Fourth in a series
besom
(biz·um) Dialect, chiefly Scot -n.
1. obstreperous girl or woman; female upstart (as in “Dinnae pou’ yer brither’s hair, ya wee besom“)
2. woman of low moral standing; a hussy (“Thon yin’s a right mucky besom“).
3. a broomstick or scourge; any broom made from loose twigs
4. a comet or its tail.
Your Scottish Slang Scots Word O’ The Day: Besom
[…] Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: BrawYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: GlaikitYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: BesomYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: DreichYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: […]
[…] Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: BrawYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: GlaikitYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: BesomYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: DreichYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: […]
[…] Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: BrawYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: GlaikitYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: BesomYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: DreichYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: […]
[…] Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: BrawYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: GlaikitYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: BesomYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: DreichYour Scottish Slang Word O' The Day: […]
[…] was helpful to explain things and I found myself wallowing in nostalgia over childhood words like besom and gallus, and have been able to prove to my husband that the word mauchit, which I often apply to […]
Clear not an -adj, but rather a -n!
You are, of course, correct! I shall update forthwith.
My family’s all Scottish born and we’ve always said bism/bism/bizm/ (sp?). We’ve always pronounced it as an “i”, as in an “it” sound. But that’s us 🙂