A trip to Scotland requires some readjustment to the intricacies of the English language and its idiomatic expressions. I call them "Britishisms" and I love the way they tickle my ears. Included in this category are some geography prefixes which are well-known to Long Islanders.

This column will list some of these expressions, as well as some customs and legends which caught my attention.

Expressions, Vocabulary:

Straight away...A.S.A.P. (as soon as possible).

Hither and tither...Here and there.

Two ticks...Indefinite time frame, but very soon.

Drawing room...After a meal, it's the room you withdraw to for coffee and tea.

Peckish...Not starving, but just about getting hungry.

Twitchers...Bird-watchers.

Stately Pile...The castle and all its grounds.

Salmon Reflex...To return to the place you were born.

Knock you up...To give someone a wake-up call in the morning.

Legends of the Sea

Three squares...On ships, plates were square, not round, to save space. Three squares meant three meals.

Cat-o-nine tails...A whip used for flogging at sea. It had nine lines with knots on a handle. It was kept in a bag on the main deck.

Let the cat out of the bag...Some sailor was going to be whipped.

Not enough room to swing a cat...Room was needed to flog a seaman by extending the arm of the flogger.

Over a barrel...After the flogging, the victim was stretched over a barrel and salt water was thrown on his back. This gave us the phrase "rubbing salt into the wound."

Geography

Ben...Mountain.

Glen... Narrow valley (like Glen Cove).

Avon...River (Avon River equals River River).

Strath...Wide valley (Strathmore).

Dun...Fort

Firth...Sea, inlet, estuary.

Inver...Seaport or riverport (Inver Ness).

Food

A Scottish (British) Breakfast:

Eggs...Two sunnyside eggs fried in more butter than I would use in two weeks. Usually very runny.

Fried bread...Grease-filled bread. Very rich.

Broiled tomato.

Ham.

Back bacon...Different from our bacon. More meaty and occasionally has black hairs protruding from it.

Bangers...Sausages. Less meat, more meal than our equivalent.

Blood sausage...A sausage composed of meal and blood. Black in color. Delicious, if you don't know the actual ingredients.

Baked beans.

Mushrooms.

Toast, with butter and/or marmalade.

Rolls, croissants.

Scottish National Dish:

Haggis, neeps and tatties...

The legend of haggis is pervasive. To every newcomer the question is, "Have you tried the haggis yet?"

In haggis, a lamb's or cow's stomach is filled with oatmeal, onions, herbs and spices, animal fat and organs (liver, heart, etc.). It is sewn at both ends to make a bag. It is then boiled.

It is not bad. It reminds me of my grandmother's tasty dish called "helzel", which she made by taking the loose neck skin of a chicken, sewing one end of it, and filling it with "kasha" ­ meal, animal parts and, of course, chicken fat.

Neeps and tatties...Turnips and potatoes.

Tass...Drinking vessel.

Noser...Brewmeister or Scotchmeister. The man who evaluates, smells and tastes the beer or Scotch whisky.