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Originally posted by raindog I'm a student from South Korea, yes, non-English speaking country. I'm having a lot of problems to understand tons of idioms, slangs and expressions while reading [Porno] written by Irvine Welsh, one of the most famous Scottish modern novelists. Please, help me, I think I'll be here day by day to ask you favours.
1. what is 'stay-back'? "ah think we might be gittin bombed oot the other gaff, so ah could be lookin for a wee stay-back here.
2. sovies: "A load of dirty auld mingers and these wee tartan techno and hip-op ****s wi the sovies on every ****ing finger.
3. Saughton's Chosen Few: "It's none other than the best-known former aerated waters' salesman this fine city has ever produced, 'Juice' Terry Lawson, from Saughton's Chosen Few.
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Hello there. It happens that I have only recently read the book myself, so, here goes.
- "stay-back" - I take that to mean being allowed to remain in a bar after legal hours, so as to have more to drink. that is, he thinks the owner of the bar in which he and friends often meet to make or show porn-type films might no longer be happy for this to happen, so they are looking for another bar that *will* allow this.
- ."sovies" In reading it, I could only guess at that one -but my guess was exactly what
Polwarth says.
- the Terry Lawson person was previously employed selling fizzy drinks like cola and lemonade and Irn Bru (sometimes, I think, called "juice" although they aren't), and Saughton is a reference to a prison in Edinburgh, in which Lawson was at some point incarcerated.
I have to stop and think about a lot of the words/phrases used in Irvine Welsh books, and I only live about 40 miles away, so I am amazed at someone in Korea even trying to read them!
