Weegie* Words is a pop-up festival to celebrate Glasgow’s finest literary talent in the spirit of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Authors will go head-to-head in specialist rounds to determine the winners of stereotypical Glasgow tropes; sport vs the weather and famous sex scenes vs gritty crime. Aka: STILL GAME vs HURRICANE BAWBAG and THE STEAMIE vs GLASGOW KISS.
Participants battling it out include: Chris Brookmyre, Helen Fitzgerald, Laura Marney, Nick Brooks, Tony Black, David Simons, Lesley McDowell, Michael Malone, Jean Rafferty, Helen Sedgwick, Graeme Macrae Burnet, and Kate Tough.
We realised that not everyone will be familiar with the terminology surrounding Weegie Words, so we thought we’d provide a little translation guide. By the end of this crash course you’ll be an expert on Glasgow lingo, from the gusty ‘Hurricane Bawbag’ to the not-as-friendly-as-it-sounds ‘Glasgow Kiss.’
*Just in case you don’t know Glasgow at all, ‘Weegie’ = ‘Glaswegian’
Round 1: Still Game vs Hurricane Bawbag
Still Game: a popular Glasgow-based sitcom featuring two crabbit (ill-tempered, grouchy) pensioners that ran on the BBC from 2002 to 2007. Arguably the weegie version of Last of the Summer Wine, Still Game followed the nosy duo in their twilight years making trouble and griping about anything and everything. It was so Glaswegian that they had to start subtitling it in standard English for audiences outside of Scotland. Banter surrounding sport featured significantly in Still Game and remains a staple of the city’s culture.
For Weegie Words, team Still Game will have to read the best writing they have to offer on the subject of sport and its pride of place in local literature.
Hurricane Bawbag: when hurricane forces descended upon Scotland in December 2011 causing power cuts and school closures across the country, an unknown source tweeted up a storm and coined the term ‘Hurricane Bawbag’ as a hashtag on Twitter.
‘Bawbag’ is a Scots word for ‘scrotum’ and largely used in a mocking manner. You may have an annoying mate who texts you indecipherable rubbish at 4am. That mate could be dubbed a ‘bawbag.’ That person who skips the queue? Bawbag. The hurricane that left numerous homes across Scotland without power for days? Definitely a bawbag.
It became a term so widely used to describe the 2011 cyclone that it now has its own page on Wikipedia.
To take on Glasgow’s love of all things sporty, team Hurricane Bawbag will read out their most dramatic and chilling accounts of what Scotland’s weather has to offer.
(The Scots can be known for their grumpy attitude towards the regularly disappointing weather but they sometimes know how to have fun with it…)
Closing Ceremony: The Steamie vs Glasgow Kiss
The Steamie: another Scottish TV classic adapted from a 1988 comedy-drama stage play featuring four 1950s middle-aged weegie women and their escapades at the public launderette, also known as ‘the steamie.’
Upon reading ‘steamie’ you may think of words like ‘sultry’ and ‘sexy.’ Considering the tabards, the beige leggings and the bullish banter, The Steamie is none of those things. To celebrate Glasgow’s sexier side, team Steamie are asked to reveal their most sultry AND sexy writing for the crowd’s enjoyment.
Glasgow Kiss: a little less friendly and a little more brutal, a Glasgow kiss is simply a rather unfriendly headbutt. Wikipedia says it’s a ‘tongue-in-cheek reference to Glasgow’s violent reputation.’ Though this may be a slightly unfair association, Scottish crime writing has done a stellar job of dramatising Glasgow’s grittier edge. In this spirit, team Glasgow Kiss are asked to share their best crime scenes to go up against the steamiest sex scenes.
Gonnae join us for the Closing Ceremony? Stereo, Renfield Lane, Sunday 3 Aug at 7pm?
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