The Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL) defines corn beef as “Rhyming slang for deef”.
An instance from 1971 appears Hugh MacBain’s short story from The Streets of Stone anthology: “'What! What did ye say?’ ‘For God’s sake, Chris,’ George was a little annoyed, perhaps because of the drink, perhaps for another reason. ‘Are ye corned beef? I said gimme another dozen.’”.
Later, this appears in James Kelman’s The Burn (1991): “She said something to the old lady but maybe she was a bit corn beef because she just smiled for a wee minute and then she started walking, leaving the woman with the red hat just standing there with what you would call a bemused look on her face”.
In April 2002, a Guardian author was clearly struggling with Scots rhyming slang: “So now, on top of the glottal stop and the distinctive burr, translators will have to contend with such obscure Scots phraseology as corned beef, as in ‘deif’, as in deaf. And chorus, as in chorus and verse, as in ‘erse’, as in arse. Salvador, as in Dali, as in ‘swallie’, as in swallow, as in drink…”.
This appeared in the Edinburgh Evening News (August 2017): “I bet you’re loving this ailment chat, eh. Great! Let me tell you about my ears. I’m corn beef in the left one. Zsuzsa’ll say ‘Tonight we're going home early’ and I’ll say ‘Of course there’s Right To Roam nearby!’ Then she’ll look at me pityingly and silently wonder where the best care homes are in Leith.”
Scots Word of the Week comes from Dictionaries of the Scots Language. Visit DSL Online at https://dsl.ac.uk.
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