Scottish Word of the Day: Fash

‘FASH, dinna fash yersel’ – Fash has two main meanings; one being not to get annoyed by a situation, and the other being not to inconvenience yourself with something or someone.

For example, ‘dinna fash yersel, it was an accident,’ meaning not to get annoyed over something accidental, and ‘dinna fash yersel wi’ cooking, we’ll go oot fur a meal,’ meaning not to hassle oneself with cooking a meal. Uses of the word in Scots have been recorded as early as the sixteenth century, and appears to be derived from the medieval French verb ‘fascher.’ Although not as common as some other Scottish words and phrases, it is still used occasionally, and was in fact used in a comment piece in The Scotsman in 2003 about labelling groceries with Scottish terms: “Dinna fash, Scottish supermarkets could have signs saying tatties, neeps, sybies, kail and cebbok.”