Ken Ken

"Christ it's hot."

Two crumbly old blokes on the bus were complaining about the weather. It was a sultry 18 degrees and they bemoaned their lack of ventilated footwear.

"Only yesterday we were moaning about the rain and the landslides."

"Ha!" I love when old men laugh in short, wheezy bursts. "HA! HA!"

And there's one reason I adore Scotland. People constantly whinge about things, but they can laugh about the fact they're whinging.

They went on to complain about tardy buses, football, the Olympics, and how one of them's bathroom has been prone to flooding since the war. He didn't specify which one.

Then they started asking after mutual accquaintances. This involved one of the more baffling phrases of the Scots language. When I first arrived off the boat I noticed some people referring to Ken a lot. "Ken what I mean?" they'd say. Who the fuck was Ken and why did everyone in Edinburgh know him? Thank goodness for the Scots Dictionary.

To ken is to know. The word is in frequent everyday use everywhere in Scotland, with the exception of the Glasgow area.

"D'ye ken Mary?"
"Aye."
"Her bathroom leaks too. D'ye ken Ken?"
"Which Ken?"
"Eh?"
"Well I dinnae ken which Ken."
"Ken fae Leith."
"Oh aye. I ken Ken."
"D'ye ken Filthy Fred?"

I'm regretting not going a few stops further to find out who Filthy Fred was.

August 13, 2004 | Permalink | Posted in Living In Scotland | Comments (8)

Comments

1 · frecklegirl said:

I *need* to go to Scotland!!

The people here in New England complain a lot but not quite so good-naturedly... We complain when it is hot, when it is cold, when it is humid, raining, not raining... you get the idea.

August 14, 2004 1:32 AM

2 · kimbofo said:

You need to check out a James Kelman book. When I read "How Late it Was, How Late" oh, about a million years ago, it took me a long time to figure out who the hell "ken" was as well. Hee, hee

August 14, 2004 11:06 AM

3 · agica said:

Filthy Fred is probably someone whose bathroom had been bombed and never rebuilt. In the WW1.

August 14, 2004 12:51 PM

4 · skyblue said:

Too hilarious for words! I was laughing hysterically reading the "ken Ken" line. You should consider contributing these wonderful tidbits to Scottish sitcoms :-)

August 15, 2004 1:57 AM

5 · andrew said:

I don't know who filthy fred is, but I have to admit I like him already...

August 16, 2004 12:11 AM

6 · Ken said:

I guess the 'ken' here originates from the german verb kennen = to know.

August 16, 2004 4:04 PM

7 · Rosemary Grace said:

I grew up in Edinburgh, and have had many glorious experiences of overhearing old buggers complaining in the local vernacular...your mentions of Edinburgh make me homesick! (good thing I'll be back visiting there in a couple of weeks)

My personal favourite overheard phrase was a teenager referring to the stereo he'd just failed to make work: "the f*ckin f*cker's f*ckin f*cked!"

It's harder to enjoy the southern California local dialogue style quite so much. There's only so many "like, ohmygawd"s you can take...

August 17, 2004 6:51 PM

8 · Doug said:

What would really rock is someone saying: "Alright hen? Ya ken ken, then?"

... but that may be hoping for too much.

August 17, 2004 7:15 PM

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