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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

SHAIRP, adj., n., v. Also sherp. Sc. forms and usages of Eng. sharp (Sc. 1826 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) I. 117; Uls. 1886 W. G. Lyttle Sons of Sod xxix.; Kcb. 1893 Crockett Stickit Minister iii.; Lnl. 1910 J. White Eppie Gray 7; Per., Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1915–26 Wilson; Rxb. 1942 Zai). See P.L.D. § 48. 1. (2). [m.Sc. ʃerp]

I. adj.

Sc. forms of Eng. sharp (shairp Ork., Bnff., Ags., Edb., Gsw., Dmf., Rxb.; sherp Sh., Fif., Edb., Arg., Ayr., Rxb. 2000s). Also Compar. shairper, sherper.ne.Sc. 1979 Alexander Scott in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 70:
Sair heid frae here,
sair hert frae outbye thonder
-but whilk will stang
wi the shairper stob,
and whatten a stound
will laist the langer?m.Sc. 1991 Stewart McGavin in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 75:
the sherp durks,
lik loupin saumon
glisk in gaslicht,
abune at winnocks
weemen greet, an
ithers bide thir time.Dundee 1996 Matthew Fitt Pure Radge 8:
straucht an smert
the ba is lowsed
sherp as a skelf
burlin aa weys
a buhlittm.Sc. 1997 Liz Niven Past Presents 15:
A Fa indeed
Sae sherp, sae herd.em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 19:
"Aw ye that kept yer tungs ill-scrapit
An sherp as gullies, for scandal's sake,
Defoulin baith yer God an fowk
Wi blasphemation, clype and claik: ... "Uls. 2003 Belfast News Letter 20 Dec 28:
"Whit ir ye lukin fer," A axed yer man, shairp laik oan accont o no bein weel. Yer wee man wusnae gunked bit an cum beck ivry bit es shairp.Edb. 2004:
Ma pincils are sherper than yours!

Sc. usages:

1. As in Eng. Combs. and phr. (1) sharp-nibbit, having a pointed nose (Sh., Abd. 1970); (2) sharp-set, keen, eager, specif. for food, sexual indulgence, etc. (Ayr. 1970). Obsol. or obs. in Eng.; (3) to rin a sharp ane o, to come within an ace of, run the risk of.(1) Abd. 1922 G. P. Dunbar Whiff o' Doric 15:
Whaur shone the meen's sharp-nibbit snoot.(2) m.Lth. 1786 G. Robertson Har'st Rig (1801) 20:
Some lown as sharp set as a knife.Abd. 1868 G. MacDonald R. Falconer ii. vi.:
I wasna that sharp-set the day, sae I had jist a mou' fu' o' bried and cheese.Sc. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped iii.:
“Are ye sharp-set?” he asked . . . “Ye can eat that drop parriteh?”.Abd. 1969 Huntly Express (24 Jan.) 2:
I'm sharpset efter that traivel.(3) Ags. 1968:
If ye dae that again, ye're rinnin a sharp ane o' gettin your dowp skelped.

2. Of soil: composed of sand and grit, gravelly, open and loose. Gen.Sc. Also in Eng. agric. usage.Sc. 1803 Gazetteer Scot. s.v. Calder:
The soil of the arable part is thin and sharp, but very fertile.Fif. 1855–7 Trans. Highl. Soc. 524:
In many parts of this country there are no two terms more in use among practical men to designate the quality of soils, than “sharp” and “deaf”, but we have as yet got no chemical definition of these terms.Per. 1879 P. R. Drummond Bygone Days 92:
The farm of Thornhill is good sharp land, but gravelly.

3. In measurements: neat, exact, scrimp, just and nothing more.Sc. 1722 W. MacFarlane Geog. Coll. (S.H.S.) I. 305:
The house of Mugdrum is about a sharp quarter of a mile from the town.

II. n. 1. The sharp end of anything, the point of a pencil. Rare.Edb. 1898 J. Baillie Walter Crighton 167:
“You and I'll ‘chaps sides,'” cried Ross; “sherps or ends?”, he said, holding a pencil within his hands.

2. A long type of nail with an extra-sharp point.Dmf. 1776 Dmf. Weekly Mag. (20 Aug.) I:
Nailors that are good workmen will meet with constant employment, and receive the following prices . . . 5 lb. Sharps, 2s:1/2d. per M. 7 lb. ditto 2s:9d. Long drawn Sharps. 5 lb. 2s:7d. per M. 7 lb. 3s:1d.

3. A frost-nail on a horse's shoe (ne.Sc. 1951 People's Journal (22 Sept.); n. and m.Sc. 1970), gen. those driven in at the back of the shoe which are particularly pointed. Hence sharp-shod, of a horse: having its shoes fitted with sharps (Uls. 1953 Traynor).Uls. 1901 J. W. Byers in Northern Whig:
A driver will say, if you feel nervous about his “making” the journey in frosty weather, “We're all right, for I put in sharps.”Mry. 1959 Bulletin (24 Jan.):
To be like the old-fashioned horses and go to the smiddy to get “sharps” in our shoes.Abd. 1992 David Toulmin Collected Short Stories 94:
That frosty mornin I went to the toon withoot spikes or 'sharps', as they were sometimes called.

