Scottish and Northern English dialect word meaning false, deceitful, or unreliable.
From Old French fals, from Latin falsus meaning 'deceived' or 'made false.' The Scottish spelling preserves an older pronunciation while keeping the same meaning as modern English 'false.'
Robert Burns and other Scottish poets loved using 'fause' because it sounded sharper and more contemptuous than English 'false'—it was the perfect word for calling someone out in a tavern!
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