Tag Archives: fantoosh

Oxford English Dictionary adds Scots words

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The Guardian reported on some new words which have been added into the Oxford English dictionary recently and quite a few of them are Scottish. You can read the article here.

Apparently members of the public were asked to send in words to the OED that they thought deserved to be included in the new edition. I knew nothing about this but luckily some of my favourite Scots words now appear – such as fantoosh, bidie-in and sitooterie.

I’m happy that Scots words are being taken up by people living elsewhere, it’s far better than them dying out which was a possibility back in the days when children used to be told off by teachers for using Scots words and phrases.

Scottish words: fantoosh

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You don’t hear the word fantoosh all that often nowadays but I think it is a great word and I use it whenever I can.

If something or someone is being described as being fantoosh it means that they, or it, is overdressed, ultra fashionable, over-ornamented, too fancy. Just downright over the top.

I always think that this word should be of French derivation as quite a lot of Scottish words are, due to the influence of the French people who came to Edinburgh when Mary, Queen of Scots came back from France as a young widow. There is a part of Edinburgh which is still called Little France, however I can’t find any evidence that it derives from French.

I do think that fantoosh is quite presbyterian though as I’ve always heard it used in a slightly disapproving way. It’s the feeling that anything too fancy must be sinful. It’s the influence of Calvinism I suppose.

Anyway, I really like fantoosh and I’d hate it to die out, although I suppose if you were in America it might sound a bit rude to some people as it’s almost like two words for bum (butt) spliced together.

That might make it all the more desirable to use though, just for a laugh.