“If I heaver, yea I know I’m gonna be - I’m gonna be the man who’s a heaverin’ to you.” This is from the song The Proclaimers -I 'm gonna be (500 Miles) .
What does heaver mean? (My spelling might be wrong.)
Any Scotsmen/women out there?
Most websites list the lyrics as “haver,” defined as “to hem and haw (Chiefly British).”
It means “dithering”.
Well, IANAS, but when I googled the lyrics, I came up with haver …
It does mean “to dither”, but in the context of the song it means “make small talk” or “talk rubbish”, basically.
There’s a punk cover version, by Down By Law, in which they sing:
And if I haver, whatever that means
*Yeah, I know I’m gonna be… *
This American always heard this as “heave up,” as in vomit. I never thought that was out of place in a modern love song.
From OED:
haver (v.)
1. intr. To talk garrulously and foolishly; to talk nonsense.
1721 [see below]. 1816 SCOTT Antiquary xliv, He just havered on about it to make the mair of Sir Arthur. 1825 BROCKETT N.C. Gloss., Haver, Haiver, to talk foolishly, to speak without thought. 1881 CHESNEY Private Secret. II. xix. 148 Hilda shuddered as her father havered on.
2. Orig. Sc. dial. but now in general English use: to hesitate, to be slow in deciding.
1866 W. GREGOR Dial. Banffshire 73 Haiver, to hesitate and make much ado about anything. 1955 J. BAYLEY In Another Country 75 It was a classic moment for polite havering, but the sensible girl did not haver: he was holding the front door open and she climbed in without more ado. 1957 Times 14 Nov. 13/3 No doubt the Government, in deciding to institute an inquiry…, might appear at first sight to have been havering and shifting their ground.