Ye're like a bad liver—the last day there's aye maist to do wi' ye.
Ye're like a hen on a het girdle.
Ye're like an ill shilling—ye'll come back again.
Jocularly addressed to a person who is about to go away.
Ye're like a singed cat—better than ye're bonny.
Ye're like a Lauderdale bawbee, as bad as bad can be.
"The obnoxious Duke of Lauderdale, who was at the head of affairs in Scotland's 'persecuting times,' had, it appears, a principal hand in some detested coinage. The bawbee, or halfpenny so issued, soon became base money, and these Lauderdale bawbees were branded with a bad name."—G. Henderson.
Ye're like a rotten nit—no worth cracking for the kernel.
Ye're like Macfarlane's geese—ye hae mair mind o' your play than your meat.
"Macfarlane (of that ilk) had a house and garden upon the island of Inch-Tavoe. Here James VI. was on one occasion regaled by the chieftain. His majesty had been previously much amused by the geese pursuing each other on the loch. But when one, which had been brought to table, was found to be tough and ill fed, James observed, 'That Macfarlane's geese liked their play better than their meat,'—a proverb which has been current ever since."—Note to The Monastery.