Sairs shouldna be sair handled.
That is, delicate or painful subjects should be cautiously alluded to.
Sair wark and poortith downa weel be joined.
Sairy be your meal-pock, and aye your nieve i' the neuk o't.
An uncharitable saying, expressing literally a wish that the meal bag may be empty when the hand is put in to take some.
"Saut," quo' the souter, when he had eaten a cow a' but the tail.
Spoken to them that flag when they have almost finished a difficult task."- Kelly.
Save yoursel' frae the deil and the laird's bairns.
"A caution of poor people to their children, how they meddle with their superiors ; for, if they hurt the laird's bairns, they will be sure to be punished, but, if hurt by them, they will get no right."-- Kelly.
Saw thin, shear thin.
Saw wheat in dirt and rye in dust.
Saw ye that and shotna at it, and you sae gleg a gunner.
A satire upon a boaster who is telling of some extraordinary thing which he pretends to have seen.
Say aye "No," and ye'll ne'er be married.
A jocular remark to a person who has refused something which has been offered to him.
Saying gangs cheap.
"Talking pays nae toll."-- English.
Say weel and dae weel, end wi' ae letter: say weel is gude, but dae weel is better.
Say what you will, an ill mind will turn't to ill.
Scant-o'-grace hears lang preachings.
Or, at least, thinks them so.
Scanty cheeks mak a lang nose.
Scart-the-cog wad sup mair.
To "scart the cog" is to scrape the inside of the dish.
Scorn comes wi' skaith
Scornfu' dogs eat dirty puddin's.
"Hunt, fye- -hout, fye--all nonsense and pride,' said the Laird of Summertrees, 'scornful dogs will eat dirty puddings, cousin Crosbie. Ye little ken what some of your friends were obliged to do yon time for a sowp of brose or a bit of bannock.'"- Redgauntlet.
Scorn not the bush ye get beild frae.
Scotsmen aye reckon frae an ill hour.
Scotsmen aye tak their mark frae a mischief.
That is, always reckon from the date of some untoward event, such as a death, an accident, or a fire.
See for love and buy for siller.
Seein's believin' a' the world ower.
Seek muckle, and get something ; seek little, and get naething.
Seek till you find, and ye'll never lose your labour.
Seek your sa' where you got your ail, and beg your barm where you buy your ale.
The surly reply of a person who has been shunned for some trivial or mistaken reason by one who is compelled by circumstances to apply to him for information or assistance.
Seil ne'er comes till sorrow be awa.
Seldom ride tines his spurs.
Seldom seen, soon forgotten.
Self-praise comes aye stinking ben.
Self-praise is nae honour.
Sel, sel, has half-filled hell.
"Sel, sel," that is, the sin of selfishness.
Send a fool to France, and a fool he'll come back.
Send your gentle blude to the market, and see what it will buy.
A reproach upon those who boast of them, gentle birth, but who possess nothing of greater value.
Send your son to Ayr: if he do weel here, he'll do weel there.
Send you to the sea, and ye'll no get saut water.
"Spoken when people foolishly come short of their errand."-- Kelly.
Ser' yoursel,' and your friends will think the mair o' ye.
An answer of those who are asked to do a favour when they would rather not oblige.
Ser' yoursel' till your bairns come o' age.
Set a beggar on horseback, he'll ride to the deil.
Set a stout heart to a stey brae.
"Delay not,
And fray not,
And thou sall sie it say;
Sic gets ay,
That setts ay,
Stout stomaks to the brae."
Cherrie and the Slae.
Set a thief to grip a thief.
Set him up and shute him forward.
"'A lord !' ejaculated the astonished Mrs Duds: 'a lord come down to the Waal !--they will be neither to haud nor to bind now--ance wud and aye waur--a lord !--set them up and shute them forward--a lord !--the Lord have a care o' us !--a lord at the bottle ! Maister Touchwood, it's my mind he will only prove to be a Lord o' Session.'"-- St Ronan's Well.
