Scottish words and phrases every Edinburgh visitor should know
The vocabulary you will need in Edinburgh
Scots is not a dialect. It is, technically, a distinct Germanic language with its own grammar, vocabulary, and literary tradition going back to the medieval makars (court poets). In practice, what visitors encounter in Edinburgh is a fluid mix of Standard Scottish English, Scots vocabulary, and a distinctive cadence that is nothing like any English accent. It is not difficult — Scots people want to be understood — but a few words will help you feel less lost and show the kind of interest that locals genuinely appreciate.
This is not a complete guide to Scots. It is the vocabulary you will actually encounter in shops, pubs, menus, and conversation.
The weather words (essential)
Dreich
The single most useful word in the Scottish vocabulary. Dreich (rhymes roughly with “dreech”) describes weather that is grey, miserable, damp, cold, and dispiriting. Not raining exactly, not sunny, not dramatic — just endlessly grey and wet. “It’s a dreich day” is a complete and accurate meteorological description that the English language has no equivalent for.
Haar
A specific kind of cold sea fog that rolls in from the Firth of Forth, typically in summer when the temperature difference between the sea and land creates a thick, impenetrable mist. On a haar day, Calton Hill can be invisible from Princes Street and the castle can appear from the mist like something from a film. Nothing to do with rain; entirely its own phenomenon.
Smirr
Light drizzle, barely noticeable, but persistent. Not heavy enough to require an umbrella but wet enough to soak you over time. “Just a smirr” is the phrase that justifies not bothering with a jacket.
Pub and food vocabulary
Heavy and 70/-
Scottish ales are traditionally served in categories of “light,” “heavy,” and “export.” The numbers refer to the old shilling pricing system and you will still see them on tap handles. A 70/- (seventy shilling) is a light-to-medium bitter, malty and relatively low in alcohol. An 80/- (eighty shilling) is a full-bodied Scottish ale — what Caledonian 80/- exemplifies.
Braw
Good, attractive, excellent. “That’s braw” means that’s very good. You will occasionally hear it as a genuine expression of appreciation rather than for tourist effect.
Wee
Small, but also used as a general softener: “a wee drink,” “a wee moment,” “a wee problem.” The wee has no fixed scale — “a wee walk” can be 200 metres or two miles.
Tatties and neeps
Potatoes (tatties) and turnip or swede (neeps) — the traditional accompaniment to haggis on Burns Night and on menus throughout the city. “Haggis, neeps and tatties” is the canonical phrase on every traditional Scottish menu.
Tablet
A fudge-like Scottish sweet made from sugar, butter, and condensed milk, but harder and more crystalline than English fudge. Sold in most Scottish gift shops; the good stuff is genuinely excellent. Not the same as fudge — firmer, grainier, and intensely sweet.
Everyday words
Outwith
Standard formal Scottish English for “outside of” or “beyond.” You will see it on signs and in official language. “Outwith normal opening hours” means outside normal opening hours. It sounds archaic to non-Scots but is perfectly standard here.
Howff
A gathering place, typically a pub or meeting spot. Some of the oldest Edinburgh pubs are called howffs. The Greyfriars Kirkyard was historically known as a “howff” for local merchants. Now mostly used to mean any regular local.
Close
A narrow alleyway or courtyard accessed from a main street, particularly in the Old Town. The closes off the Royal Mile (such as Brodie’s Close, Riddle’s Court, or White Horse Close) are architectural features as well as routes. In Glasgow, the same thing is called a close but it typically refers to the internal stairwell of a tenement building.
Wynd
A narrower, more winding version of a close. Advocates Close and Anchor Close are wynds. The distinction from a close is informal and inconsistent in modern usage.
Causey
Cobblestones, or a cobbled street. The causey on the Royal Mile is the traditional terminology for the central cobbled section of the road. Visitors are occasionally asked to “watch the causey” when it is wet, meaning watch the slippery cobblestones.
Social phrases
Aye and nae
Yes and no. Straightforward once you know them, but the Scottish “aye” with its particular intonation (flat, affirmative, often extended: “ayeee”) can catch English visitors off-guard.
Och aye
The phrase no Scottish person actually says in normal conversation but which every comedy Scotsman says constantly. It means something like “oh yes” and it exists in genuine speech, but not in the theatrical way that impressions deploy it.
It’s yourself
A greeting. When a Scottish person says “oh, it’s yourself” upon seeing someone, it is an expression of pleased recognition — not a statement of the obvious.
