During our sojourn in Cumbrae there much debate about the exact meaning of a certain Scots word. You will remember that a young man from Catrine used this word in reference to me during a heated conversation. I somehow didn't get the impression he was paying me a compliment. But I wasn't quite sure. Now I am. I dusted down my copy of The Scots Dialect and found the following:
gauk: a fool, a lout
gauk: (v) to behave foolishly (used of young women in relation to men)
gaukie: gawky: a foolish person
gawk: (v) to stare vacantly or idily
gowk: cuckoo or blockhead
Paul, you were right about cuckoo.
Where is Jimmy when you need him????
R
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Huntigowk Day (April 1)
Dinna laugh, an' dinna smile
But hunt the gowk another mile.
Another variant of gowk/gawk - to stare stupidly or vacantly - is 'gove'
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