Whiteout: new Scottish thesaurus has 421 words for snow

From 'feefle' to 'flindrikin', Scottish words for the white stuff put longstanding Inuit claim of 50 words for snow in the shade

The claim that the Inuit have 50 words for snow has endured for decades, but it now looks as if the Scots have beaten that figure. Researchers on a new Scots thesaurus say they have found more than 400 Scots words for the white stuff, from "feefle" to "flindrikin", "spitters" to "snaw-pouther".

Academics compiling the first Historical Thesaurus of Scots, which will include every word in the Scots language from earliest records until today, claim they have found 421 Scots words for snow. Other examples include "snaw" and "sneesl", meaning to begin to rain or snow, and "skelf", a large snowflake.