scug en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
- /skʊɡ/ (Northern-England)
- /skʌɡ/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation, Southern-England)
- /skɐɡ/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
- skŭg
Etymology
Scottish and Northern English from Old Norse skuggi, from Proto-Germanic *skuwwô (“shadow, reflection”). Cognate with Icelandic skuggi, Swedish skugga, Danish skygge, Old English sċūa, sċūwa (“a shade”).
Meanings
- (Northern-England, Scotland) Shade, shadow.
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(Northern-England, Scotland) A shelter, a sheltered place (especially on the side of a hill).
We was jickering along […] under the scug o' the hill.
1897, Outlaws, Hamilton, page 156:
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(dialectal) A squirrel.
"Let's go scug-hunting" is a common phrase. […] a stick with a leaden head, used for knocking down birds and scugs (squirrels).
1883, Alfred Easther, A Glossary of the Dialect of Almondbury and Huddersfield, page 78:
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(dated, slang) A lower-school or inferior boy.
Scug, Et[on]. Har[row]. Negatively, a boy who is not distinguished in person, in games, or social qualities. Positively, a boy of untidy, dirty, or ill-mannered habits; one whose sense of propriety is not fully developed.
1881, C. E. Pascoe, Everyday Life in our Public Schools, page 312:A scug was an untidy, ill-mannered, and morally undeveloped boy, a shirker at games, bumptious and arrogant. If not naturally vicious, a scug was considered degenerate.
1969, Ralph G. Martin, Jennie: the Life of Lady Randolph Churchill: The romantic years, 1854-1895, Prentice-Hall, page 54:[…] before the lower school scugs got there, and pitched it in at Acropolis.
1865, Bracebridge Hemyng, Butler Burke at Eton, page 75:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| skoog | Scotland, alternative | lexicographic | |
| skug | alternative | lexicographic | |
| scoug | Scotland, alternative | lexicographic | |
| scugs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |