Of the various ways to speak the English language, the Scottish dialects are some of the most fascinating to listen to. I’m apparently not alone in this thinking, as TikTok has exploded with Scottish people simply sharing Scottish things with their Scottish brogue and collecting fans hand over fist.
As an American, I don’t always understand what these TikTokers are saying, which is probably why some of them specialize in translating Scottish slang terms into non-Scottish English. But even when there’s no issue understanding, there’s something part-funny, part-sexy about the Scottish accent that gets me every time. If I could pay James McAvoy to read me a bedtime story every night, I would.
In fact, McAvoy shared a bit about his accent in this clip with Stephen Colbert, which was the first time I’d seen a Scot explain that the word “burglary” trips them up.
James McAvoy Plays Stephen Colbert’s Lightning Round
youtu.be
Apparently, it’s not just him. There’s a well-known phrase, “purple burglar alarm,” that is notoriously difficult for some Scots to say without tripping over their tongue. And watching some of them try is delightfully entertaining.
Some Scots can’t say “purple burglar alarm”
www.youtube.com
It’s literally a tongue twister.
Funny Scotsman Trying To Say ” Purple Burglar Alarm “
www.youtube.com
It’s even funny without the “purple.”
Burgalar Alarm
www.youtube.com
“Aw, bullocks.”
Purple burglar alarm
www.youtube.com
Purple burglar alarm !
www.youtube.com
This poor guy can’t even get past “purple.” (Language warning, if you’ve got the wee ones around.)
Funny Scottish man can’t say purple burglar alarm
www.youtube.com
The only thing better than a Scot being unable to say “purple burglar alarm” is a Scot who is able to say it because somehow it still sounds like they’re drowning.
Nothing but love for you, Scots! Thanks for the giggles, and please don’t ever stop talking.
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
window.REBELMOUSE_LOWEST_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){
var tags = [ 'https://pymx5.com/scripts/ready.js', 'https://pymx5.com/scripts/ims.js', 'https://pymx5.com/scripts/load_tags.js' ]
function l() { if (tags.length) { var tag = tags.pop(); var script = document.createElement('script'); script.setAttribute('src', tag); script.onload = l; document.body.appendChild(script); } else { window.ia = window.ia || function () { (window.ia.q = window.ia.q || []).push(arguments); } ; ia('track', 'PAGE_VIEW');
docReady(function() { ims.startServices(); } ); } }
l();
});
window.REBELMOUSE_LOWEST_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '1676218835946757'); fbq('track', 'PageView');
});
window.REBELMOUSE_LOWEST_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){
function triggerComscorePageView() { console.log('triggerComscorePageView'); window.COMSCORE && COMSCORE.beacon({c1: "2", c2: "18736521"}); fetch("https://www.upworthy.com/res/3rdparty/comscore_pageview"); }
if (typeof rblms !== 'undefined') { rblms.require(['core/event_dispatcher'], function(eventDispatcher) { eventDispatcher.on('viewRegistry:initViews', triggerComscorePageView); }); }
document.addEventListener('click', event => { if (event.target && event.target.classList.contains('show-more')) { triggerComscorePageView() } });
urlChangeHandler(triggerComscorePageView);
});
window.REBELMOUSE_LOWEST_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){
(function() { try{var a={l1:document.location.host.replace(/^www./,""),l2:document.title||"Untitled",l3:"__page__",l4:"-",sa:"",sn:""},b=[],c;for(c in a)b.push(c+"="+encodeURIComponent(a[c]));b=b.join("&");(new Image).src="https://d26n2uyu5tcx3y.cloudfront.net?a=5ac31c1640c74c36900b97047f570f19";var d=document.createElement("script");d.type="text/javascript";d.async=!0;var e=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];e.parentNode.insertBefore(d,e);d.src="https://z.moatads.com/upworthy105Vonz37/moatcontent.js#"+b}catch(f){try{var g= "//pixel.moatads.com/pixel.gif?e=24&d=data%3Adata%3Adata%3Adata&i=MOATCONTENTABSNIPPET1&ac=1&k="+encodeURIComponent(f)+"&j="+encodeURIComponent(document.referrer)+"&cs="+(new Date).getTime();(new Image).src=g}catch(h){}}; })();
