'Skooshy', 'shoogly' and 'hoaching' among words added to Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary has announced its latest update, which includes classic Scottish words and phrases such as “skooshy” and “shoogly”.

The Glasgow Subway made headlines earlier this year when passenger complaints about rough journeys led its operator to make a significant investment to improve the stability of its new fleet of trains.

The new train carriages were most often described using the adjective “shoogly,” which is a word used in Scotland to mean “unstable” or “wobbly.”

Oxford University Press said the word has been used as far back as 1822 and is derived from the addition of the—y suffix to the verb shoogle, “to shake.”

It is also used in the figurative expression on a shoogly peg or on a shoogly nail, meaning ‘in a precarious or insecure situation’.

Another Scottish adjective, “skooshy”, has also been added to the dictionary in the latest update, and applies to anything that squirts or can be squirted.

Formed by adding the—y suffix to the verb to skoosh, which means to “gush or squirt,” it is now more often used in the phrase “skooshy cream”, which is what Scots call whipped cream squirted from an aerosol can.

Scottish adjection “hoaching” has also been added in this update which means swarming, thronging, or crowded, and figuratively, turbulent.

Also formed by derivation, it combines the verb hotch “to swarm” with the -ing suffix

Although OED editors have been able to find a first quotation for this word dating as far back as 1797, from a piece by the Scottish poet Thomas Mounsey Cunningham published in the December issue of Edinburgh Magazine, it seems to have been rarely used before the late 20th century.

A “beamer”, which dates back to 1964, is a Scottish colloquial term for a flushed or blushing face, especially one resulting from embarrassment, hence its additional extended meaning of a humiliating, shameful, or embarrassing situation or circumstance.

The Oxford University Press added that “a beamer” should not be confused with a bummer, another Scottish phrase added in this update.

The word ” a bummer” in Scotland is a person in a position of authority or prominence.

Used chiefly in the expression head bummer or heid bummer, it sometimes carries the sarcastic or humorous implication of pomposity or officiousness.

The bum to which the -er suffix has been added is a verb imitative of a booming or droning sound, which later developed a specifically Scottish and Northern Irish meaning of boasting or bragging.

The phrase “aye right,” which dates back to 1991 and is used ironically to express contempt or incredulity regarding a preceding statement, has also been added.

A few of Scotland’s favourite breakfast foods have also recently been added to the OED, including “a square sausage” and “a lorne sausage”.

OED said the origin of the term is uncertain. Lorne could refer to a region of Argyll in the western Highlands of Scotland or to the Marquess of Lorne, later ninth Duke of Argyll, whose marriage to Princess Louise, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, in 1871 was the occasion of much national celebration.

The chronology shows that the frequently suggested derivation from the name of the Scottish music-hall comedian Tommy Lorne is incorrect.

The classic “tattie scone” and “a morning roll” also made the cut of breakfast items added to the OED.

The Scottish and Northern Irish phrase “play piece,” which dates back to 1957 and describes a snack eaten by children during their morning break time, has also been added.

The full list of Scottish English words added in this update is as follows:

aye, right, phrase in aye, adv.2 and n.
beamer, n.
bummer, n.2
chum, v.1
hoaching, adj.
Lorne sausage, n.
morning roll, n.
playpiece, n.
shoogly, adj.
skooshy, adj.
square sausage, n.
tattie scone, n.
well-fired, adj.