Sawney
"Sawney" in a Sentence (7 examples)
Tyrrell, another boy, confirmed their testimony, and said, on one occasion, when they had stolen a heart, liver, and lights, the prisoner said, "go out, one or two of you, and see if you can get a bit of sawney!" (meaning a bit of bacon).
If a boy comes to the house on a night without money or sawney, or something to sell to the lodgers, a handkerchief or something of that kind, he is not admitted, but told very plainly, ‘Go thieve it, then.’
A man came in as she spoke, and drawing a large piece of bacon from his pocket, flung it down upon the counter. 'How much d'ye want for it?' said the lodging-house keeper, weighing it with his eyes. 'Sixpence.' 'Sixpence for a bit of sawney! (thieved bacon). We can't give more than fourpence in this shop, my buffer.'
Sawney Bean
But Sawney grew weary, and fain would be civil, / Being auld, and unfeary, and fail'd of his strength
“They can live upon barley-meal without a morsel of meat from week-end to week-end, can these miserable Sawnies,” quoth another.
He took the gibe and scowled at me--he spoke always like a Sawney, and could never pass for English; but in his pleasure at the discovery he had made he let the word pass.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.