canny, a. Sc.
(ˈkænɪ)
Also in north Eng. dial. conny.
[A comparatively modern word: not found before 17th c. App. f. can v. in sense ‘to know how, be able’, or the derived Sc. n. can, ‘knowledge, skill’ + -y: cf. Sw. kunnig. Canny, conny, thus originally was nearly = cunnand, cunning in its primary sense. But it has developed an extensive series of meanings, two or three of which are in common use in Eng. literature to denote qualities considered characteristically Scotch. It is also current in the North of England as far south as Lancashire and the Humber, but in senses more or less distinct from the Scotch.]
1. Knowing, sagacious, judicious, prudent; wary, cautious. Sc. arch.
| 1637 Rutherford Lett. lxxxiii. (1862) I. 212 Men's canny wisdom, who, in this storm, take the nearest shore and go to the lee and calm side of the Gospel. a 1661 Ibid. i. xi. (Jam.) I trust in God, to use the world, as a canny or cunning master doth a knave-servant;—he giveth him no handling or credit. a 1662 Baillie Lett. (1775) II. 138 (Jam.) The Parliament is wise to make, in a canny and a safe way, a wholesome purgation. a 1758 Ramsay Poems (1800) II. 256 Ye gales that..please the canny boatman. |
b. esp. Cautious in worldly matters, worldly-wise, shrewd, having a constant eye to the main chance. (A somewhat sneering application of the Scotch word by English writers to ‘a low prudence or roguish sagacity, which southern people are pleased to attribute to their northern kinsfolk’ (Chambers' Jrnl.). Perh. from Scott's use.
| 1816 Scott Antiq. xxxviii, ‘If ye'll let me hear the question,’ said Edie, with the caution of a canny Scotchman, ‘I'll tell you whether I'll answer it or no.’ 1852 C. M. Yonge Cameos (1877) II. vii. 90 Starving out the English, as the canny Scotch had so often done. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 145 It [the Hohenzollern] was an able and a canny house, a Scotch version of the word able, which implies thrift and an eye to the main chance. 1878 Holbrook Hyg. Brain 53 As they say in canny Scotland. |
† 2. Cunning, artful, wily. Sc. Obs. or arch.
| a 1662 Baillie Lett. (1775) II. 67 (Jam.) Mr. Marshall..by canny conveyance, got a sub-committee nominate according to his mind.—Vines, Herle, &c...seeing us excluded by Marshal's cunning, would not join. 1794 Ritson Sc. Songs I. 269 (Jam.) Well does the canny kimmer ken, They gar the scuds gae glibber down. |
3. Skilful, clever, ‘cunning’ (in the old sense). canny wife: ‘wise woman’, midwife (Fr. femme sage); hence canny moment: moment of childbirth. Sc. arch.
| 1768 Ross Helenore (1789) 15 (Jam.) [They] did with care the canny knack impart Unto their bairns. 1790 Shirrefs Poems 266 (Jam.) A skilly wife, our parish howdy; Wha did her jobs sae freely canny. 1810 Cromek Rem. Nithsdale Song App. 335 (Jam.) When the pangs of the mother seized his beloved wife, a servant was ordered to fetch the cannie wife who lived across the Nith. 1815 Scott Guy M. i, ‘Ye'll be come in the cannie moment I'm thinking.’ |
† 4. Supernaturally wise, endowed with occult or magical power. Sc. Obs.
| 1768 Ross Rock & wee pickle Tow (Jam.) She was ne'er ca'd chancy, but canny and slim. 1816 Scott Bl. Dwarf iv, His popular epithet soon came to be Canny Elshie, or the Wise Wight of Mucklestane Moor. |
† 5. Lucky, fortunate, prosperous. Sc. Obs.
| 1715 Pennecuik Poems 62 (Jam.) Farewel, old Calins, kannie all thy life. 1721 Ramsay Poet's Wish ii, Whaever by his canny fate, Is master of a good estate. |
b. Lucky or safe to meddle with; esp. with negative. Cf. uncanny. Sc.