4. The act of sharpening, giving an end or point (to an implement) (ne.Sc., Kcb. 1970). Cf. III. 1.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 325:
A matted sole [of hay] which makes the boutings short to a sharp.Sh. 1897 Shetland News (29 May):
It's der turn wi' der noses at da grindstane noo, an' A'm dootin' hit'ill be a lang sharp 'at dey'll get tü.Abd. 1961 Buchan Observer (21 Feb.):
They're baith sair needin' a pint lay an' a sharp.

III. v. 1. To sharpen, lit. and fig., to put a sharp edge or point on (an implement or tool, mill-stone face, etc.). Gen.Sc. Now only dial. in Eng.Sc. 1701 Household Bk. Lady G. Baillie (S.H.S.) 8:
For sherping the milne . . . £3.Gsw. 1725 Burgh Rec. Gsw. (1909) 242:
Laying of quarrie mells, sharping messon irons, and other smithwork.Fif. 1764 Rothes MSS.:
To 76 wages sherped and roved.Cld. 1818 Scots Mag. (Aug.) 156:
As he was sharpan his saw by the fire-en'.Sc. 1826 Scott Journal (1950) 235:
To give education to dull mediocrity is a flinging of the children's bread to dogs — it is sharping a hatchet on a razor-strop, which renders the strop useless, and does no good to the hatchet.Sc. 1870 E. B. Ramsay Reminisc. 82:
“He's sharping his teeth,” — not supposing the tooth-brush could be for any other use.Ags. 1890 Brechin Advertiser (10 June) 3:
“Bruntie” wis sharpin a sock or layin a cooter.Sh. 1898 Shetland News (20 Aug.):
Du da best 'at ye can wi' da broag, A'm sharpid him.Rxb. 1917 Kelso Chronicle (5 Oct.) 4:
“Sharp” as he might, he knew that his scythe would not divide as much as a windlestrae again that day.Highl. 1935 William Macleod smiddy book, Achiltibuie (unpublished MS) :
Aug 19 4 picks sharped 1/4d.Abd. 1955 Buchan Observer (18 Oct.):
Widder an' wark an' sorra's sharpit yer face.Abd. 1993:
E used a shairpin steen aye tae shairp a scythe, nivver a scythe brod. Edb. 2004:
Sherp yon wee kitchen knife for me.

Combs.: (1) sharpin-brod(die), a strickle or whetstone (Abd. 1970); (2) sharping-corn, an annual payment of corn made to the blacksmith on an estate for sharpening the tenant's plough-irons (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., obs.). Also in Cum. dial.; (3) sharping hook, a sickle with a plain edge; (4) sharpin(g)-stane, (i) a whetstone (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Uls. 1953 Traynor). Gen.Sc.; (ii) fig., a lesson learned by bitter experience.(1) Abd. 1951 Buchan Observer (26 June):
He rantered oot the scythe, and the sharping broddie.(2) Dmf. 1898 Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 59:
Another form of payment to the blacksmith was that of giving corn — “sharping corn” as it was called — five stooks for keeping the plough irons of a pair of horses going for a year. Our present blacksmith's father [in Hutton parish] had it to the last. He died 33 years ago; he was probably the last blacksmith in Scotland who received this form of payment.(3) Bwk. 1822 Farmer's Mag. (May) 285:
The sharping-hook was introduced into the county of Galloway as early as the year 1760.(4) (i) Bwk. 1714 Household Bk. Lady G. Baillie (S.H.S.) 254:
2 sharping stons — 3s.Fif. 1875 A. Burgess Poute (1890) 29:
Battir horns & straps & sherpinstanes.Kcb. 1893 Crockett Raiders xxxi.:
Ye didna hear the knives whetting on the sharping stones to cut your ain throat.Knr. 1905 H. Haliburton Excursions 9:
The Bruce stood aimlessly, with his sharping-stone in one hand.Sh. 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 17:
Da very air o' yon deevil's dirt o' marjereen is eneugh ta mak' a dog spue sharpinstanes.(ii) Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 153:
He signt a bill, an' he got it t' pay. It 'ill be a sharpin'-stane till 'im.

2. To provide (a horseshoe) with frost-nails, to rough a horse (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Uls. 1953 Traynor; n. and m.Sc. 1970). Obs. in Eng. Also transf. in 1890 quot. of a curler.Sc. 1858 Chambers's Jnl. (17 April) 249:
Isaac's horse was not sharpit for the frost.Ayr. 1890 J. Service Notandums 115:
I'm sharpit, laird, — I gaed in to Willie Gaud's as I cam bye and got him to put a new virrel on my staff, and Leezie bocht me a pair o' cahootchy shoon yestreen.Abd.¹³ 1910:
Been at the smiddy gettin' sharpit. Said to a person who gives short answers.

3. To increase (a price).Sc. 1734 J. Cockburn Letters (S.H.S.) 18:
All sellers with us thinking of nothing but sharping a high price.

4. In ppl.adj. sherpit, thin and pinched-looking. Cf. Shilpit.Gsw. 1889 J. Houston Autobiography 185:
A pair sherpit cratur like that.