Scots Phrases + Sayings Matching Game

If you’re after a Burns Night (January 25th) classroom activity, a Scots language resource for a lesson or a fun way to get pupils talking about Scottish culture, our printable Scots phrases matching game is built exactly for that. It takes traditional Scots quotes, wise old sayings and cheeky expressions, such as “dinna fash yersel'” and “awa’ an’ bile yer heid”, and pairs each one with its plain English translation, all laid out ready to print, cut and use straight away.

What’s included

The resource is a set of card pairs, each one 12cm x 6cm, printed side-by-side so they’re easy to prepare. Every Scots phrase comes with its English translation, and there are three different ways you can use the same set of cards, depending on how much prep time you’ve got and what you want pupils to do:

• As flashcards — keep the Scots phrase and English translation together on one card. Great for a quick starter, a display, or simply introducing the vocabulary before you dive into any activity.
• Folded — fold each card in half so it becomes 6cm x 6cm, with the Scots phrase on the front and the translation hidden behind. Pupils read the Scots first, have a guess, then flip it open to check. This works nicely as a partner activity or a settling-in task at the start of a lesson.
• Cut out for a matching game — separate every phrase from its translation entirely and shuffle the lot. Pupils then work in pairs or small groups to match each Scots phrase to its English meaning, turning it into a proper memory or pairs-style game.

Because it’s the same set of cards doing all three jobs, you only need to print once and can switch up the activity across different lessons or year groups.

Ways to use it in class

This resource earns its keep well beyond one lesson in January. Here’s where it fits naturally into a school year:

• Burns Night (25th January) — the obvious home for it, and a lovely way to mark the day without needing bagpipes or haggis. Use it as a lesson starter, a station in a Burns Night carousel, or a fun homework task.
• Scots language and Scottish culture topics — supports any unit touching on regional dialects, Scots as a language in its own right, or Scotland-focused topic work.
• Literacy and vocabulary lessons — a genuinely engaging way to explore how meaning survives across dialects, build inference skills (guessing before flipping), and get pupils talking about word choice and phrasing.
• Wet play, transition time or early finishers — the matching-game format works well as an independent or paired activity that needs no explanation once pupils have played it once.
• Whole-school or assembly use — a few phrases displayed or read aloud make a nice talking point about Scottish heritage and identity.

Why bring Scots into the classroom at all?

Scots is recognised as a language in its own right, not just “English with an accent,” and giving it classroom time is a small but meaningful way to celebrate linguistic diversity closer to home — especially valuable for Scottish schools building cultural identity into everyday teaching, but just as engaging for schools elsewhere in the UK exploring dialects and regional variation. The proverbs themselves carry real wisdom too — many are just old sayings about kindness, patience, hard work and humility dressed up in different words, which opens the door to some lovely PSHE and circle-time discussion alongside the language learning.

Full list of Scots phrases included

Below is every Scots phrase in the set (translations aren’t listed here — that’s for students to work out!):

