Glasgow. It's definitely one of my favourite words. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
robbo1874 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 The bunker is normally found ben the room. Another saying, do you ken her? Ken her I've been ben her! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The People's Chimp Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 I'm finding this so hard to get my head around I'm aware of most of my vocabulary being very unique to Edinburgh, the east coast or Scotland in general. I genuinely thought that bunker was an actual word though. Don't fret, it is an actual word. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
robbo1874 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Some more I know,may be from travellers but unsure Louwi = money Sou = to make love to Mort = the lovely young lady who enjoys the above dingle= fool I was brought up in Gracemount sso it might be that they're linked to the travellers that lived around the area. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NotVincentGuerain Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 most non-edinburgh people don't know what i mean when i say "i'll chum you" like to the shops. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chad Sexington Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Cully Buckie = Piggy back. Never heard that anywhere other than Edinburgh. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
neave Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 most non-edinburgh people don't know what i mean when i say "i'll chum you" like to the shops. My mate from Motherwell didn't know what that meant when I said it to him. Says it now though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gadgey55 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Some more I know,may be from travellers but unsure Louwi = money Sou = to make love to Mort = the lovely young lady who enjoys the above dingle= fool I was brought up in Gracemount sso it might be that they're linked to the travellers that lived around the area. Maybe proper Gracie words! I was dragged up there too. The mort's wernae all that barry tbh! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Locky Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 Chum was another one I seen actually. Again, I knew it was a slang word but wasn't aware that its virtually unknown outwith Edinburgh. I used to stay in the borders for my high school years and I can't really remember if any of these words were used nor do I remember being alienated for using some. One of my best mates who's from Selkirk though says trim instead of chum. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beverley Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Cully Buckie = Piggy back. Never heard that anywhere other than Edinburgh. I've had to explain that a few times myself Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gadgey55 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Cully Buckie = Piggy back. Never heard that anywhere other than Edinburgh. My ma (rip) used that phrase a lot when the cats were gettin it on in the garden! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Real Maroonblood Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Chum was another one I seen actually. Again, I knew it was a slang word but wasn't aware that its virtually unknown outwith Edinburgh. I used to stay in the borders for my high school years and I can't really remember if any of these words were used nor do I remember being alienated for using some. One of my best mates who's from Selkirk though says trim instead of chum. Have you ever had a blackman? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Locky Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 No and I certainly don't ever want to by the sounds of things. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Real Maroonblood Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 No and I certainly don't ever want to by the sounds of things. It's the Edinburgh word for a nougat wafer with ice cream. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
robbo1874 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 I don't know if this counts but what about Willie Bauld = Cold ! Or is that another different topic? Edinburgh rhyme and slang. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NotVincentGuerain Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 It's the Edinburgh word for a nougat wafer with ice cream. i remember my mum and dad saying that now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chaka Demus & pliers Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 i remember my mum and dad saying that now. It's what I always ordered from the icey. Loved a blackman. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Floyd Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Jesus Christ!!! It's like a foreign language. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Benoit Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Bunker and chum are two I remember. Brought up in Fife but both parents from Edinburgh but **** knows who I picked it all up from. Ben's one the wife uses that I hadn't heard of and she's been all her days in West Fife (no webbed feet or crossed lines in her family tree though) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Craig Gordons Gloves Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 It's the Edinburgh word for a nougat wafer with ice cream. It's not just an Edinburgh word, I've heard it used by dundonians and in the west, mainly Lanarkshire and ayrshire Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gregory House M.D. Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 The bunker is normally found ben the room. No it isn't, it's ben the scullery. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ArcticJambo Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Have you ever had a blackman? We'd get one once in a while from Luca's in Mussleburgh as they were a real treat. Also, bunker (being the coal bunker in the lobby) ... My mum's parents lived in a tenement off Leith Walk, and as a kid, while he was still alive, my Gandpa Fire (as he was known) would get the coal from the bunker (located in a lobby cupboard) each night and make the fire ready for the morn. I need to bring this topic up with my folks to make sure I ken what I'm oan about. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ToYouToMe Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 It's not just an Edinburgh word, I've heard it used by dundonians and in the west, mainly Lanarkshire and ayrshire Wife's from Ayrshire, she's never heard of it. Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NotVincentGuerain Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 i never say bunker. my folks did. always confused me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sooperstar Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Don't know what all this 'Ben' chat is about and I have lived in Edinburgh all of my life. As far as I am aware a Ben is either a name or a big hill. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lancashire_Lou Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 dingle= fool A Dingle is someone from Burnley! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
terrible_groaning_noise Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Having moved to Fife from Edinburgh, locals would scratch their head at Barry, Blackman, Gider (Bogie here), scullery, bunker,radge, chum, collie buckie, slippers (baffies) and brutal to name but a few! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gadgey55 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Don't know what all this 'Ben' chat is about and I have lived in Edinburgh all of my life. As far as I am aware a Ben is either a name or a big hill. No-one ever asked you to nip ben the room to fetch somethin? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NotVincentGuerain Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 (edited) barry and radge, brilliant words (they went radge, it was radge that that happened, they are a radge) Edited October 9, 2013 by NotVincentGuerain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BoJack Horseman Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 What do folk say instead of chum, that don't use chum? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rudi Skacel Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Ken - when I was at college in Glasgow for 8 weeks a year, anytime me and the other Edinburgh lads used "ken" we were always asked "Who's Ken?" Deek - not sure about this one but I use it alot, eg "Gies a deek at the paper". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gorgie Boys Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Are we the only place that say the morn as in tomorrow ? "Got a busy day the morn" as an example Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sooperstar Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 No-one ever asked you to nip ben the room to fetch somethin? Nut, never. I still can't work out exactly what it means, but when I read it it sounds more like a northern dialect in my head. Aberdonian. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tams bird Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Seen a programme about Scottish words and meaning. I must have been on Mars as never heard of them.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NotVincentGuerain Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 (edited) Ken - when I was at college in Glasgow for 8 weeks a year, anytime me and the other Edinburgh lads used "ken" we were always asked "Who's Ken?" Deek - not sure about this one but I use it alot, eg "Gies a deek at the paper". i know someone in edinburgh that uses deek a lot. i think he means it as a lookout and friend. same sort of thing. Edited October 9, 2013 by NotVincentGuerain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
topcat Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Pagger seems to be fairly localised It might be related to the French Baggare Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ArcticJambo Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Lets have a wee deek of that. Rhymes with keek. Did ye keek yer pants (did you shite yersel)? Often heard this back yonder, though again unsure if it was purely an Edinburgh word. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skinnybob72 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Scranner - not heard that used in years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PsychocAndy Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 It's always been a bunker and I didn't move into Edinburgh until I was 7, My Mum born in Ireland and says bunker, but she did stay in The Pans for 17 years. . Cowp for knocking something over Messages You go to the shops for these. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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