agley
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Scots agley.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Adverb
agley (comparative more agley, superlative most agley)
- (chiefly Scotland) Wrong in the sense of awry, askew, amiss, or distorted.
- 1932, Rosewell Page, The Iliads of the South: an epic of the War Between the States, Garrett and Massie, p. 165:
- X tells of cavalry; of Sheridan, Hampton and Fitz Lee;
- Of Early’s Valley march, that Sheridan long held agley!
- 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XII and XV:
- “It's just that one drops into the habit of sending for Jeeves whenever things have gone agley, if that's the word I'm thinking of. Scotch, isn't it? Agley, I mean. It sounds Scotch to me.” [...] “It is merely a feeling, sir, due probably to my preference for finesse. I mistrust these elaborate schemes. One cannot depend on them. As the poet Burns says, the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley.” “Scotch, isn't it, that word?” “Yes, sir.” “I thought as much. The ‘gang’ told the story. Why do Scotsmen say gang?” “I have no information, sir. They have not confided in me.” [...] “I don't know if you know the meaning of the word ‘agley’, Kipper, but that, to put it in a nutshell, is the way things have ganged.”
- 2002, Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross, p. 29:
- We meant to sail from Charleston, but things went agley there, and so we’re bound for Portsmouth now, as fast as we can make speed.
- 1932, Rosewell Page, The Iliads of the South: an epic of the War Between the States, Garrett and Massie, p. 165:
[edit] Usage notes
The word was popularised by Robert Burns in his 1785 Scots poems “To a Mouse”, in the much-quoted line “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley”. This line is often quoted, and the word agley is occasionally used in modern English, primarily in variants of this line, such as “our plans have gone agley” or “things went agley”.
[edit] Anagrams
[edit] Scots
[edit] Etymology
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /əˈɡliː/, /əˈɡləi/
[edit] Adverb
agley (comparative mair agley, superlative maist agley)
- asquint; astray, off the straight
- 1785, Robert Burns, “To a Mouse”:
- The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley
- 1785, Robert Burns, “To a Mouse”:
