The other day I heard a girl from 'Sarf London' from the band Stooshe explaining that their chosen name derives from the word
'Stoosh'; apparently urban slang for something expensive (amongst other definitions which are still disturbing me). Now I feel compelled
to expound on this (oh no, not again they cried).
Having lived in Scotland most of my life, I should point out
to visitors that if they are talking to locals about a ‘stooshie’ (stushie) in
the context of "a girl who thinks she's nicer than she is", they will almost certainly be
faced with a blank stare as the word has quite a different meaning North of the
Border. Here a ‘stooshie’ is a “commotion”, typically used in the context ‘create
a stooshie’, ‘cause a bit of a stooshie’ or ‘make a wee stooshie’.
‘Stramash’, which has a similar meaning (officially
described as “a disturbance, a noisy racket”) is possibly a little better known
beyond Caledonia’s fair shores and has its origins on the football field, but
has now passed into the vernacular. ‘Stramash’ would typically be
contextualised as ‘quite a stramash’ and carry more weight than a ‘stooshie’.
An example by way of illumination. If you steal a Scotsman’s
pitch in a London shop doorway with your own ‘Hungry and Homeless’ sign, you
are likely to ‘create a bit of a ‘stooshie’ – don’t believe me, try it for
yourself! If you then press on and steal his bottle of Buckie there will be ‘quite
a Stramash’ – don’t ever try this without a large adult and an ambulance standing by!