});
window.REBELMOUSE_LOWEST_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){
(function(w,d) { w.kwa || (w.kwa = function()
{ (w.kwa.q = w.kwa.q || []).push(arguments); } ); se = d.createElement('script'), fs = d.scripts[0]; se.src="https://cdn.keywee.co/dist/analytics.min.js"; fs.parentNode.insertBefore(se,fs) }(window, document));
kwa('initialize',603);
});
window.REBELMOUSE_LOWEST_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){
(function(h,o,t,j,a,r){ h.hj=h.hj||function(){(h.hj.q=h.hj.q||[]).push(arguments)}; h._hjSettings={hjid:1648575,hjsv:6}; a=o.getElementsByTagName('head')[0]; r=o.createElement('script');r.async=1; r.src=t+h._hjSettings.hjid+j+h._hjSettings.hjsv; a.appendChild(r); })(window,document,'https://static.hotjar.com/c/hotjar-','.js?sv=');
});
window.REBELMOUSE_LOWEST_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){
let asd=false
});
window.REBELMOUSE_LOWEST_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){
function fbvideoID(frame) { var myRegexp = /2F(d+)%/g; var match = myRegexp.exec(frame); return match[1]; } var fbIframe = document.querySelector('iframe[src^="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?"]'); if (fbIframe) {fvVidID = fbvideoID(fbIframe.getAttribute('src')); if (fvVidID) { fbIframe.insertAdjacentHTML("beforebegin", '
'); // fbIframe.parentNode.removeChild(fbIframe); } } var videoId = "promoted-video"; var oldFacebookVideo = document.getElementById(videoId); if (!oldFacebookVideo) { return }; var facebookVideoPost = oldFacebookVideo.closest(".widget"); if (!facebookVideoPost) { return };
var facebookVideo = facebookVideoPost.querySelector("#" + videoId); facebookVideo.classList.add("fb-video"); var firstPost = document.querySelector(".widget.post-partial");
function onScriptLoad() { FB.init({ appId: window.REBELMOUSE_BOOTSTRAP_DATA.fbId, version: window.REBELMOUSE_BOOTSTRAP_DATA.fbAppVersion, status: true, cookie: true, }); FB.XFBML.parse(); if(fbIframe){ fbIframe.parentNode.removeChild(fbIframe); } }
function loadFacebookScript() { var existingScript = document.querySelector('script[src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"'); if (!existingScript) { var script = document.createElement("script"); script.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; document.head.appendChild(script); script.addEventListener("load", onScriptLoad); } }
function intersectorCallback(video_player) { var booted = false; var totalSeconds = 0; var interval = null;
function impressionCounter() { totalSeconds++; console.log("I've been watching for " + totalSeconds + " seconds"); } return function intersector(entries) { var entry = entries[0]; if (entry.isIntersecting) { if (!booted) { booted = true; video_player.mute(); video_player.play(); } interval = setInterval(impressionCounter, 1000); } else { if (interval) { console.log("I've stopped watching at " + totalSeconds + " seconds"); clearInterval(interval); interval = null; } } }; }
function trackVideo(video_player) { var observer = new IntersectionObserver(intersectorCallback(video_player), {}); observer.observe(facebookVideo); }
function onFacebookElementLoaded(msg) { if (msg.type === "video" && msg.id === videoId) { trackVideo(msg.instance); } }
function onFacebookReady() { FB.Event.subscribe("xfbml.ready", onFacebookElementLoaded); if (window.oldFacebookWaiter) window.oldFacebookWaiter(); }
if ("FB" in window) { onFacebookReady(); } else { window.oldFacebookWaiter = window.fbAsyncInit; window.fbAsyncInit = onFacebookReady; loadFacebookScript(); }
});