Jist Fur A Wee Change

Please Read: Today I thought I’d be different and write this post in Scots. To fully understand what is being said a little effort is needed on your part. Take you time understanding each word, say each word a few times before moving onto the next word then attempt to place it in context with the other. A little effort will hopefully lead to you understanding an old but unfamilar language.

Scots is a language aa o its ain and has clevvir magical words that soun great an juist swirl roond yer mooth an tung, lik a guid malt whisky! Scots is a vocal lyrical language an’ so it helps if ye sae it oot loud otherwise ye wilnae ken whit the wirds are or whit am saein’.

The language, lik the laund, is aye bein eroded an ah freely admit tae bean a wee bit disappointed. The rich auld lallans accent taks ye richt back tae a different Scotland aataegaither. It isnae natural fer me tae write this wey but juist fer today ah made a conscious effort tae try an keep it alive ah’n spread its use. Ah freely admit affhaund speakin artistically an frae the hairt that I’d lik to see mair writin an talkin this wey, an e’en see some of oor newspapers in Scots. But wi ma sensible heid oan, ah’ve goat tae admit that globally, if ye’ve goat tae hae ane main language – English – then ye need that fir basic communications. Different languages dae cause barriers an prevent countries frae seein ither pynts o view. Perhaps a shud start tae dae ma correspondence in Scots. If a did ma emails in Scots a doubt anybdy wud hav a problem wi thaim. They might tak 20% longer tae read but ye mae get 20% mair oot o thaim.

Writin in Scots can be fun, if someone is makin an arse o themselves an’ ye can insult thaim in Scots wae some panache ye will leave them clueless to such an extent that they couldnae pit a nut in a monkey’s mooth. If they dinae behave they can get a verbal equivalent of a skelp oan the lug. They will ken that they are getting insulted but they cannae dae anything aboot it, keep it up lang enuff an ye will get a rise oot of thaim.

Ah firmly believe that writers should write aboot things that maitter – social issues, injustice, humanity, politics. but there’s ower mony writers wha are writin mealy-moothed lyrical verse that’s a hunner mile up their ain arse – an sayin nuthin.

Sometimes writtin shud jist be fun, ah hope this wis as fun fer ye tae read as it wis fer me tae write.