scran
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- skran (Scotland)
Etymology edit
Probably of North Germanic origin, from or cognate with Old Norse skran (“rubbish; marine stores”). Compare Icelandic skran (“junk”), Danish skrammel (“junk, lumber”). Doublet of scrawn.
Pronunciation edit
- (Glasgow, Northern England, especially Manchester, Liverpool, Geordie) IPA(key): /skɹan/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -an
Noun edit
scran (uncountable)
- (UK, Ireland, slang) Food, especially that of an inferior quality; grub.
- Synonyms: (Geordie) scrawn; see also Thesaurus:food
- Let wi gan and get some scran am starvin man!
- 1853, Charles John Chetwynd Talbot, Meliora, Or, Better Times to Come, page 247:
- I know there are many persons — some who are themselves poor — who 'never turn a beggar from their door,' but always give them a few browns (halfpence) or some scran (broken victuals).
- Refuse; rubbish.
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
- → Welsh: sgram
References edit
- Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, →ISBN
- Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4
- A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, →ISBN
Verb edit
scran (third-person singular simple present scrans, present participle scranning, simple past and past participle scranned)
- (slang, Liverpool, Manchester, Scotland) To eat.
- (slang, Northern England) To steal in an impish manner; pinch, nick.