Word of the week

• neb n. a person’s nose; the beak of a bird; a projecting point or tip
• slitter v. work or eat messily, splash about; smear or stain (with something)
• hirple v. hobble, limp, walk unsteadily; move unevenly
• feeze v. twist, cause to revolve; wriggle, wag; ingratiate oneself (with someone)

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neb n. a person’s nose; the beak of a bird; a projecting point or tip

“neb n. a person’s nose; the beak of a bird; a projecting point or tip”

25th August 2008

Neb

Neb first appears in Scots in the late fourteenth century, where it refers to a bird’s beak, as in John Barbour’s Legends of the Saints (c1380): "As scho (she) mad this prayere, … Than com a dou (dove) of hevin … and in the neb brocht a croun". From at least the late sixteenth century, neb is used to indicate the protruding part or end of something. In the papers of the Court of Session (1767), it is remarked of someone that: "He would work till the Blood came out at his Finger Nebs rather than take a Bribe".

From the seventeenth century, neb also refers to the nose. If you lead someone by the neb you control them; if you strive towards your goals, you haud yer neb up hill; and if you have great foresight, you see far afore yer neb. Poet Allan Ramsay’s Collection of Scots Proverbs (1736) notes the expression: "your neb’s ne’er out of an ill turn". Neb is also used by northern English writers. Playing on various meanings of the word, Catherine Cookson uses it in her novel, House of Women (1993): "He took his hand from the wheel and gave her a quick pat—‘put your neb under your wing until after the holidays and see what transpires then’."

Nosiness is frequently associated with the neb and where one sticks it, and this is reflected in the evolution of the word’s meaning. In The Patter (1985), Michael Munro provides several definitions, including the following: "as a noun this can mean: ... An instance of prying or being nosey: ‘You just want them to ask us in so’s you can have a good neb round the place’."