E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Unco
has two meanings: As an adjective it means unknown, strange, unusual; but as an adverb it means very—as unco good, unco glad, etc. The “unco guid” are the pinchbeck saints, too good by half.
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“The race of the ‘unco guid’ is not yet quite extinct in Scotland.”—A Daily Journal.
