Scottish Word of the Day: Brammer

Thought to be a relatively new addition to the Scots tongue, ‘brammer’ nevertheless has ancient roots, as it is said to be derived from the name of the Hindu God Brahma, one of the most important Gods in the faith.

Used to describe something that’s really good, its usage is fairly sparse - possibly due to its relative newness. It can also be used as a noun in some cases, e.g. that yin’s a brammer.

As is the case with a lot of Scots dialect, certain words are confined to one area of the country, or in some cases, the same word has a different meaning in different places. ‘Brammer’ is one such word, as it seems to be predominantly West of Scotland dialect.

Whilst there are plenty of other words used to describe something that’s really good - for example, a ‘belter’, ‘brammer’ still has its uses.

Its appearance in popular Scots comedy programmes such as Jonathan Watson’s ‘Only an Excuse,’ in which he lampoons various footballing personalities, has helped spread its usage beyond the West - although intriguingly the first use of ‘brammer’ was during Watson’s send-up of Perth-born TV and radio personality Stuart Cosgrove. Make of that what you will.