Dialect
The speed of the conversation tends to be quite quick in Glasgow. If necessary, ask people to repeat even slowly! what they are saying, Glaswegians are generally very friendly and able to communicate in far more formal English than that which is commonly used if it is required.Standing on a city centre street corner with a map in the daytime is usually a cue for passing Glaswegians to offer help in finding your way.
As with all areas of Scotland, regional dialects are present in Glasgow. The Glaswegian dialect of Scots or "banter" as the more jovial version of it is known, has evolved over the history of the city. As each wave of migration takes place, new words and phrases are added to the Weegie "patter". There is a strong Celtic language connection due to the Lowland Scots, Highland Gaelic and Irish Gaelic influences.
Some phrases
"Wean" pronounced "wayne" - child Derived from wee-one, meaning small one
"Wee" - small
"Aye" - yes
"Bam" or "bampot" or "bamstick" - an impolite term for a silly or annoying person
"Eejit" - an impolite term for a person who has done an incredibly stupid thing- an idiot
"Tumshie" - a silly person
"Pure brilliant" - Very
"Minging" - bad smelling or bad tasting; similarly a "minger" refers to an ugly person. Can also be used to denote drunkenness; "Ah wis well mingin' on Friday."
"Midden" - an old Scots word for a waste dump, but commonly used to described anything that is untidy or unkempt.
"Haw" - roughly equivalent to "Hey" and used to attract someone's attention
"to give pelters" - to humiliate someone
"Ned" - Nicely described by popular backronym "non-educated delinquent". Typically teenage youths who can be spotted sporting tracksuits, drinking cheap alcohol and wearing "bling" jewellery, as well as bright white trainers sneakers, soccer socks kneesocks scrunched down, and a baseball cap, usually from the brand Burberry. Many neds are aggressive. You'll do well to avoid them.
"Buckie" - Real name is Buckfast, a "tonic wine" this indicates its fortified alcohol content and not any medicinal value. It is relatively cheap and purple in colour.
"Glaikit" - Means someone is dim or have a blank expression on their face. "When I asked him what 13 divided by 11,212.189 was he looked pure glaikit."
"Teuchter" - Slang word for a Highlander, or anyone from the North of Scotland - often used in a derogatory context. Pronounced like chookter.
"Gallus" - Means someone is cocky, cheeky or self confident
"Bolt" - go away, as in "leave me alone" - kind of means "run" so tends to be used in a slightly aggressive context
"Besom" - a cheeky or 'bold' woman.
"Manky" - unclean, filthy
"Baltic" - Really cold as in 'The Baltic Sea'
"Mental" - Pretty much a synonym for crazy.
"Pished" - drunk or intoxicated.
Glasgow slang is also peppered with various more or less meaningless phrases such as 'by the way', 'man' or 'dead' very, as an adjective that can give the answers to simple questions an almost baroque complexity. So "Did you enjoy the concert last night?" might be answered "Aye it was pure dead brilliant man" which means, essentially, "Yes, it was good".
