What is the meaning of 'clusterbourach'?











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10
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In recent days I've seen the word 'clusterbourach' come up to describe the Brexit process. For example, in the National:




The deal was, he said later, not just a bourach, but a “clusterbourach”.




I've tried looking up this word online but have been unable to find a definition (for example, in the Online Scots Dictionary). I'm guessing from context that it means 'a mess' or something similar. Still, it would be good to get a proper definition.



What does this word mean?






meaning scottish-english







share|improve this question






















  • We're way past clusterburach, most commentators agree we are now well into omniburach territory. I put great faith in my local MSP's scots/gaelic/english vocabulary.
    – Spagirl
    8 hours ago










  • There is a common vulgar phrase in English (which originated with the military), "cluster-F***". It's a local play on that.
    – Fattie
    7 hours ago










  • Omnibùrach is clearly a Scottish version of omnishambles. However, I think we are well past omnibùrach. I think we are past all vocabulary. It is also interesting that politicians now think it appropriate to use the Gaelic spelling with the ù. How times have changed.
    – David Robinson
    1 hour ago















up vote
10
down vote

favorite












In recent days I've seen the word 'clusterbourach' come up to describe the Brexit process. For example, in the National:




The deal was, he said later, not just a bourach, but a “clusterbourach”.




I've tried looking up this word online but have been unable to find a definition (for example, in the Online Scots Dictionary). I'm guessing from context that it means 'a mess' or something similar. Still, it would be good to get a proper definition.



What does this word mean?






meaning scottish-english







share|improve this question






















  • We're way past clusterburach, most commentators agree we are now well into omniburach territory. I put great faith in my local MSP's scots/gaelic/english vocabulary.
    – Spagirl
    8 hours ago










  • There is a common vulgar phrase in English (which originated with the military), "cluster-F***". It's a local play on that.
    – Fattie
    7 hours ago










  • Omnibùrach is clearly a Scottish version of omnishambles. However, I think we are well past omnibùrach. I think we are past all vocabulary. It is also interesting that politicians now think it appropriate to use the Gaelic spelling with the ù. How times have changed.
    – David Robinson
    1 hour ago













up vote
10
down vote

favorite









up vote
10
down vote

favorite











In recent days I've seen the word 'clusterbourach' come up to describe the Brexit process. For example, in the National:




The deal was, he said later, not just a bourach, but a “clusterbourach”.




I've tried looking up this word online but have been unable to find a definition (for example, in the Online Scots Dictionary). I'm guessing from context that it means 'a mess' or something similar. Still, it would be good to get a proper definition.



What does this word mean?






meaning scottish-english







share|improve this question













In recent days I've seen the word 'clusterbourach' come up to describe the Brexit process. For example, in the National:




The deal was, he said later, not just a bourach, but a “clusterbourach”.




I've tried looking up this word online but have been unable to find a definition (for example, in the Online Scots Dictionary). I'm guessing from context that it means 'a mess' or something similar. Still, it would be good to get a proper definition.



What does this word mean?






meaning scottish-english




meaning scottish-english






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 12 hours ago









The Dark Lord

1987




1987












  • We're way past clusterburach, most commentators agree we are now well into omniburach territory. I put great faith in my local MSP's scots/gaelic/english vocabulary.
    – Spagirl
    8 hours ago










  • There is a common vulgar phrase in English (which originated with the military), "cluster-F***". It's a local play on that.
    – Fattie
    7 hours ago










  • Omnibùrach is clearly a Scottish version of omnishambles. However, I think we are well past omnibùrach. I think we are past all vocabulary. It is also interesting that politicians now think it appropriate to use the Gaelic spelling with the ù. How times have changed.
    – David Robinson
    1 hour ago


















  • We're way past clusterburach, most commentators agree we are now well into omniburach territory. I put great faith in my local MSP's scots/gaelic/english vocabulary.
    – Spagirl
    8 hours ago










  • There is a common vulgar phrase in English (which originated with the military), "cluster-F***". It's a local play on that.
    – Fattie
    7 hours ago










  • Omnibùrach is clearly a Scottish version of omnishambles. However, I think we are well past omnibùrach. I think we are past all vocabulary. It is also interesting that politicians now think it appropriate to use the Gaelic spelling with the ù. How times have changed.
    – David Robinson
    1 hour ago
