Dinnae fash
Don’t worry about it. “Dinnae fash yersel’” — don’t fret. The most reassuring phrase in the language.
Edinburgh specifically
The Nor’ Loch
The loch that used to lie in the valley where Princes Street Gardens now sits. Drained in the late eighteenth century as part of the New Town development. Many Edinburgh conversations and tour guides reference it as a natural historical point of comparison: the landscape you see today is not the landscape Edinburgh’s medieval inhabitants saw.
The Braid Hills, the Pentlands, the Crags
Local geographic shorthand. The Pentland Hills form the southern horizon from most of Edinburgh; the Crags refer to the volcanic crags of Holyrood Park adjacent to Arthur’s Seat; the Braid Hills are a modest upland area in the Southside used for golf and walks.
A closing note
Language is one of the friendlier ways into a place. Knowing that the weather is dreich and that the pub on the corner is a howff and that the cobblestones underfoot are a causey makes you a more attentive visitor and a more interesting presence in a conversation. The first-time visitor guide has more on the Edinburgh mindset that these words reflect.
For the historical and cultural background to the Scots language and Edinburgh’s literary tradition, the free Writers’ Museum in Lady Stair’s Close is the right starting point — the manuscripts of Burns, Scott, and Stevenson are housed there alongside objects that give the language a physical weight.
A few Scottish phrases in context
Some of the words above become clearer with an example of how they actually appear in Edinburgh:
When a pub landlord says “It’s yourself!” as you come through the door a second time, it means he remembered your face and is pleased you came back. The phrase sounds like a statement of the obvious in isolation; in context it is a warmth that the English “Hello again” does not quite match.
When a Leith taxi driver describes the weather as “pure dreich,” the “pure” is an intensifier — purely, completely, thoroughly. Pure dreich means comprehensively miserable weather with no redemption. Pure brilliant is the highest possible endorsement.
When someone asks if you are “all right?” in Edinburgh, they may be asking “how are you?” (to which the answer is “aye, fine”) rather than expressing concern about your welfare. The Scottish “all right?” as a greeting is slightly different in pitch and intent from the English equivalent.
Scots in literature: what the city produces
Edinburgh’s literary tradition includes a substantial body of work written in Scots dialect — not a foreign language to be translated but a specific register that any visitor who reads widely will encounter:
Robert Burns wrote in a Scots that is still broadly accessible: “Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie” (from “To a Mouse”) gives you wee (small), sleekit (smooth/sly), cowrin (cowering). The Burns Night address tradition means these words are spoken aloud in Edinburgh pubs every January and are not merely archaic.
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote mainly in standard English but the Edinburgh of his upbringing inflects his work throughout. The characters in Weir of Hermiston (his unfinished masterpiece) speak in Scots that captures the legal and social Edinburgh of the nineteenth century.
Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting is written almost entirely in Leith Scots, phonetically rendered — the drug-culture slang is superimposed on an underlying Scots grammatical structure. Difficult to read on the page initially; illuminating once you find the rhythm of it.
Numbers and basic interactions
A few practical points for Edinburgh interactions:
“Just now” in Scottish English means immediately or very soon, rather than the English “currently.” “I’ll be with you just now” means the same person will attend to you in a moment, not that they are currently attending to you.
“Outwith” and “inby” are still used in formal Scottish contexts. Inby (inside, usually meaning indoors) is less common but appears in older buildings’ signage.
“Aye” vs “yes”: Scots use both, switching between them apparently at random. There is no consistent register distinction — both are standard. Using “aye” is perfectly natural for visitors and will not be treated as affectation if it comes naturally to you.
Tipping vocabulary: There is no Scots-specific vocabulary for tipping — it operates as in standard English. “Ta” (a mild thank-you, not specifically Scottish but common) is the usual register for small transactions.
The Scots language policy context
Scots is recognised as a regional language of Scotland under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. This matters practically because it has led to bilingual signage in some contexts, teaching of Scots in some Scottish schools, and an ongoing debate about the language’s status and the literature that should be part of Scottish education.
The visitor to Edinburgh in 2026 is unlikely to encounter formal Scots signage in most tourist areas — the city has been largely anglicised in its public face. But the language is alive in the residential neighbourhoods, in the pubs, and in the speech patterns of Edinburghers who have grown up with it. Paying attention to it is one of the better ways into the city’s character.
The first-time visitor guide provides the broader orientation that these linguistic notes fit into.
