Gerard Butler’s Scottish slang lesson is hilarious but probably won’t be a gigantic help if you visit Scotland
When I taught English in Thailand, I worked at a school with a Scot and and an Irish guy. Both lived in my apartment building, so we took a taxi to work together every day.
Now, you would think, being English myself, I would understand everything the Scot and the Irish guy said to me in the back of the taxi while on our way to school. Not in the least. In fact, I’d venture a guess I didn’t understand 60 percent of it. Especially from the Scottish guy.
That’s because Scottish accents and Irish accents are incredibly strong. But, for me, the Scottish was the most difficult to understand as the Scottish guy, as lovely as he was, used a helluva lot of Scottish slang.
Scottish slang like actor Gerard Butler taught in a Vanity Fair video recently. Scottish slang that doesn’t sound like anything you have ever heard before, and Scottish slang you could probably never guess at its meaning if Butler didn’t tell you.
Phrases and words like “Ah dinnae ken” (I don’t know), “an air beige” (a fart), “steamin” (very very drunk), “gaun yersel‘” (come on, you can do this — a sign of encouragment), “I’m gettin the messages” (going shopping) and then, of course, there’s “yer bum’s oot the windae” (you’re talking nonsense).
Gerard Butler’s Scottish slang lesson is hilarious. although I doubt it’s likely to help you if you go to Scotland as there is just so darned much slang and none of it makes any sense!
Watch him below. Isn’t he the coolest guy? And doesn’t he sound sexy as he purrs “steamin“?
And, if you’d like to see him in action more than just giving you a slang lesson, Gerard Butler will next appear in “Den of Thieves” in movie theaters on 19th January.