Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1826, 1893-1920, 1988-1991
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EXPEC(K), v. Gen.Sc. form of Eng. expect. See P.L.D. §63.2.Ayr. 1826 Galt Lairds 86:
But I doubt, Miss Girzie, ye'll no can expec her to domicile with the like of you.Sc. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xv.:
Ye'll find at least a' that ye expeckit at the Bass.Sc. 1920 D. Rorie Auld Doctor 32:
The doctor was spendin' the nicht at the laird's, For the leddy, ye see, was expeckin'.Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 19:
We shauchle intil daith's dour valley
doon the tinklin gait o Scotland's tin-pan-alley.
Yet whit mair can we expeck,
gif three meenits maudlin 'ill dae the feck
and hing the haurd truth? Sc. 1991 Roderick Watson in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 102:
A bit houghmagandie was aa it was.
(Troy was an awfu place for that
aabody kent it, it was even expeckit,
tho nae by the Greeks at the city waas
-a gey conventional crood they were.)
Hence expecker, one who expects (Ags.2, Rxb.4 1944), and proverbial phr. to get the expecker's pairt, to be disappointed (Ags.2 1944).
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"Expec v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/expeck>
