A Word of Ulster Scots 16

Able Was I Ere I saw Elba

While on the theme of words where our local usage shares a wheen o the meanings in Standard English but naw al, a good example would be “able”. Now, of course, there is the shared meaning of the common application in Standard English as a gauge of capability, of having the requisite physical strength, mental power, money, skill, time or opportunity to do or achieve something. There is also the shared meaning in the sense of being clever or good at what you do.

However, there is a divergence of meaning from Standard English, the Ulster Scots meaning of “able “ is not usually complimentary. It means cunning, crafty, shrewd (in the business sense) and quick witted. “A wile able boady” would be someone with whom it would not normally be advisable to trade or treat. Such an individual was deemed to possess the ability to “tak an eye oot o yer heid an tell ye ye wur betther lukkin wae yin”. This meaning of “able” as full of guile was an attribute occasionally attaching to city dwellers or for that matter, town dwellers but not exclusively so, there were a brave wheen o able yins throughout the country, rural and urban.

Another description of an “able” person would be the Scots word “sleekit” meaning devious, treacherous or sly (“A dinnae care what ye say there a wile sleekit thing aboot him an A dinnae laik it yin bit”).

Of course, Burns famously used the term but it was more in the sense of smooth

(Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie,
O what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickerin' brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee
Wi' murd'rin' pattle!)

A man, or for that matter, a woman who was “able for” an opponent, whether in a physical contest, a mental joust or a verbal clash was usually adjudged to be someone who was more than (mair nor) a match for their protagonist. Being “able wae the tongue” meant the ability “tae dish oot a tonguing”, the modern equivalent, perhaps, being a tongue lashing.

There is also the sense of “ability” as physical strength or stamina, usually noted in the absence (“It disnae metter what A dae, A hae nae ability at a”).

The antithesis of “able” is “saft”, (“He’s that saft, a wean cud buy an sell him”). People would be encouraged to adopt a more realistic approach to a situation (“Dinnae be so saft”) or an individual could be assessed as being slightly more worldly than might appear at first glance (“He’s naw as saft as he luks”). And if a man or woman (or for that matter, a child)  were deemed to be not in the least bit “saft”, the judgement might be handed down that the “the saftest thing aboot him (or her) is his (or her) teeth”. Such a person would be adjudged to be the very embodiment of “able”.