A Dreich Day in Aberdeen

Today has been awful Dreich day for the inland fog today, this picture at Hazelhead by the Livery yard.

Dreich has several meanings when applied to weather, including wet, dull, gloomy, dismal, dreary, miserable or any combination of these.

The word dreich has its origins in Middle English and, indeed, once was a feature of English as well as Scots. It is now obsolete in general English, although, like several other Scots words, it is still to be found in Northern England. Dreich, however, is unusual in that people living in the leafy suburbs of the south have been known to use it. Usually, Scots words do not reach that far. Should we regard this as a success story for the Scots language?

People can also be dreich, and in more than one sense. Boring, dull, lack-lustre people can be described as dreich. As you might expect, depressed, gloomy people can also be so described. However, dreich people can also be slow or unpunctual. Specifically, they may be slow in paying their bills, leaving their creditors less than happy. You have to think twice before you call someone drench.

Incidentally, if someone is “dreich a drawin” or “dreich in drawing” it means that they are very slow when it comes to making a decision. Such a delayed decision was often related to a romantic relationship. Someone who was dreich in drawing showed a distinct reluctance to propose marriage even after long years. Nowadays, we refer to such a person as a commitment phobe.