Showing posts with label stairheid rammy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stairheid rammy. Show all posts

Wednesday, 7 January 2009

Word of the day

Those of my readers (thank you, Rebecca) who have read A Snowball in hell (2008), Christopher Brookmyre's most recent novel, will know that The Sacred art of stealing is a funnier and perhaps better novel, although the two novels do share several major characters. What did puzzle me was the expression (and today's word) "Alakazamy, stairheid rammy", a favourite incantation of the lead character. According to Sharon White, in her article "The usage of too many metaphors and metonymy can make your paper less effective" published in Easyarticles, stairheid is a metaphor for face to face, and rammy is a violent disturbance or free for all. Or you can go to the source, and look it up the Dictionary of the Scots Language.

Easyarticles is worth looking at too. And yes CW, you definitely do pronounce it with a Scottish accent - a Glasgow accent.