Aiblins, perhaps. A well-known word, but not in frequent use now.
[From able + -lin(g)s, the s being for is, orig. a genitival inflexion. The suffix -lin(g)s in Sc. as in Eng. forms a number of advs. and adjs. --- e.g. blin(d)lin(g)s, adv. The form ablens is found in Older Sc. (A. Montgomerie The Cherrie and the Slae, l. 1099, S.T.S. 1887). Forms of the word occur also in mod. north. Eng. dialects. Aiblins, though in general literary use in Sc., is now obs. or obsol. in actual speech.]
3 comments:
Thanks!
could you run that past me again?
Not with any real conviction, Alan, my grammatical skils being what they are. I crudely read it as able + delay...i.e. sort of "can be done but let's think about it".
Tom
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