This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
test battery
Proportionate crediting
Dec 14, 2007 00:18
17 yrs ago
7 viewers *
English term

Haud yer wheesht!

English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature
This phrase comes from a novel about 14th c. Scotland. A man says something he shouldn't say and his companion reacts with these words. I understand that it means, more or less, "hold your tongue", but I wonder about the literal meaning - in particular, what is "wheesht"?
Responses
5 +1 "Shut up!"
4 +1 Be silent!

Discussion

Rachel Fell Dec 14, 2007:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Haud-Yer-Wheesht-Scottish-Favourite/...
allp (asker) Dec 14, 2007:
:) no problem with understanding, just the matter of finding the right target register. Auld claes an parritch :)
David Hollywood Dec 14, 2007:
post the question and maybe we can come up with something ....
David Hollywood Dec 14, 2007:
Shut up and let them play in peace ...
allp (asker) Dec 14, 2007:
my last comment was to the bullying :)
allp (asker) Dec 14, 2007:
well, I don't know... they seem a nice people, my next headache is how to render "Odin's ballocks" in Polish :)
David Hollywood Dec 14, 2007:
but means much more than that :)
David Hollywood Dec 14, 2007:
Shut up and let them play in peace ...
David Hollywood Dec 14, 2007:
bully the Celts :)
allp (asker) Dec 14, 2007:
well - a whole world of meanings! amazing... I've had a hunch ;)
David Hollywood Dec 14, 2007:
very often heard at great music evenings where inevitably someone at the back of the room throws in " haul yey wheeshst" a form of great endearment :)
David Hollywood Dec 14, 2007:
equivalent of
"you're welcome" (more or less) mooooore or leesssss
David Hollywood Dec 14, 2007:
ach ... haud yer wheesht! now that's nice :)

Responses

+1
0 min
Selected

"Shut up!"

:)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 mins (2007-12-14 00:22:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

basically "wheest" is a variation on "shush"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 mins (2007-12-14 00:23:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Definitions of : shush on the Web:

silence (someone) by uttering `shush!'
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 mins (2007-12-14 00:26:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

it's an onomatpoeic expression and mimics "Shhh" or any of those sounds ...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 mins (2007-12-14 00:27:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

onomatopoeic

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 mins (2007-12-14 00:29:24 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

takes me back to my days in bonny Scotland ... ayyy laddie :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 mins (2007-12-14 00:32:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

variation ...

Hud yer wheesht! Be quiet! Shut up! besom/bisom (pejorative) an annoying .... My palms sweat, not from the long haul to the gate, but with the anxiety of ...
www.redemptionblues.com/?m=200605 - 70k - Cached - Similar pages

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 mins (2007-12-14 00:33:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Wheesht Lad" mean Quiet boy "Haud Yer Wheesht" means shut up .... dropped in to very hot fat, and as soon as the batter has gone crispy, you haul it out. ...
forums.allaboutjazz.com/archive/index.php/t-4494.html - 33k - Cached - Similar pages
Note from asker:
Now, that was quick :)
Peer comment(s):
agree kmtext : Wheesht actually comes from the Gaelic word "èisd" which means listen or be quiet, depending on the context. It's a long while since I've heard anyone called a bisom, (in England now) but a gallus bisom is a wonderful term for a pushy, annoying woman.
8 hrs
thanks kmtext :)
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you :))"
+1
10 mins

Be silent!

Wir Ain Leid - Idioms
Haud yer wheesht. Be silent. Haud the cuddie reekin. Keep the pot boiling. Haud tryst. Keep one's word. Haund for nieve. Abreast. ...
www.scots-online.org/grammar/eedioms.htm - 50k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Mike :)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 mins (2007-12-14 00:34:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The Slang Dictionary - Exue.com.cn
Wheesht: Scottish for please be quiet--or when said loudly, shut up. Example: Wheesht yer tongue, lassie. wheeze: A good laugh. ...
english.exue.com.cn/tools/slang/W.htm - 113k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
UK Indymedia - The Day Democracy Died?
Ach wheesht man.... 14.08.2005 23:05. "Actually the SSP were in contact with the .... Non-[sic]deucated Delinquent ISN'T the etymology of the word, ...
www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/08/321160.html?c=on - 87k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Satire, General
-10%, 3.59, Haud Yer Wheesht!: Your Scottish Granny's Favourite Sayings ~ Allan ...... 12.41, The Clan of the Flapdragon and Other Adventures in Etymology ...
www.mybooksbee.co.uk/cat101224.html - 775k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Of ghosts and buildings. . .: The spirit of a waif,by the wall
And if you look at its etymology,even more! .... "And now it's playtime" · Powers of Ten (1977) · Up Here in the Clouds · Imagery · "Haud yer WHEESHT!" ...
of-ghosts-and-buildings.blogspot.com/2006/03/spirit-of-waifby-wall.html - 92k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Definition of whisht
wheesht verb. intr 1. To be quiet; to keep silent. Also as exclamation. ... (cots) To be quiet or keep silent. Etymology: 16c: imitating the sound. ...
www.allwords.com/word-whisht.html - 20k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2007-12-14 00:35:19 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

[XLS]
Sheet1
File Format: Microsoft Excel
2102, UK, Scottish, Wheesht, Sharp command to be quiet. ...... Etymology: probably from Flemish hankeren, frequentative of hangen to hang; ...
nyscriptclub.org/Dialect%20Database.xls - Similar pages - Note this


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 27 mins (2007-12-14 00:46:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

As David said, "wheesht" imitates the sound:

Definition of wheesht - 8:32pm
Your Query of 'wheesht' Resulted in 2 Matches From The AND Dictionary ... (cots) To be quiet or keep silent. Etymology: 16c: imitating the sound. ...
www.allwords.com/word-wheesht.html - 21k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Note from asker:
The idioms link is great, I'm going to memorize at least half of them over the weekend :)
Peer comment(s):
agree Cilian O'Tuama : I'm familiar with "hold your whisht"
16 hrs
Thank you, Cilian - Mike :)
Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search