How to talk like a Glaswegian

10 things that will make you sound Glaswegian

Hi everyone, welcome back to another blog about my foreign life studying in Glasgow. Previously I have provided advice on how to understand the Glaswegian (check out my Glaswegian Slang blog post!), but then I realised all the ways that the Glasgow accent actually influenced me. There are things that I now say either on purpose to "fit in" or because I have subconsciously picked up. 

Have you taken a picture with the Duke of Wellington?

Therefore, this post is going to be about how easy it is to talk just like a Glaswegian. I tried to compile a list of realistic terms, a lot of which I use myself, because there are just some things like "ah I'm getting pished tonight" that just feel unnatural to me. Like I am trying to hard - so I didn't bother with these kinds of terms. Let's jump into it. 

1. "Half 11" 
In Glasgow (or Scotland generally I presume), people don't use the American "let's meet at 11:30". They use "half" as a measure of the half hour, so if you want to meet your friend at the gym at 2:30, you should say "Let's meet at half 2". To my foreign self, this took a minute to settle into my brain, and here is why: In German, it is conventional to say "I am meeting you at half 11" (directly translated), which means 10:30 and is a way of saying oh its half way to 11 o'clock. Can you see why this might have been confusing for me at first?

2. "Come here for 11" 
This is the last time-related one, I promise, but when your friend is coming over to your flat, you say "come here for 11". The "American" way to say this is just "come here at 11" or "come over at 11". I didn't realise that this was actually a Scottish thing until my sister said to me "why do they say it like that". 

3. "Flat" and "Halls"
Instead of "come over to my apartment" you say "come over to my flat". And, instead of saying "I live in University accommodation" or "University residence", you say "I live in halls". The reason for this being that the long way of saying it is "Halls of residence". 

4. "Quid"
I didn't understand this for the longest time, but when you talk about money (i.e. pounds) you say "I have 20 quid". It is the equivalent to the American "I have 20 bucks". 

5. "The bill"
When you are at a restaurant and want to pay, you don't say "Can I have the cheque please" - you say "Can I have the bill please".

6. "Pre-mark"
You are probably all familiar with the store Primark. Think about how you just read that in your head - did you say "Pre-mark" or did you say "pr-I-mark"? I personally say "Pr-I-mark", but to sound Glaswegian you would say "Pre-mark". 

7. "Shite" and "Arsehole" 
This may be inappropriate to put on this blog, but I am doing it anyway. Obviously you all know these words, but in Glasgow they are just slightly different to the American "shit" and "asshole". If you want to sound Glaswegian, you say "shite" and "arsehole" instead. 

8. "Edinbruh"
This is THE MOST COMMON mistake that non-sottish foreigners make in pronunciation. Myself at first included. Especially in Germany, when you read "Edinburgh", you pronounce it the way you see it. "Burgh" as in "Burger", but that is wrong. The Scottish way to say it correctly is "bruh" so you say "I'm going to Edin-bruh". 

9. "Hiya"
I believe every country has their own way of greeting people when you walk into a store. In America it is common to hear "Hi how are you" or in Australia probably "Ow ya goin mate". But in Glasgow, you will hear "Hi-ya", which to my understanding is the REALLY short/fast way of saying "Hi how are ya". 

10. "Mince"
Another inappropriate one, but instead of saying "Wow this is essay is absolute shite", you can also say "Wow this is absolute mince". And yes, this is the same mince you buy in a Tesco.