Let’s continue talking about the 7 Kinds of English you can find in the world by talking about three of the most difficult ones to understand for a non-native English speaker: Scottish English. You may ask why they are so difficult, because of their accent and usage of words, as it will be seen next.
Scottish English
Scottish English is spoken in—you guessed it—Scotland, which is part of the United Kingdom, but something of a world onto itself. Scottish English is notorious because it’s often very hard to understand for non-Scottish people.
The good news is that you’re far more likely to encounter Scottish speakers like Gerard Butler than the other speaker. Gerard Butler is known because of his role in the blockbuster movie “300” as Leonidas, King of Sparta. He assumed a neutral accent for the movie, and he sounds very different when giving an interview for the entertainment news, returning his speech to his Scottish accent.
Many Scottish speakers like to throw in Scots words, from the original language that was spoken in the area; hence, they are unique only to Scotland. That’s why even some native speakers can have trouble with a thick Scottish accent.
Let’s look at some words you’re likely to come across in Scotland whose meaning are understood so only in there and nowhere else:
- Braw (great; awesome; fantastic)
- Tidy (a positive description similar to beautiful; stunning; lovely)
- Balloon (someone annoying or dim-witted)
- Bucket (trash can)
Here comes a video with some commonly used words said by using the Scottish accent: