21 Edinburgh slang words that only locals will probably understand

In more afluent areas such as Stockbridge and Morningside, the natives pride themselves on their flawless diction and restrained vocabulary. While the more refined areas of Edinburgh channel the spirit of Miss Jean Brodie, it’s the likes of Leith and Tollcross that offer the more interesting slang.

Leith, in particular, is a hotbed for interesting words and phrases, with the work of local author Irvine Welsh key in bringing the area’s language to the fore.

The cult classic novel Trainspotting was written almost entirely in Welsh’s Leith dialect, with some exciting and interesting turns of phrase used along the way.

Many Edinburgh words have their origins in the Roma language, traditionally spoken by travelling people in southern Scotland.

Some of the sayings are a little choice for these pages, but we’ve collected a few here:

An Edinburgh glossary

Bampot - mad; idiot. Is often shortened to just ‘bam’.

Barry - fantastic or great

Bunker - worktop, kitchen counter

Cheesin: happy

Chore: To steal something

Chum - join on a journey (Chumming a friend doon the road)

Cludgie - toilet

Deek - look at

Dinnae - don’t

Embra - Edinburgh

Hud-oan - wait, as in wait for me

Ken - Know. ('I ken what you mean')

Feart - afraid of

Foostie - stale

Gadgie: usually used to describe a man or boy who engages in loutish behaviour.

Nash: Hurry up

Radge - crazy or uncontrollable (A person can either be a radge, ‘go radge’, or do something radge)

Reekin’ - drunk

Steamin’ - see above

Scoobied - clueless (Scooby Doo is rhyming slang for clue)

Shan - a shame, or disappointing (A bad day at work could be ‘well shan’). Can also mean unkind (‘that was shan saying that to him’)