Scottish Word of the Week: Stramash

The word Stramash is used to describe a noisy commotion or an uproar.

Scotland fans celebrate a famous win over England at Wembley in 1977

The basic ingredients of a stramash, include noise and confusion, often involving a group of people in situations where there is anger, sometimes violence and often alcohol.

Stramash is most likely to be used to describe a fight of some sort: “That was some stramash outside the pub last night!”

Stramash, like many Scottish slang words is often used in the north of England and has even extended its range of influence to become a prevalent word in the commentating of football, hardly surprising given that the ingredients necessary for a stramash are often present on the pitch.

The origins of the word are not exactly known, although there is some suggestion that it may have derived from the old French word ‘escarmoche’ meaning a skirmish.