Episode 188 Happy New Year and Reading and Understanding Auld Lang Syne

Happy New Year! Every year, right at midnight, at parties around the world people hold hands and sing a song. In the English speaking world there is only one song that can be sung at this moment: Auld Lang Syne. This song was created by famous Scottish poet Robert Burns, initially as a poem and then turned into a song using an old Scottish tune. The problem is, everyone understands the chorus, and most people can understand the first couple of verses, but after that...it all gets a bit too...Scottish! What is he talking about? Don't worry, in today's episode I'll explain the meaning behind the Ayrshire dialect words so you can totally understand this song. The good news is, nobody outside of Scotland really understands these last three verses, so everyone will be happy if you just join in and sing the chorus anytime this song is sung! 👍😎 If you would like to read the poem along with me you can find a good version here: https://poets.org/poem/auld-lang-syne If you would like a direct, word-to-word translation of the song you can find that here: https://www.themorgan.org/sites/default/files/images/exhibitions/AuldLangSyne.pdf Talked about New Year's traditions last year you can watch that here: https://youtu.be/7pic0WzCQ6k I hope you enjoy this episode and find it useful. Vocabulary super duper famous - an exaggeration phrase to mean 'very very' Glaswegian - the word used to describe people, language and culture from Glasgow, Scotland. dialect - a localised variant of a language often with area specific words and accent paddle - there are two meanings for this word. In the UK, most of the time unless we're in a Kayak (which is not a British invention) this word means to walk in shallow water. In America, the word is used to describe the action of moving a kayak, and now also a canoe or paddle-board, through the water. (FYI Kayaks originated in Greenland!) chorus - the part of a song that is repeated after each verse, often short and catchy. for old times sake - a phrase meaning because of our previous relationship we will do this thing gist - the most important element or meaning