An A to Z of the Doric: an occasional series. D

With the referendum looming on the horizon I thought it might be a good time to introduce you to another word of Doric, the dialect spoken in the North-East of Scotland.

DUBS: Mud, particularly the muddy puddles to be found on a farm, but also applicable, as here, to the mud in our estuary. Mud of this high degree of wetness is known as SAPPY DUBS.

You will see that it is quite misty today. Coastal mist or fog is known as HAAR by the country folk, while the fisherfolk on the coast call it THICKNESS. Thickness comes in varying densities: thick, smore thick, tar thick and thick as guts. (Smore means to smother).

And there ends the lesson.