Scots word of the week

25 years ago

Sleaze allegations reached the heart of Government yesterday with the announcement of an emergency debate today over accusations that a minister tried to influence an investigation into cash for questions claims. Speaker Better Boothroyd sanctioned the debate into charges that Mr David Willets, when a whip attempted to sway the select committee inquiry. MPS are expected to approve an inquiry by the Standards and Privileges Committee .

STAPPIT FOU

THIS wee phrase doesn’t feature strongly in the Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL), with only one comment from Ayrshire in 1993: “the cupboard is stappit fou”.

Early evidence, however, shows that the phrase has been around for a very long time, as in this from the Aberdeen People’s Journal of October 1907: “An’ weel I raicht think on oor puir auld mither tongue has been slighted by a o’ wheen glaiket an’ menseless sumphs, wi’ their heids that stappit fu’ o’ their new-fangled whigmaleeries that there’s nae room for guid auld fashioned hamely sense”. Yes, the debate on the Scots Language is nothing new.

By the 21st century the phrase is being used to describe the difficulties one can have with modern technology: “With more than a little help from my great nephews and great nieces, I have been able to join the world of MP3 and itunes. My computer is now stappit fu (to use a technical term) of music”. (The Herald September 2006).

For me, personally, the phrase is nearly always to do with food or drink; to quote the DSL, “stuffed, replete, gorged”. And there are plenty of recent examples, as in this from the Press and Journal of November 2019: “Again, stappit foo fin oot for lunch at a country placie an leavin some maet o ma plate wis tell’t I see ye’ve lair’t on yer puddin.”

Scots Word of the Week is written by Pauline Cairns Speitel, Dictionaries of the Scots Language, https://dsl.ac.uk.

1793: Marie Antoinette, Queen of France as wife of Louis XVI, was convicted of treason and guillotined in Paris.

1813: Napoleon’s forces were defeated by an alliance of Austrian, Prussian, Russian, and Swedish troops in the Battle of Leipzig, the largest battle in Europe prior to the First World War.

1846: An anaesthetic was successfully used for the first time at the Massachusetts General Hospital where dentist William Morton used diethyl ether before removing a tumour from a man’s jaw.

1847: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte was published under the pseudonym, Currer Bell.

1854: Oscar Wilde, pictured, was born in Dublin.

1881: The Sunday People was published for the first time.

1902: The first detention centre for young offenders was opened at the village of Borstal, Kent.

1946: The Nuremberg executions began. They included von Ribbentrop, Rosenberg and Streicher. 1958: Blue Peter started on BBC TV. The presenters were Leila Williams and Christopher Trace. 1964: Harold Wilson became prime minister of a Labour government which won a general election with a majority of four. 1968: American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave Black Power salutes during the awards ceremony for the men’s 200 metres race at the Mexico City Olympics. They were later ordered to leave the Games.

1978: Karol Józef Wojtyła of Poland was elected Pope. He assumed the name John Paul II and was the first non-italian pontiff in 455 years.

Birthdays

Angela Lansbury, actress, 96; Peter Bowles, actor, 85; Terry Griffiths, former snooker player and coach, 74; Tim Robbins, actor, 63; Gary Kemp, actor/musician (Spandau Ballet), 62; Flea (Michael Peter Balzary), rock bassist (Red Hot Chili Peppers), 59; Davina Mccall, pictured, TV presenter, 54.