What is this "wee" word i see everywhere

[meditereb]

What does it mean ? Why is used for everything ?

It also means ‘to urinate’...

Eg. I need a wee.

It means small but I'd also say it's a term of endearment, as in my wee cat, but he's not small.

I'm Wee (the younger) Eileen, as opposed to my late mother Big (the older) Eileen. We were both 4'10" which might have baffled people not in the know. Belfast born & bred by the way.

Can also be used as a 'fun' exclamation such as pushing a child on a swing and saying 'wee' as they swing. (could also be 'whee' depends on pronunciation)

Op, you’re a wee numpty.

@BigFatLiar- that would be 'whee!' not wee.

Cacaca

You can have a wee bairn, but not a wee wain.

It is a Scottish/Northern Irish piece of dialect meaning small. It has become completely and irritatingly over-used.

There’s a clue to the riddle somewhere in that .

But don't you think it's unlikely that OP, wherever she is from (probably Hertfordshire or something), has never come across a scottish or irish person before 🤔

My pint was that most people anywhere in the world will have had some contact

It's extra fun/confusing to outsiders when Wee Jim, for example, is 6ft2, and Big Jim, who is of an older generation, is 5ft7.

Do you feel a wee bit silly now OP?

English friend visiting Scotland was asked in a shop "Do you want a carrier for that or will a wee baggie do?" They couldn't believe the assistant was actually talking normally and not being funny :o

Our family is littered with wee/big "jims" (not really jims"

@TheProdigalKittensReturn it definitely is. It's wee buns to the rest of us though.

I know wee Colin and his dad is big Colin

I use wee to mean small or a short amount of time. I’m English. I find it a friendly term. I hope a Scot doesn’t tell me off for cultural appropriation.

You can have a wee bairn, but not a wee wain.

I think that's because 'wain' is a contraction of 'wee-un' or 'wee one'. I'm not Scottish although my Dad's side of the family was from the North East of England, my Granny was from Alnwick and used some of the same dialect.

Are you taking the piss wee?

Wow, it was a simple question. the poor poster is probably living on another continent.
& you wonder why there are wars ?

@MockersxxxxxxxSocialDistancing oh no, I don’t believe you - there has to someone out there who has wee wains - it’s a very Glasgow thing.

Why are posters so indignant over this question from the OP? It seemed like genuine curiosity.

I actually found myself referring to someone I haven't seen in about 30 years that way the other day, even though he is presumably an adult with a job and a mortgage now. He was about 8 the last time I saw him, though, so...

Hang on a wee moment there, OP, you must live in a very wee world if you've not heard, even for a wee while, someone using the word wee and been able to work out - even a wee bit- what it might mean.

I'm off for a wee lie down.

there absolutely are wee weans