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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

GRUNYIE, n.1, v. Also grunzie, ¶grunigh. [′grʌɲi, ′gru-]

I. n. 1. The snout of an animal or (contemptuously) of a person, the “phiz” (Bnff.4 1927).ne.Sc. a.1725 Habbyac on A. Ramsay 5:
Kynd, honest, lugless, thick-scull'd Birds! Sonce fa their Gruinies.
Sc. 1740 Ramsay T.T.Misc. IV. 381:
Shame fa' that filthy face of thine, 'Tis crish that gars your grunzie glitter.
Ayr. 1792 Burns Willie Wastle iv.:
But Willie's wife is nae sae trig, She dights her grunzie wi' a hushion.
Slk. 1820 Hogg Winter Ev. Tales II. 42:
Myne grunzie knoityd with ane cranch against thilke lofte.
Ayr. a.1878 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage (1892) 182:
But what aneath his bonnet rim, Should been a Christian face, I vow, It kyth'd the grunzie o' a Jew!
Ags. 1882 Brechin Advertiser (4 Apr.) 3:
A beard aroun' her grunzie grew.
Edb. 1916 T. W. Paterson Wyse-Sayin's xi. 22:
Like a gowden jewel On the grunzie o' a soo, Sae a bonnie wumman wantin sense.
wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 21:
The Big Aristocrat - in his ain back-yerd.
Wi' his rid, plooky grunzie - is he no quite it!
em.Sc. 1988 James Robertson Chapman 52 72:
Weill, they wis still staunin there, the twa o them, an sic a glumsh on their grunzies, an the auld saw cam intil their heids ...

Adj. grunyasie [ < -ish + ie], ugly, disagreeable, of the face (Ork.5 1955).

2. “A grumbling morose countenance” (Sc. 1755 Johnson Dict., grunigh).

3. A grumbling; a grudge, a dislike.Abd. c.1780 in Ellis E.E.P. V. 775:
He aye had a grunyie efter't at Breece.
Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 70:
He got that kyne o' meht (food) sae afen 'at he took a grunyie at it.

Hence ill-grunyie, “a bad disposition” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 87), and ill-grunyiet, adj., having a bad disposition (Ib.). This usage appears to have arisen from a confusion with ill-grun, id., s.v. Grund, n., 2. (1).

II. v. 1. To grunt, of a pig (Cai. 1955).

2. To grumble, find fault (with); followed by at. With at or wi: to be disgusted (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 70).Ib.:
He's eye grunyiein' at something.

[O.Sc. has grunȝ(i)e, gronȝ(i)e, snout, from early 15th c.; E.M.E. grounye, Mid.Eng. grony, groyn; O.Fr. groignet, a snout, groigner, to nuzzle with the snout, grongner, to grunt, Lat. grunnire, id.]

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"Grunyie n.1, v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/grunyie_n1_v>

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