Set that doun on the backside o' your count-book.
That is, I have done you a service, see that you repay it.
Set your foot upon that, an' it winna loup in your face.
Shallow waters mak maist din.
"Shame fa' the couple," as the cow said to her fore feet.
Shame fa' the dog that, when he hunted you, didna gar you rin faster.
Shame fa' them that think shame to do themsels a gude turn.
Shame's past the shed o' your hair.
Sharp sauce gies a gude taste to sweetmeats.
She brak her elbow at the kirk door.
"Spoken of a thrifty maiden when she becomes a lazy wife."- Kelly.
She frisks about like a cat's tail i' the sun
She has an ill paut wi' her hind foot.
She has gi'en them green stockings.
Spoken when a young woman marries before her elder sisters.
She hauds up her gab like an aumos dish.
"And aye he gies the touzie drab
The tither skelpin' kiss,
While she held up her greedy gab
Just like an aumos dish."-- Burns.
She hauds up her head like a hen drinking water.
The two last sayings are applied to persons who behave in an impudent or forward manner.
She'll keep her am side o' the house, and gang up and down yours.
"Spoken to dissuade our friend from marrying a woman whom we suspect to be too bold."-- Kelly.
She'll wear like a horseshoe, aye the langer the clearer.
She lookit at the moon, but lichtit i' the midden.
Applied to young women who have boasted, before marriage, of the "fine match" which they will get, but who afterwards are allied to common every-day people.
She looks as if butter wadna melt in her mou.
She looks like a leddy in a landward kirk.
She pined awa like Jenkin's hen
"To die like Jenkin's hen is to die an old maid."- Jamieson.
She's a bad sitter that's aye in a flutter.
She's a drap o' my dearest blude.
She's a wise wife that wats her ain weird.
That is, who knows her own destiny.
She's better than she's bonny.
A highlander, in speaking favourably of his wife, is reported to have misquoted this, and characterized her as being "bonnier than she was better."
She's black, but she has a sweet smack.
That is, she is not very beautiful, but she is rich.
She's dinket out, neb and feather.
"Dressed completely ; from top to toe."-- Jamieson.
She's grown gatty that was ance a dautie.
She's no to be made a sang about.
"An abatement of a woman's commendation to beauty."-- Kelly.
She that fa's ower a strae's a tentless taupie.
She that gangs to the well wi' an ill will, either the pig breaks or the water will spill.
She that taks a gift, hersel she sells; and she that gies ane, does naething else.
She wadna hae the walkers, and the riders gaed by.
"It is recorded of a celebrated beauty, Becky Monteith, that being asked how she had not made a good marriage, having replied, 'Ye see. I wadna hae the walkers, and the riders gaed by.'"-- Ramsay's Reminiscences.
Shod i' the cradle, and barefit i' the stubble.
Applied to people who dress out of keeping with their work.
Shored folk live lang, an' so may him ye ken o'
"Force our way with the king's keys, and break the neck of every living soul we find in the house, if ye dinna gie it ower forthwith!' menaced the incensed Hobbie. 'Threatened folks live lang,' said the hag, in the same tone or irony; 'there's the iron gate-try your skeel on't, lads-it has kept out as good men as you or now.'"- The Black Dwarf.
Short accounts mak lang friends.
Short rents mak careless tenants.
Shouther to shouther stands steel and pouther.
Show me the man and I'll show you the law.
Sic a man as thou wad be, draw thee to sic companie.
Sic as ye gie, sic will you get.
Sic faither, sic son.
Sic reek as is therein comes out o' the lum.
Sic things maun be if we sell ale.
"This was the good woman's reply to her husband when he complained of the exciseman's too demonstrative gallantry."-- W. K. Kelly.
Silence and thought hurt nae man.
Silence grips the mouse.
Silly bairns are eith to lear.
Sins and debts are aye mair than we think them.