1. Dinna test the depth of the burn wi’ both feet.
2. East or west, hame is best.
3. Better a wee while shamed, than aye sorry.
4. Observe the bairns through your neighbours’ eyes.
5. Guid things come in sma’ parcels.
6. Awa’ an’ bile yer heid!
7. Yer bum’s oot the windae!
8. A nod’s as guid as a wink tae a blind horse.
9. Haud yer wheesht!
10. Blethers say nought.
11. Dinna clothe yer language in ragged attire.
12. Weans may no listen, but they copy ye.
13. Act like a guest in yer ain hoose.
14. Hae greens and hae life!
15. If ye break yer legs, don’t come runnin’ tae me!
16. Skill and love gae best.
17. Nae sweat, nae sweet.
18. A cat’s a tiger in his ain hoose.
19. Every bird thinks its ain nest’s best.
20. Hunger’s the best kitchen.
21. ‘Canna be done’ means he’ll dae it.
22. A wise man has nae doctors in his will.
23. A step at a time gets ye there.
24. Being busy improves yer mind.
25. Dinna pour water on a drowned moose.
26. Hunger wid break through stone wa’s!
27. Dae mair than just dream aboot it.
28. Yer only here a wee while – so be nice.
29. Dae weel and hae luck.
30. Only gae respect to the guid yins.
31. Wee stanes, no big hills, trip the unwary.
32. Better a sma’ fish than an empty dish.
33. Stay nae longer in a freen’s house than yer welcome.
34. Only yersel’ can unwrap yer future.
35. Whit’s for ye will no’ go by ye.
36. A guid laugh shows yer a’ aboot.
37. Contentment is gey rich.
38. A wolf may lose his teeth but ne’er his nature.
39. A blind man’s wife needs nae painting.
40. Wisdom is best taught by distress.
41. Nae mair work, nae mair holidays.
42. Stay young wi’ an open mind.
43. Dinna fash yersel’!
44. Guid husbands fix the bairn – ithers only wake ye.
45. Readin’s fur improvin’.
46. Daylight will keek thru a sma’ hole.
47. We’ve got auld Scotland fur a gerdin.
48. Grandpas aye snore first.
49. Those no present are aye tae blame.
50. January’s cauld can be used.
51. Greatest wealth is contentment wi’ little.
52. Dinna trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.
53. Slow doon on lost paths.
54. Be whit ye seem; and seem whit you are.
55. Worry blunts yer blade.
56. The rain is God’s way o’ cleanin’ the coos!
57. Pointin’ means wan finger oot and three tae yersel.
58. Honour and envy dinna haud hauns.
59. Only measure yer shadow wi’ a high sun.
60. Pit mair in than ye tak oot.
61. Better health than wealth.
62. A guid walk cures the mind.
63. Be canny wi’ others’ toes when your mouth stomps aboot.
64. ‘They’ get the blame o’ a’thing!
65. Convictions start sma’.
66. Wet sheep dinna shrink – they shak aff the water.
67. A helpin’ haun helps twa.
68. That’s the ba’ up on the slates noo.
69. Crofts and castles both get rain.
70. Never throw yer granny aff a bus.
71. Pleasure comes fae doin’ good.
72. He can see a midge a mile away, but cannae see the wolf at his feet.
73. Dinna mind other folk’s thochts.
74. Step ower rivers at the burn.
75. Dinna ask the Almighty – he’s a busy man!
76. Quality and best gae oot thegither.
77. Aw yin spies himself first in photies.
78. The snug five minutes afore ye rise is precious.
79. Bad temper maks a problem worse.
80. Mak the best o’ a bad bargain.
81. No knowin’ whit’s ahead is an exciting climb.
82. Yer freen’s jeelie piece always tastes better than yer ain!
83. Guid manners suffer bad yins.
84. Dinna be auld for anither ten years.
85. Bad mistakes provide a man wi’ quick experience.
86. Dinna burn down yer barn to get rid o’ the mice.
87. Adversity breeds character intae yin.
88. Gather yer thoughts before opening yer jaws.
89. Late in the morn – late a’ day.
90. Ambition’s a great seed.
91. A raggit coat is armour against the robber.
92. There’s nae fools like auld fools.
93. Throwin’ dirt digs yer ain hole.
94. He wha’s poor when he marries, shall be rich when he’s buried.
95. Do weel and dread nae shame.
96. It’s no the size of the dug in the fight, but the fight in the dug.
97. The langest day will hae an end.
98. He that comes first to the hill can sit where he wants.
99. Imagination maks the mind big.
100. Getting up’s mair important than fallin’ doon.
101. I’m saying nowt till I see my lawyer.
102. Nae pleasure pleases some.
103. Jokin’s fine tae owercome nae sense.
104. If ye decide tae grasp the nettle, make sure there’s a docken nearby.
105. Clean minds bring nae shame.
106. Three men can keep a secret if twa are deed.
107. Yer time is yours, dinna let ithers spend it.
108. Wrinkles are painted wi’ a brush o’ experience.
109. Better tae say ‘here it is’ than ‘here it was’.
110. The young folk dinna ken the boundaries and can do a’thing.
111. Guid folks mak a guid village.
112. They that finds keeps, they that loses seeks.
113. Sweep auld ways fae time to time.
114. Strength o’ mind defeats a’thing.

With 114 phrases to work through, there’s easily enough here for a whole term of starters, a full Burns Night carousel, or a display that changes weekly — plenty to keep the matching game fresh well beyond one lesson.

There are 19 A4 pages in total, with 6 cards to a page.