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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PUG, n.1, v.1 Also pyoug. The dim. puggie, -y, is now the predominating form in both n. and v.

I. n. 1. A monkey (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Per., Fif., Lth. 1915–26 Wilson; m.Sc. 1967). Obs. in Eng. in 18th c. Comb. puggie-monkey, puggy-ape, id. Also attrib. = ugly, ill-favoured, monkey-like.Sc. 1722 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 20:
'Tis Gowd that makes some great Men witty, And puggy Lasses fair and pretty.
Peb. 1793 R. Brown Carlop Green (1817) 132, 119:
Pugs, bears, and dancan' dogs . . . The pug-like smilan Pegh; Wi' the powowit poll.
Sc. 1827 G. R. Kinloch Ballad Bk. (1891) 34:
I saw a puggie wearing boots.
Per. 1857 J. Stewart Sketches 64:
A skrankie puggie face an' scaud ee.
Fif. 1862 St. Andrews Gaz. (25 July):
I'd faur rather crack nitts a lee-lang winter's nicht wi' a puggy, than hear intemperate an' inconsistent speeches on temperance.
Edb. 1876 J. Smith Archie and Bess 12:
Ye puir superannuated, puggie-faced lookin' poker!
Sc. 1893 Stevenson Catriona x.:
My affection for my king, God bless the puggy face of him.
Kcb. 1896 Crockett Grey Man ii.:
Everything I craved for is here saving the brown puggy-monkey.
Wgt. 1912 A.O.W.B. Fables frae French 48:
They socht Help frae a Puggy weel-verst in the law.
Sc. 1933 W. Soutar Seeds in the Wind 31:
A puggie snaig'd aff wi' the cripple man's crutch . . . Och hone, och hone, grat happity John.
Bch. 1943 W. S. Forsyth Guff o' Waur 21:
And jumpit like a puggy on the quay.
Fif.17 1952:
A person working clumsily with a tool is like a puggy suppin pheesic wi' an elsin.
wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 22:
Naw naw, A biddable good-lassie must obey
Her faither if he'd wad her tae a puggy-ape!
Yir future's rosy, dinna ettle tae escape.

Combs. and phrs.: (1) as fou as a puggie, extremely drunk (Edb. 1931 E. Albert Herrin' Jennie 219; Cai., m. and s.Sc. 1966),    or full of food, having overeaten. (2) puggy bun, a bun or tea-cake consisting of a treacle sponge mixture in a pastry case, phs. so called from its resemblance to a monkey's face (Per., Fif. 1967). Also reduced form puggy, id.; (3) puggy jacket, a short jacket cut off at the waist, a monkey jacket; (4) puggy nut, the pea-nut or monkey-nut, Arachis hypogaea (Edb. 1958); (5) to get (have, etc.) one's puggy up, to lose one's temper, a translation of colloq. Eng. to get one's monkey up (Fif. 1967). Hence by extension to lose one's puggy, id. (m., s.Sc. 1967); (6) to mak a puggy o' onesel, to make a laughing-stock or exhibition of oneself, to behave in an unseemly way, e.g. through drink (Per. 1967). Cf. (1); (7) to play the puggie, to behave dishonestly, cheat, “do (someone) down” (Clc. 1958). Cf. II. 1.(1)Fif. 1985 Christopher Rush A Twelvemonth and a Day 255:
He must have crawled inside on New Year's night, full's a puggie, more steam coming out of his head than there's be from the boat.
Gsw. 1985 Michael Munro The Patter 55:
Fu as a puggy means very drunk or full (having overeaten). You can also be fat as a puggy.
Edb. 1988:
Ah'm as fou as a puggie efter thon dinner.
Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 51:
As fou's a puggie maist o the week,
that snochert whiles he could barelies speak
but sat, heid doon a' haverin
aye tae himsel, mumpin, slaverin,
reid i the neb, cramasie i the cheek.
(2) Fif. 1953 St. Andrews Cit. (10 Oct.):
A wide range of such products, which included puggy buns, paving-stones, snaps, perkins, gingerbread rings, ginger cake and slabs.
(3) Fif. 1832 Fife Herald (8 Nov.):
Its breeks were like a petticoat, Wi' a wee bit puggy jacket, cut Close aboon its hurdies.
(5) Edb. 1895 J. Tweeddale Moff xii.:
I have begun to like to see her puggy up.
wm.Sc. 1932 J. Corrie A Man o' War 13:
It's no' ill gettin' his puggy up at ony time.
(6) Sc. 1899 Montgomerie-Fleming 119:
It is also applied to one under the influence of John Barleycorn. “A bonnie-like puggie he made o' himsel”.

2. A term of disrespect or dislike for a person of grotesque appearance or spiteful or mischievous nature (Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 211, Per. 1967). Cf. Eng. monkey, id.Fif. 1882 J. Simson Inverkeithing 44:
She was a “nasty little puggie”; the last of which words became her nickname at the school.
Sc. 1884 Stevenson Letters to Baxter (1956) 143:
I had been singl'erly oonfortinate in ma law cases, and had less nor justice frae weeg'd puggies like Deas.
wm.Sc. 1903 S. Macplowter Mrs. McCraw 49:
A concaited wee puggie o' a grocer's apprentice.
Per. 1904 R. Ford Hum. Sc. Stories II. 14:
To ha'e an ugly, wicked wratch o' a puggie like you wi' him to gather in the bawbees.

3. A small lamb (Ayr. 1930). Also in Eng. dial. Cf. Austral. dial. monkey, a sheep.

4. An acorn, esp. the nut in the cup (Fif., Slk. 1950). Hence puggie pipe, the cup and stalk of the acorn, put by children into their mouths and “smoked” (Ib.; Lth. 1967).

5. Applied to anything squat or dumpy, in quot. of an old steamboat.Bnff. 1957 Bnff. Advertiser (24 Oct.):
Fit aboot scuttlin' yer aul' pyoug, Peter, an' gettin' the insurance?

6. Always puggie: A fruit machine; orig. a one-armed bandit.Gsw. 1985 Michael Munro The Patter 55:
puggy This is a Scots word for monkey, but the relevance of this to the various uses given here is not always obvious. ... The word is also used to mean a one-armed bandit or fruit machine, ...
Edb. 1991:
I'm away to play on the puggies.
Gsw. 1994 Herald (27 Aug) 15:
The most popular game in Glasgow amusement arcades is the puggy machine.
Edb. 1999:
I play on the puggies far too much.

II. v. In dim. form puggie, -y: 1. To cheat, do down, trick, “make a monkey of” (Lth. 1921 T.S.D.C.).Lth. 1882 J. Strathesk Blinkbonny vii.:
Somebody's been puggyin' me.

2. To make off with, steal, purloin (Ags., Slg. 1921 T.S.D.C.). Cf. I. 1. (7) above.

[O.Sc. puggy, a monkey, 1662.]

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"Pug n.1, v.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/pug_n1_v1>

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