The first example of this Aberdonian nickname shown in the Dictionary of the Scots Language (www.dsl.ac.uk) comes from the Herald of 24th July 1992: “Going to Nuremberg to drive and talk about Audis had undertones of Tom Shields’s Furry Boots City.” Later that same year in the Independent of 30th November the meaning was extended to Aberdeen’s football team as in: “The men from the furry boots city are beginning to draw attention …having scored 13 goals in their last two games.”

In answer to the the question: Why Furry Boots City ? the following explanation is from the Scotsman of 21st June 1995: “Several, thousand that is, readers have asked why Aberdeen is sometimes referred to as furry boot city. The answer is a question: “Furry boot y’ frae?” 

The term also reached the ears of Kamal Ahmed writing in the Observer of 20th July 1997 and I make no excuse for including this extract in full: “Aberdeen is the only place I know where it snows on the beach. It’s known as Furry Boots City, but this has nothing to do with the clothes people wear. ... The moniker refers to the greeting accorded strangers, ‘Furry boots ya fae?’ Which means, ‘Whereabouts are you from?’”

The name seems to be here to stay, however, as the following from the Scottish Express of 24th September 2015 shows: “In contrast, I may say, to all you belly-aching Borderer and fikes from Furry Boots City.”

Scots Word of the Week is written by Pauline Cairns Speitel of Scottish Language Dictionaries 9 Coates Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 7AL 0131 220 1294,  www.scotsdictionaries.org.uk, mail@scotsdictionaries.org.uk.