"Auld lang syne" = "old long ago"

January 1, 2005 5:35 AM

Did you sing it last night? If so, do you know what it means? Burns didn't orginally write it, but he certainly made sure we'll never forget it.
posted by alumshubby (7 comments total)

> Did you sing it last night?

I tried, but ilka time I get tae "We twa hae run aboot the braes / And pu'd the gowans fine," ma tongue aye gaes agley.
posted by pracowity at 6:30 AM on January 1, 2005

also, scots everywhere will thank you to sing 'sine' rather than 'zyne'.
posted by dorian at 7:36 AM on January 1, 2005

... and I always thought it was about the ancient way of calculating double-precision transcendental functions ...
posted by scruss at 7:47 AM on January 1, 2005

Was in Aberdeen for a rugby tournament a few years ago...my Welsh buddy would point to the Burns snippets that appeared on the sides of municipal buses and say, "Oh! The beauty of it all!"

Of course, he had no idea what the hell it all meant, either.
posted by 1016 at 9:11 AM on January 1, 2005

Lear yersels the richt wey o't!

The Flag in the Wind: "Enjoy our Scots Language section where you can both read words, poems and stories as well as listen to them..." [This is dynamite!]

The Soond o Scots: "Fae poetry tae stories an bairn's rhymes — hearken til't — it's braw!"

The Scots Reader: "A tak it ye'll nou be wantin something tae read. The lave o this wabsteid will be in Scots!"

Scots Tung: "Eydently Campaignin For The Scots Leid"

Scots Online: "Pittin the mither tongue on the wab!"
posted by SteelyDuran at 9:39 AM on January 1, 2005

Burns

Heh. I notice that the alleged complete works at www.robertburns.org ignores his Merry Muses of Caledonia (PDF - bawdy, but sufficiently incomprehensible to be SFW).
posted by raygirvan at 12:24 PM on January 1, 2005

It makes perfect sense when you're drunk!
posted by yossarian1 at 8:17 PM on January 1, 2005