| 1718 Ramsay Christ's Kirk iii. v, Word gae'd she was na kanny. 1829 Scott Demonol. v. 161 Which are not supposed to be themselves altogether canny. |
6. Careful, frugal, thrifty. (An archaic Sc. sense, which has been taken up in English to characterize a quality considered specially Scotch.)
| 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. ii, Whate'er he wins, I'll guide with canny care. c 1800 Maxim, ‘Be canny with the sugar!’ 1866 Howells Venet. Life 267 The number..and cost of the dishes were carefully regulated by the canny Republic's laws. 1872 Spectator 7 Sept. 1129 A businesslike, thrifty, canny, constitutional government. |
7. Careful or cautious in motion or action; hence, quiet, gentle, ‘soft’ of speech; free from commotion, disturbance, or noise. Said of persons or animals, in their action, speech, or disposition; and also applied to things, as running water, the sea, wind, etc. (The usual sense in modern Scotch.)
| 1785 Burns Cotter's Sat. Nt. iv, Some tentie rin A cannie errand to a neebor town. 1786 ― Salut. Auld Mare v, Hamely, tawie, quiet and cannie. 1814 Scott Wav. lx, ‘The plaids [Highlanders] were gay canny, and did not do so much mischief.’ 1822 ― Pirate v, ‘Speak her fair and canny.’ 1820 Glenfergus II. 341 (Jam.) The canniest hand about a sick bed. 1861 Ramsay Remin. v. (ed. 18) 125 Mounted upon a Highland pony as being the canniest baste. Mod. Sc. A cannie laddie. Cannie Nannie, a species of wild bee not given to stinging. |
b. Of humour: Quiet, sly, ‘pawky’. (Sc., and used by Eng. writers as characteristic of Scotch humour.)
| 1876 Green Short Hist. viii. §2. 464 His canny humour lights up the political and theological controversies of the time. |
8. Quiet, easy, snug, comfortable, pleasant, cosy. Sc.
| a 1758 Ramsay Poems (1800) I. 44 (Jam.) Edge me into some canny post. Ibid. II. 227 (Jam.) A canny soft and flowery den. 1787 Burns Ep. James Smith xviii, Cannie, in some cozie place, They close the day. Mod. She [a servant] has a gey cannie place. |
9. Agreeable to the eyes or perception, tidy, seemly, comely; good, worthy, ‘nice’, very satisfactory. In the north of England (in some parts pronounced conny) a general epithet of approbation or satisfaction, as in ‘Canny Newcastle’, ‘the Canny Town’. In N. Lancashire, ‘of good size or amount’. (Cf. the vulgar ‘a tidy bit of money’, and the like.) Not a Scotch sense.
| 1802 R. Anderson Cumbrld. Ball. 40 Tom Linton was bworn till a brave canny fortune. 1821 Mrs. Wheeler Westmrld. Dial. 99 Saa yee awt else et wur conny while yee stayd? 1863 in Robson Bards of Tyne 237 We wish to be cleanly and canny. 1870 Lancash. Gloss. (E.D.S.) s.v., ‘Jim had supp't a conny lot.’ 1875 Whitby Gloss., Conny, seemly: ‘she's conny beeath to feeace an te follow.’ 1877 Holderness Gl., ‘A conny lahtle bayn’ [= bairn]. |
10. Also used advb.; esp. in phr. to ca' canny: to go cautiously, quietly, gently, carefully, warily.
| a 1796 Burns My Nannie O vi, I maun guide it cannie, o. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 82 (Jam.) The troddling burnie i' the glen Glides cannie o'er its peebles sma'. 1814 Saxon & Gael III. 73 (Jam.) ‘Chaps like them suld ca' canny.’ 1816 Scott Antiq. vii, ‘Canny now, lad—canny now—tak tent, and tak time.’ 1822 Galt Entail I. 239 (Jam.) ‘But, Charlie and Bell, ca' canny.’ |