a'body

Scots

Alternative forms

awbody

Etymology

From a' (“all, every”) +‎ body. Attested at least from c. 1800; compare a' from Middle English all.

Pronoun

a'body

1. everybody, everyone
   • c. 1800, Carolina Nairne, “Kitty Reid’s House”, in Life and Songs of the Baroness Nairne, published 1869, page 61:

     The light glimmer’d in thro’ a crack i’ the wa’,
     An’ a’ body thocht the lift it would fa’,
     An’ lads and lasses they soon ran awa
     Frae Kitty Reid’s house on the green, Jo.

     The light shone in through a crack in the wall, And everybody thought the sky would fall, And the boys and girls soon ran away from Kitty Reid’s house on the green, Love.

   • 1823, Robert Chambers, editor, The Popular Rhymes of Scotland, Miscellaneous, page 302:

     There was an auld wife, and they ca’d her Kilfuddie;
     An a’ body said she wad gang to the wuddie;
     But I think she de’ed in a better commaund,
     For she danced her to deid at her ain house end.

     There was an old woman, and they called her Kilfuddie; And everybody said she was bound for the gallows; But I think she died in a better situation, For she danced herself to death under her own roof.

   • 2020, Matthew Fit, But n Ben A-Go-Go, page 82:

     He wis throu wi Clart Central, Port, the Ceilidh, an awbody. An no lang nou, awbody wid be thro wi him.

     He was through with Central Division, the port, the dance hall, and everyone. And not long from now, everybody would be through with him.