Gàidhlig / English
Glucail

Glucail

Posted by Kate on 11th February 2016.

This week’s word comes from Harris. If someone is quite shy in approaching romance with you, and comes towards you gently, carefully, in a touching or awkward way, it was said that they are a’ glucail ruibh. Perhaps a person will turn to you and comment in a teasing way:

“tha thu ann a shin a’ glucail ris an tè sin!”

“Look at you flirting with that lass there!”

We are told that gliùc means ‘hiding.’ Dwelly tells us, however, that gliùc means: ‘blubbering,’ or ‘sobbing.’ This gives the impression that the poor girl or boy was so shy and awkward that they’re unlikely to make much progress! The word gluc or gluice is found in our Fieldwork Archive, and this was the word from someone in Strathglass, Inverness-shire. This means eye-socket. This one gives the impression that they’ve had their eye on you for a while.

There are plenty of phrases to be found in the Fieldwork Archive connected to courting. If you are aig mont in Barra, you are out courting. The word smealamas means titbits of food in Harris, but has also been used for irregular, aimless, harmless flirting. Someone might ask you: “a bheil magaid agad dhìth?” “Do you fancy her?” Perhaps it will occur to this boy or girl who has been shyly flirting with you that they’ve had their heart’s fill of you (sàthadh an cridhe dhiubh); that they have grown bored of you (air fhàs coma oirbh) and that they’ll stop trying!

If you were ever a’ glucail ri cuideigin, and if you know of other words for flirting, please get in touch on Facebook or Twitter.

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