Sit down and rest you, and tell us how they drest you, and how you wan awa.
A jocular way of asking a person about people whom he has been to see.
Sit on your seat, and nane will rise you.
"Sit in your place, and none can make you rise."- English.
Skill is nae burden.
Slander leaves a sair behint.
Slighted love is sair to bide.
Slipshod's no for a frozen road.
Slow at meat, slow at wark.
A reverse of this saying is common to many countries-- "Quick at meat, quick at work."
Sma' fish are better than nane.
Sma' winnings mak a heavy purse.
Smooth water rins deep.
Sober, neighbour! The night's but young yet.
A remonstrance with a person who is doing a timing too hurriedly, signifying that theme is plenty of time to spate for the purpose.
Sober, neighbour! The night's but young yet.
A remonstrance with a person who is doing a timing too hurriedly, signifying that theme is plenty of time to spate for the purpose.
Sodgers, fire, and water soon mak room for themsels.
Some ane has tauld her she was bonny.
Some are gey drouthy, but ye're aye moistified.
An insinuation that a person is very much addicted to tippling. "'Moistify,' a low word, generally used in a ludicrous sense in regard to topers."-- Jamieson.
Some are only daft, but ye're red-wud raving.
Somebody may come to kame your hair wi a cutty stool.
"Spoken by mothers to stubborn daughters, intimating they will come under the hands of a stepmother , who, it is likely, will not deal too tenderly with them."-- Kelly.
Some can stand the sword better than the pintstoup.
Some folk look up, and ithers look down.
And, we presume, the proverb would have the reader to understand they prosper or fail accordingly.
Some fork low, but ye fork ower the mow.
That is, some people do not do their work sufficiently, but you overdo it.
Some hae a hantel o' fauts, ye're only a ne'er-do-weel.
Some, though very bad, still have some redeeming qualities; the party addressed has none.
Some hae hap, and some stick i' the gap.
Meaning that some have and some have not good fortune.
Some hae little sense, but ye're aye haverin'.
Some show a gliff o' the gowk, but ye're aye goavin.
To "show a gliff of the gowk" is to behave foolishly.
Some strake the measure o' justice, but ye gie't heapit.
Some tak a', but ye leave naething.
Some that hae least to dree are loudest wi' "waes me."
"Those who are least hurt cry loudest."-- English.
"So on and accordingly," quo' Willie Baird's doggie.
Soon enough if well enough.
Soon enough to cry "Chuck" when it's out o' the shell.
Soon gotten, soon spent.
Soon ripe, soon rotten.
"Soor plooms," quo' the tod when he couldna climb the tree.
Sorrow an' ill weather come unca'd.
Sorrow be on your hands that held sae well to your head.
An imprecation on a person who has surpassed another in an undertaking.
Sorrow is soon enough when it comes.
Sorrow shake you out o' the wabster's handiwark.
Literally, sorrow shake you out of your clothes.
Sorrow's sib to a' body.
Souters and tailors count hours.
That is, tradesmen and commercial persons are aware the value of time.
Souters shouldna gae ayont their last.
Spare at the spigot, and let out at the bunghole.
"Spoken to them who are careful and penurious in some trifling things, but neglective in the main chance."-- Kelly.
Spare to speak, spare to speed.
Spare weel and hae weel.
Spare when ye're young, and spend when ye're auld.
Speak gude of pipers, your faither was a fiddler.
Speak o' the deil and he'll appear.
Jocularly applied to a person who approaches those who have just been inquiring for him.
Speak when ye're spoken to, and drink when ye're drucken to.
Speak when ye're spoken to, do what ye're bidden, come when ye're ca'd, an' ye'll no be chidden.
A sharp remark to those who join in the conversation of others unsolicited or impertinently.
Speir at Jock Thief if I be a leal man.
Spoken by rogues, who, when their respectability is questioned, refer to persons equally bad.
"Ask my comrade, who is as great a liar as myself."-- French.