han - Hamely Tongue
Source: The Hamely Tongue: A Personal Record of Ulster-Scots in County Antrim
Author: James Fenton
Comments: ‘The Hamely Tongue’ has been widely acclaimed as the authoritative record of contemporary (surviving) Ulster-Scots in its heartland of County Antrim where James Fenton faithfully recorded his dictionary items among a network of other native speakers over a 30-year period. This searchable online version of his book takes its text from ‘Part One’ of the fourth edition of 2014 and includes over 3000 word entries. The book preliminaries, supplementary word lists and end matter have been excluded.
han ~ hand. a bad han at incompetent or unskilled at. a dab han (see dab). a han; a sad han; a sore han a mess; a botched job (That hospital made a sad han o his bad fit). amang hans; amang their hans (see amang). gie a han lend a hand; cuddle, court (Did ye gie hir a wee han on the road hame?). hanfa o money a lot of money; an exorbitant charge (It’s a hanfa o money for the least thing nooadays). hanless lacking in manual dexterity; awkward and bungling (also hae hans for naethin). han-rinnin in succession, in a row (aff his work fower dehs han-rinnin). han-staff (Br); han-stave (D,E,G) the handle of a flail (also han - E). han’s turn a chore; a task; a spell of work (He haesnae daen a han’s turn frae she come inty the bit o money). han-waled (see wal). in hans wae busy doing (in hans wae a big job up the country); involved with, in trouble with (A hear he’s in hans wae the polis). It taks a steady han tae howl a full cup (of a substantial inheritance: usually said when this has been squandered - E). lie tae yer han be suitable, in a convenient or advantageous state, for one to tackle or take on. ooty al hans completely out of hand (esp. of expenditure: The spennin’s gettin ooty al hans). owl han long-serving worker; older resident; old friend (as addressed). tae yer ain han on one’s own account (in business, etc). tak a han ooty pull the leg of; play a prank on. tak in han undertake.
