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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

GASH, n.3, adj.2, v.2

I. n. Prattle, talk; pert, impudent language (Mry. 1813 W. Leslie Agric. Mry. 456; Bnff.2 1927; Cai.8, Inv.1, Ags.18, Slg.3, Edb.1, Wgt.4 1954). Phr.: to set up one's gash, to talk, to talk insolently.Sc. 1787 W. Taylor Poems 86:
I . . . shall wish his health wi' loyal gash, An' than shall weet my whistle.
Ayr. 1790 J. Fisher Poems 82:
But let us hae some funny gash; (Then she began to clatter).
Abd. 1801 W. Beattie Parings 19:
Wi' this the wife sets up her gash, And says, “Ye ken I like ne fash.”
Rxb. 1808 A. Scott Poems 120:
Then up spak ane wi' ready gash.
Mry. 1810 J. Cock Simple Strains 135:
Wad ye set up your gash, nae faut, Ye crustie foul-mou'd tyke.
Bnff. 1850 Bnffsh. Jnl. (9 April):
And what has raised this sad stramash? Is't that the laird is scant o' cash, Or is nae glib o' holy gash?
Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin vi.:
Willie had a pooer o' norlan lingo on his tongue neb, an' never was at a loss for gash to tryste customers to buy his trockerie.
Ags. 1880 Brechin Advertiser (27 April) 3:
“Do ye think,” cried Jim, “I care . . . . . . . for a' the saucy gash you've spoken!”
Cai. 1900 E.D.D.:
Gie's nane o' yer gash.

Combs.: 1. gabble-gash, a very loquacious person, a chatterer (w.Fif. 1954 per Fif.15); 2. gash-pot, id. (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.).

II. adj. Talkative, loquacious (Clc., Peb. 1954). Used adv. in Ramsay quot. Also deriv. gashy (Cai. 1900 E.D.D.) and adv. gashly.Sc. 1681 in R. H. Story W. Carstares (1874) 54:
She always longed for one of a gash gab.
Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 187:
To see his Snowt, to hear him play, And gab sae gash.
Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 52:
And courtiers aft gaed greening for my smack, To gar them bauldly glour, and gashly crack.
Lnk. c.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 36:
Ye're a sae gash o' your gabbies.
Wgt. 1804 R. Couper Poems II. 84:
Wi ruefu' face, and hirplin' trott, Gash Mistress Jelly cam Fast through the passage.
Gsw. 1872 J. Young Lochlomond Side 101:
But a' was winter proof within, An' free the gashy crack gaed on.

Combs.: 1. gash-gabbit, loquacious, glib-tongued “and at the same time shrewd in conversation” (e.Fif. 1825 Jam.; Fif.15 1954); cf. 1681 quot. above; 2. gash-me-gabby, n., a chatter-box. Cf. 1. 3. gash-moo't, id.; †3. gashm(o)u, “a boy who was found guilty of initiating or spreading a false report concerning any of his schoolmates” (Sc. 1910 Scotsman (13 Sept.)), phs. with a pun on Gashmu, the name of the tale-bearer in Nehemiah vi. 6.1. Sc. 1706 Sc. Antiquary XII. 99:
Ye mannee look for sic well-buked Language, as the Gashgabbed Pamphlet-men set aff their Tales wee.
 2.Sc. 1755 J. Fleming Robert Adam (1962) 130: 
He declared the Principessa Salviati to be but a "little forward, impudent gash-me-gabby".
3. Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 59:
He's a gaungin', gash-moot mannie.

III. v. To talk volubly, to gossip (Ayr. 1923 Wilson Dial. Burns 165); to talk freely, to prattle; “to talk pertly, to give an insolent reply” (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1900 E.D.D.).Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 39:
The cheering bicker gars them glibly gash O' simmer's showery blinks and winters sour.
Ayr. 1786 Burns Halloween xi.:
She lea'es them gashan at their cracks, An' slips out by hersel.
Sc. 1808 Jam.:
A child who has much prattle is said to be a gashing creature.
Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 79:
They'd read lang Latin books thegither, And gash'd and gabb'd wi' ane anither.
Slk. 1829 Hogg Shepherd's Cal. II. 15:
I could then see the lasses a' dressed out like dolls, and several young boobies o' hinds, threshers, and thrum-cutters, sitting gashing and glowring among them.
Bwk. 1863 A. Steel Poems 64:
His gashin' jokes nae mair we'll hear.
w.Lth. 1910 J. White Eppie Gray 9:
They smack their lips and glibly gash Aboot their oots and ins.

Comb. gash-awa, a talkative person (Fif. 1957).

[See etym. note to Gash, adj.3]

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"Gash n.3, adj.2, v.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 29 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/gash_n3_adj2_v2>

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