How is the word "Hen" used?

[deargoop]

Is the word Hen typically used by women for other women? Is it used mainly by older women when talking to a younger woman or girl or can it be used for women of any age? Is it a term that men use for women?

I am not Scottish but currently living in Glasgow.

@AgnesX sorry that’s been your experience. It just means ‘girl’ where I grew up.

In Glasgow most things can be sarcastic, not a place to be too up yourself 😁

Fit like quine? @Toottooot

Wifie is affa common up Aiberdeen way. Aye aye wifie as a greeting to someone or just a way to describe a woman. At school our teachers were commonly wifie/mannie surname rather than mr/mrs.

Indeed @Toottooot , that day when you graduate from being a Quine to a wifie is a hard transition.
i am definitely a wifie now 😱

I always imagine proper wifies wearing a head scarf tied under their chin.

Similar - we used to say "if I'm a hen then you're a duck, use my name or git tae fuck" 🤣🤣

😂😂😂

Not uncommon in Dundee too.

having said that, I’ve never used it.

Love it!

I would say it is more a working class way of describing someone and it would make me cringe so hard if I heard an English person using it.

Why?

I would cringe because it was not part of their natural speech pattern and it would seem false.

😂You've brought back memories of the day two wee kids shouted "Hey Misses wits the time?" Honestly I think I was about 16 or 17.

I don't hear it nearly as much as I did growing up, which is a good thing. I put it in the same (awful) category as referring to your children as "the bairns" or "the weans".

It's definitely not in the same category as calling children, kids, weans or bairns.

I never liked Hen as a child and their are various versions of the 'if I'm a Hen...' rhymes so it must have been rebelled against by the next generation.

I've never heard weans, kids, or bairns being objected too.

Yes exactly! My Granny always used to talk about wifies, and that's exactly the picture I had in mind when I first say it mentioned higher up by pp.

And what about 'Mistress'? I seem to recall older gentleman using the term Mistress in Aberdeenshire when addressing a married lady. 'And how are you today Mistress ,, it's gye cold oot '

OMG 😲 Mistress, imagine being called that that's 100x worse than Hen. And reminds me of the words written on a School desk.

What's a Mistress?
Something between a Mister
and a Mattress

Totally this.

I've literally never heard a non Scottish person say hen. Even thinking about it just makes me cringe. But...you do you.

Still common in and around Edinburgh for people I know. I don't use it as am not Scottish, but I like hearing it.
Only time I object is if its a youngster calling me it. For some reason I feel like it's a bit patronising if used to an older person.

I love that you want to use it!!

I’m Scottish and it’s not a term I would use at all. It would to me be an older persons term these days and even then a more traditional Glasgow phrase. I only live 40 miles away and it’s not used at all around here .i would find it odd being said by a non Scottish person

I'm surprised that it's considered Glasgow only. It was very commonly used when in Midlothian when I was young, but I've been away from there for ages so I don't know if it's dying out now.

I've never used it myself, I must admit, but I don't dislike hearing it. As others have said, I think it would sound odd without the local accent.

I'm in Stirling and we definitely say it here.

Yes, i live West Lothian