Original (Glaswegian)
right inuff
ma language is disgraceful
ma maw tellt mi
ma teacher tellt mi
thi doactir tellt mi
thi priest tellt mi
ma boss tellt mi
ma landlady in carrington street tellt mi
thi lassie ah tried tay get aff way in 1969 tellt mi
sum wee smout thit thoat ah hudny read chomsky tellt mi
a calvinist communist thit thoat ah wuz revisionist tellt mi
literati grimly kerryin thi burden a thi past tellt mi
literati grimly kerryin thi burden a thi future tellt mi
ma wife tellt mi jist-tay-get-inty-this-poem tellt mi
ma wainz came hame fray school an tellt mi
jist aboot ivry book ah oapnd tellt mi
even thi introduction tay thi Scottish National Dictionary tellt mi
ach well
all livin language is sacred
fuck thi lohta thim.
Translation (English)
Right enough,
my language is disgraceful.
My mother told me,
my teacher told me,
the doctor told me,
the priest told me.
My boss told me,
my landlady on Carrington Street told me,
the girl I tried to get off with in 1969 told me,
some little know-it-all who thought I hadn’t read Chomsky told me,
a Calvinist communist who thought I was a revisionist told me.
Literary types grimly carrying the burden of the past told me,
literary types grimly carrying the burden of the future told me,
my wife (just to get into this poem) told me,
my kids came home from school and told me,
just about every book I opened told me,
even the introduction to the Scottish National Dictionary told me.
Ah well,
all living language is sacred.
Fuck the lot of them.