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Scots language
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What does 'Och aye, the noo' mean?
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Does anyone in Scotland actually say this though ? To me this is a common misconception about Scots and I am a Scottish woman. I have never said this in my life nor do I know anyone who does but I am curious to know if any other Scots out there DO say this. Come on , let us know if you do and how exactly you would drop this into conversation.
It doesn't really mean anything. It's just a piece of typical music-hall comedian's so-called Scots, rather like: "It's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht the nicht." In other words, a collection of words that no sane Scotsman would be likely to say.
'Och aye' in normal circumstances would mean 'Oh yes' and 'the noo' generally means 'just now', as in "I saw him the noo." I suppose it's just about possible, but not very likely, that someone might say - in response perhaps to: "Did you just arrive?" - "Och aye, the noo."
Basically, it's just a joking scotticism along the lines of: "Hoots mon...awa'!"