Home» Word of the Month» May 2009

Scots Word for May

Chap

'Chop' and 'chap' both appear in Older Scots in the senses of 'to cut with a sharp blow' and 'to strike or knock'. In Scots, however, 'o' regularly becomes 'a' before 'p' (drap, tap, crap, etc.) and so the 'chap' form begins to predominate. The meaning seems to narrow so that it refers almost exclusively to innocuous forms of contact. Even getting chappit with a sword could be painless, as an entry for 1633 in The Douglas Book records: 'His Maiestie' did dubbe and knight thame, 'be chapping thame with the sword of honour'.

An early transference of meaning to the chime of a clock appears in the records of Perth Kirk Session (1594), when people who leave church early are chided: 'Sundry ... in the forenoon rise up at the chap of eleven hours, and depart away without the blessing'.

Another non-violent usage refers to a handshake, as evidenced by the Register of the Privy Council (1629): 'Whairupoun they chapped hands and were reconciled'.

Chapping on doors has produced a flurry of dictionary quotations such as that from the Scotsman of 16 Mar 1991: 'Quick as a flash she slips on her baffies skites up the close stairs to her neighbour's and chaps at the door.'

Anyone who has played dominoes in Scotland will be familiar with the despondent call, 'A'm chappin!', accompanied by a rap on the table.

There are rare quotations which imply a degree of damage such as one from the Diary of Alexander Brodie (1676) 'We ar as an earthen vessel, 'the least chapp dashes and breaks us', but even here, the emphasis is on the lightness of the blow to show the brukillness of man.

In fact, the most violent chappin is usually confined to the kitchen where tatties and neeps are chappit.

The Scots column is written by Christine Robinson. You can contact her with any questions.