“I'll chum your gran out getting her messages” - New Edinburgh university students get guide to city slang

With thousands of new students arriving in the capital to start university and college, a little guidance is being given on how to blend in with the locals.

Students arriving in Edinburgh have been given 10 essential slang words to help them blend in with the locals. PIC: Creative Commons/Flickr/Markus Trienke.

Language experts, from poets to academics, have come together to draw up a local dialect course to help orientate students and help them blend in with their new surroundings.

The guide has been published on learning site Quizlet.

For those arriving in Edinburgh, 10 essential words - and how to use them - have been selected for the new arrivals.

They are:

1. Shan - terrible

“Heard you broke your leg - that's so shan”

2. Radge - wild, crazy, violent

“Stop being so radge!”

3. Chum - to accompany

“I'll chum you down the street”

4. Reekin' - very drunk

“Ah wiz pure reekin last night”

5. Boak - vomit/disgusting

“I boaked everywhere” or “That's pure boke”

6. Barry - good

“I've won a lifetime supply of Irn-Bru? Barry!”

7. Ken - to know

“Aye, I ken him and his wee dug”

8. Messages - Items to purchase from the local shop

“I'll chum your gran out getting her messages”

9. Spraff - to gossip, talk non-stop

“He's spraffing away”

10. PieceDefinition: A sandwich or snack

Research by Quizlet found that nearly half of students don’t use or understand any local dialect words.

Of just over 1,000 students asked, 51% said they ‘often’ or ‘sometimes’ use local dialect or phrases, but the other 49% said they ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ do.

Richard Gregory, VP of International at Quizlet, comments: “Many of us will remember how nerve-wracking those initial university days are.

"Dozens of faces and names to remember, all in the backdrop of a new city. We created this resource to try and mitigate those university jitters: teaching students about their new surroundings through the important pillars of language and culture.

"The relationship between students and the local population can sometimes be a challenge, and that’s why all these language experts wanted to get on board to help us bridge linguistic divides.”