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Shetland Place names


Njugle
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If you look on the map in the link MaxFusion posted, "Da Smaalie" is the name of the valley - "Da sneck o' da smaalie" is the crack in the cliffs in the photos. So what does "sneck" mean? All I am familiar with is "sneck the door" but http://sh.shetlanddictionary.com/index.php?title=Shetland_Words:S

 

lists a second meaning "notch in a hill" which would apply here...

 

# sneck = (n) latch, (yun door keeps openin da wye at da sneck is worn)

# sneck = (n) (geographical feature), a notch in a hill used as a mead (da sneck i da hill ower da black skerry)

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A'm nearly sure dat a'm heard sneck ösed athin anidder context, laek, "mak a sneck in yun bit o wid so wi mind whaur it is", i.e., mibbe wi haedna a pencil an' hed tae mak a sneck wi a stanley knife or chisel tae mark a point.

 

Or it could also mean "cut" (I think) - "sneck aff a bit o'yun rop"?

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^^ Dunna du cum ta da suddert wi yun een, du'll gyt a brawly wheer luik. :wink: "Snick" is whit you duh ta a switch ta pit im on an aff aboot heer.

 

Sneck is a cut which either totally severs, as in "sneckit ta da bon" (a skinhead haircut), or removes a downward "V" shaped portion.

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^^ I doot dir micht be a grain a nort/sooth divide gyaan at igyen wi yun..... Juist wan thing I need ta ken noo tho, if I come north ower and aks sumeen ta "snick aff yun licht", am I riskin dem giein me a fuil look, ur waur, hae dem cuttin da power cord idda licht whaur he comes doon fae the ruif. :?

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Hmm... :?

 

sneck v.3 var. of SNICK v.1

 

...and...

 

snick /snk/ n.2 L18. [f. SNICK v.2] 1 A small cut; a nick, a notch. L18.

 

snick /snk/ v.2t. L17. [Prob. suggested by snick in SNICK OR SNEE.] 1 Cut or snip (off, out); cut a small notch or make a small incision in (a thing). L17.

 

snick /snk/ v.3 E19. [imit.] 1 v.t. a Cause to click or sound sharply. E19. b Turn (on, off, etc.) with a clicking noise. E20.

 

It wid seem tae me dat dis is an Engleesh wird, albeit in mair common use athin Shaetlan.

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  • 3 months later...
Both seem to be perfectly good explanations as to the origin of the name. I'd always thought it was the to do with the oily loom appearance but only because I didn't know that "lom" was norwegian for raingös until Dagfinn's post.

J.Jakobsens 'The Placenames of Shetland' gives this explanation to 'Loomi Shun' (Lumisjøn); "possibly 'lóma-tjørn', from the bird-name 'lómr' (loon)."

 

It wid seem tae me dat dis is an Engleesh wird, albeit in mair common use athin Shaetlan.

Yes, I can find no Norse equivalence to 'Sneck', so I guess 'Da Sneck o' da Smalie' is a combined Scots-Norn name meaning 'the Cut in the Narrow(valley)'

 

BTW where is Shalder Geo located? in Northmavine?

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  • 8 months later...

[*** Mod edit - Thread merged with existing one***]

Hi

 

Seemed like the place to ask...

 

What is a beorg as in the Beorgs of Housetter or Colla Firth? There are others.

 

Why are some inland bodies of water called lochs and others waters? I was going to say is a loch smaller but then I see there are waters that are smaller than lochs...

 

And lastly what's a brog, as in Gillgordie Brogs?

 

Ok, while I'm at it words like Vird and Wells keep popping up as geographical features too...

 

Kev

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