16 SEPTEMBER 1989, Page 29

Wee nyaff

Sir: The word `nyaff' has been known in Glasgow for decades. It is a noun, implying the incumbent is a cocky fellow who should be taken down a peg. Thus, an adolescent Glaswegian female approached, say, at a dance by a prospective partner might say: 'Get loast, ya wee nyaff,' indicating that she thought him too presumptious by half.

It is not too much to imagine that the ripples of `nyaff around Euston Station became `naff by the time they reached the Kings Road.

Marilyn Parker 7 Foxwarren, Haywards Heath, Sussex