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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

TACK, n.¹, v.¹ Also taik (Bnff. 1965 Banffshire Advertiser (26 Aug.) 7), tak-, teck (Uls. 1953 Traynor); taick-. [tɑk]

I. n. 1. Sc. usages: a stitch, esp. a temporary one, in needlework (Gen.Sc.), a slight fastening or tie by which a thing is loosely held, lit. and fig., esp. in phr. to hing by a tack, = “to hang by a thread” (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Uls. 1953 Traynor). Gen.Sc. Comb. needle-tack, id. Rare in Eng. exc. as v.Sc. 1776 Lass of Roch Royal in Child Ballads No. 76. B. v.:
At every needle-tack was in't There hang a siller bell.Kcd. 1822 G. Menzies Poet. Trifles (1827) 74:
Wi' doublet hingin by a tack.m.Sc. 1917 O. Douglas The Setons xvi.:
I so dislike the smug, resigned way she answers when I ask her how she is ‘Juist hingin' by a tack.'Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 21:
A'll gied a bit tack thegither, an that'll keep eet threh comin lowse.

2. A shred of clothing, the least covering of clothes, a “stitch” (Uls. 1953 Traynor).Uls. 1901 Northern Whig:
A boy with not a “tack” on him is, to use another saying, in his “barebuff”, or “stripped to the buff.”Uls. 1929:
She hasn't got a tack on her back.

3. Hold, grip, endurance (Sc. 1755 S. Johnson Dict.). Also in Eng. dial.

4. In phr. tae keep tack till, to keep pace with, to keep up with (Kcd., Ags., Fif. 1972), phs. from the nautical sense of tack.

5. An impediment (in speech) (Sh. 1972, a tack in his speech). Cf. v., 1.

II. v. 1. As in Eng., to stitch temporarily, to join by a thread, etc. In Sc. used transf. of the tongue: to hold down by the tightness of the ligament, gen. in pa.p. ta(c)kit, -ed, ¶-tack, ¶-teuk (by confusion with forms of Tak, v.), esp. in comb. tongue-tackit, tongue-tied, having an impediment in speech, dumb, mute, lit. and fig. (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Cai. 1905 E.D.D.; Fif. 1912 D. Rorie Mining Folk 404; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Gen. (exc. I.) Sc.; mumbling, indistinct in speech, inarticulate (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); mealy-mouthed, lacking in candour (Sc. 1825 Jam.). Hence tongue-tackitness.Sc. 1727 P. Walker Remark. Passages 60:
That sharp Challenge, which would strike our Mean-spirited Tongue-tacked Ministers dumb.Edb. 1772 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 99:
If magistrates wi' me wud 'gree, For ay tongue-tackit shud you [bell] be.Gall. 1814 W. Nicholson Poet Wks. 100:
He'll whiles pay some attention, Till fairly tongue-tack'd wi' a pension.Edb. 1844 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie iii.:
I hae seen glibber mou'd louns than you tongue-tackit on sic occasions.Sc. 1871 P. H. Waddell Psalms cvii. 42:
An' a' wrang-doen syne her tongue sal tack.Fif. 1875 A. Burgess Poute 24:
On sic a Theme — the Feck o' foke's tung-takit like mysel'!Gsw. 1877 A. G. Murdoch Laird's Lykewake 86:
Sic tongues as yours sood aye be tackit.Abd. 1882 W. Forsyth Writings 22:
An' a his words had pirlecues Teuck to them like a draigen's tail.Uls. 1901 Northern Whig:
It is common for mothers to bring their infants to the hospital because they say they are “tongue-tack”, or “tongue-tacked”.Ork. 1920 J. Firth Reminiscences 44:
Fancying that the child was tongue-tacked [the midwife] cut the frenum linguae.m.Sc. 1928 H. Lauder Roamin' 22:
I was stunned. I was tongue-tackit.Ags. 1949 Scots Mag. (Sept.) 408:
Peter's tongue-tackitness grew less as he drank his tea and had a bite to eat.

¶2. With in: to hem in, constrict, bind.Sc. 1825 Anon. Writer's Clerk I. v.:
Hector is no to be tackt in wi' wives.

3. To join, unite in gen., esp. in a loose or slack manner. Comb. tack-to, n., a frequent companion, esp. of a woman who keeps company with a man in a somewhat imprecise relationship, used attrib. in quot. Cf. preen-tae s.v. Preen. Deriv. ta(i)ckle, tuckle, id., prob. arising from a slurring of pa.p. tackit tae, -til, and formally confused with Tackle, v., 2.Gsw. 1827 A. Rodger Peter Cornclips 63:
For each male veteran o' the squad, A sort o' tack-to partner had, Forbye a bunch o' duddy brats.Ags. 1858 Brechin Advert. (9 March) 3:
A kirk they tuckl'd to behind.Gsw. 1868 J. Young Poems 64:
The state o' married life Ance fairly tackl't in its bands.Ags. 1924 J. M. Smith Nettles 26:
It seems to be the thing wi' them that has a langer purse than a pedigree to taickle their middle name to their hin'most an' think they're gentry.