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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

MAYBE, adv., n. Also maby (Edb. 1914 W. G. Stevenson Johnnie Paterson 182); maybie (Sc. 1832 Scott Gl. to Wav. Nov.), maybei (s.Sc.); mebbe(e), mebby (Ant. 1900 T. Given Poems 145); mibbe, ¶misprint mibly; maybes, mebb(i)es (Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 14), maybis (Edb. 1903 E.D.D.); meybie; mabbe (s.Sc. 1894 J. Cunningham Broomieburn 13), mibby, mibee, mebee.

I. adv. 1. Sc. forms of Eng. maybe. Perhaps, possibly. Gen.Sc. Also gen. in Eng. dial.Ayr. 1787 Burns Dr. Hornbook ix.:
Guid faith, Ye're maybe come to stap my breath.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet xx.:
“Maybe I do, and maybe I do not”, answered Peter.Lnk. 1847 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes 319:
The heir will be careless His wife mibly [sic] waur.Bnff. 1882 W. Philip K. MacIntosh's Scholars iv.:
The faut maybe lies in the soil.Edb. 1893 Robert Louis Stevenson Catriona (1924) 135:
"Maybe aye, and maybe no," says my grandfaither, worthy man! "But have you a mind of the Procurator Fiscal, that I think ye'll have forgaithered wi' before," says he.Edb. 1895 J. Tweeddale Moff 203:
At ony rate for wan nicht, or twae aither mibbe.Kcb. 1900 Crockett Stickit Minister's Wooing 356:
Wait till next Sabbath at six o'clock, an' ye'll maybes hear something!Rxb. 1917 Kelso Chron. (7 Sept.) 3:
“Mebbes ay, an' mebbes no”, replies Tait dryly.Sc. 1925 H. M'Diarmid Sangschaw 2:
An' I think that mebbe at last I ken What your look meant then.m.Sc. 1979 William J. Tait in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 36:
Echty, they said he wis,
But a real gentleman,
Awfy polite.
An undertaker, mebbe -
He hed the haunds for it.ne.Sc. 1979 Alastair Mackie in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 65:
Mebbe the morn or next day ....
Mebbe it will lift a wee
the hotchin wraiths, the blae skyscape o my heid.Edb. 1979 Colin Douglas The Houseman's Trilogy (1985) 300:
The scrap merchant looked around then braced himself. 'Mibee we'd just better get on wi' it.'Lnk. 1982 Duncan Glen in Hamish Brown Poems of the Scottish Hills 57:
I'm flet on my back ablow a wee stane
and the blue sky growes paler
And I sink on and on and doun and doun.
My heid spins
afore the eternity o space.
Is God mebbe out there efter aa?wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 13:
Surely no just impediment
To make a man break a promise he said he meant?
Mibbe aye, mibbe hooch-aye ...wm.Sc. 1987 Wallace Robb in Joy Hendry Chapman 50-1 48:
'Ah canna write wi'out ma glesses either. Could ye mebee write back to them. ...'Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 54:
and mebbe did in a moment whaun
oor naethingness and joy were ane
alow the vast turn o constellations.wm.Sc. 1991 Liz Lochhead Bagpipe Muzak 21:
So, mibbe, in the long run, Being Here is for the best.
They definitely are going to go to something - once they
know what's Kosher.Gsw. 1994 Alasdair Gray A History Maker 53:
" ... We'll find a broken old stone house, mibby a hunting-lodge built when there were no commons and the whole land was owned by a few plutocrats. ... "Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 9:
"I'm sorry I've bin queer wi ye this last fylie," quo he. "Bit Graham's bin ...".
"Spennin siller on ye?" speired Davie, sherp-like.
Neil hud the guid grace tae luik affrontit. "Ay weel, mebbe. ... "em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 24:
'Thing is,' he said, 'I want tae check this guy oot.'
'Who, Hardie? Forget it. A right wanker.'
'No, Weir. Somethin aboot him. Mebbe he had a bad press.'w.Lth. 2000 Davie Kerr A Puckle Poems 59:
'Twas yin o us, - ye'll mebbe mind
Neil Armstrang, - first wad stagger, ...

2. With expressions of quantity or measurement: nearly, round about, in the neighbourhood of. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1886 Stevenson Dr. Jekyll i.:
A girl of maybe eight or ten.Kcb. 1893 Crockett Stickit Minister 70:
It was maybes half past seeven when I got to the manse.Knr. 1905 H. Haliburton Excursions 4:
“Is there muckle o't, John?” “Maybes foure acres.”m.Sc. 1915 J. Buchan Thirty-nine Steps vi.:
Keeping behind the skyline I ran for maybe half a mile.

3. As a particle with inferential force in emphatic statements, ejaculations etc. = Eng. then. Cf. similarly -Na.Abd. 1912 G. Greig Mains's Wooin' 9:
And faur micht ye come fae, maybe?Abd. 1926 M. Argo Makkin' o' John 5:
That's a richt speech, maybe, and fae a richt sensible pint o' view.Abd.³¹ 1961:
Surely no maybe.wm.Sc.² 1961:
What do you think you're doing, maybe!Gsw. 1980 Alex Hamilton in Moira Burgess and Hamish Whyte Streets of Stone (1985) 44:
'Naw,' shi goes, aw impatiunt getting. 'Naw, naw. No sumhin diffrint, mibbe - sumhin missin.'

II. n. A possibility, a chance.Sc. 1714 T. Halyburton Nat. Religion 43:
On Meer Surmises, Suspicions and Maybeis.Lnk. 1895 J. Nicholson Kilwuddie 82:
Brichtest hopes are but a maybe!

Used fig. and punningly in the proverbial expression a maybe is not aye a honey bee, a doubtful promise or possibility will probably come to nothing. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1832 A. Henderson Proverbs 132:
May-bee was ne'er a gude honey bee.