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November Snell
Snell haes been aboot in Scots for a lang time. Awaw back in 1488, it wis bein yaised tae describe hailstanes: In wir New Supplement (on www.dsl.ac.uk) we hae recordit a 1992 quotation fae Ian Rankin: 'No sign of a car?' Rebus asked Holmes. Both men had zippered their jackets against the snell wind and the occasional smirr. This is the wey maist o us ken the wird - tae describe a cauld, bitin wind - but it can mean gleg in body or mind, clivvir, shairp or smairt . If a bodie is snell-nebbit they may jist hae o shairp neb or it micht mean they were shairp-wittit or astute. |