We're way past clusterburach, most commentators agree we are now well into omniburach territory. I put great faith in my local MSP's scots/gaelic/english vocabulary.
– Spagirl
8 hours ago




We're way past clusterburach, most commentators agree we are now well into omniburach territory. I put great faith in my local MSP's scots/gaelic/english vocabulary.
– Spagirl
8 hours ago












There is a common vulgar phrase in English (which originated with the military), "cluster-F***". It's a local play on that.
– Fattie
7 hours ago




There is a common vulgar phrase in English (which originated with the military), "cluster-F***". It's a local play on that.
– Fattie
7 hours ago












Omnibùrach is clearly a Scottish version of omnishambles. However, I think we are well past omnibùrach. I think we are past all vocabulary. It is also interesting that politicians now think it appropriate to use the Gaelic spelling with the ù. How times have changed.
– David Robinson
1 hour ago




Omnibùrach is clearly a Scottish version of omnishambles. However, I think we are well past omnibùrach. I think we are past all vocabulary. It is also interesting that politicians now think it appropriate to use the Gaelic spelling with the ù. How times have changed.
– David Robinson
1 hour ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
13
down vote



accepted










The writer of this article is assuming the reader is familiar with a rather vulgar term, cluster fuck, given by M-W as:




a complex and utterly disordered and mismanaged situation : a muddled mess




I am not that familiar with the term bourach, but one of the meanings given in your own link is "mess," possibly deriving from the original meaning of a dwelling in a bad state of upkeep.



So the writer has made a slightly humorous attempt to bowdlerize his statement by replacing the vulgar portion of cluster fuck with something else. Whether the attempt worked and got the desired effect is another question.






share|improve this answer

















  • 1




    That makes total sense! I never considered clusterfuck as a source (although I am vaguely familiar with it). Would you take a stab at a definition, in the light of what you've said? For instance, would it be fair to describe the meaning of the quote in my question as "not just a mess but a total and utter mess"?
    – The Dark Lord
    11 hours ago






  • 2




    By the by, I don't think it necessarily has the effect of bowdlerising clusterfuck, rather of playfully making bourach more emphatic. If it does modify clusterfuck then it 'Scottishises' it, giving it a distinctive Scottish nature. Which suits the SNP down to the ground. I do at least know more about Scottish politics than I do about Scottish linguistics! I do rather like it as a phrase. Playful and mischeivous.
    – The Dark Lord
    11 hours ago










  • Responding to your first comment, yes, that paraphrases I nicely.
    – cobaltduck
    50 mins ago


















up vote
5
down vote













The more common spelling of this is




clusterburach




meaning something like an 'awful great big complicated mess'. It has been used commonly recently to describe the legal difficulties in Brexit negotiations.



An example usage from recent news:




Scotland does deserve better. No reasonable person looking at the clusterburach at Westminster this week can deny that.”




It of course is patterned after the much more pejorative/taboo 'clusterfuck', a big mess. The interesting part is that




'burach' is Scots Gaelic for 'mess.




(thanks Spagirl for the Scots dictionary link). So 'clusterburach' is two euphemism steps away from 'clusterfuck'.




Aside: there may be no trustworthy evidence for it but
'burach' may also mean 'duck', which may have been a multilingual rhyming euphemism (this is very questionable but entertaining). In other words, a cluster of ducks is not necessarily evocative of a terrible complication, but is associated by translation first and then by rhyming with a taboo word for 'a great big mess'. I have no evidence for this other than Google Translate, which is notoriously problematic for underrepresented languages like Irish, and idle, or rather motivated, speculation.






share|improve this answer



















  • 5




    I'm going to start using "clusterduck" in casual conversation until it turns into a thing
    – automaton
    9 hours ago






  • 1




    Do you have a source for 'Búrach' meaning duck? Dwelly has three pages of results for Gaelic duck-related words, but none of them resemble Búrach', likewise on learnGaelic. Also, can you expand on bourach being a 'minced oath'? The word is in common use in my part of the world to mean 'mess' and I've not previously been aware of its being a euphemism and certainly have no experience of it being in any way taboo.
    – Spagirl
    9 hours ago








  • 2




    @tmgr Im not a gael, but I do live in the Highlands and burach is commonly used to mean 'mess', both in the sense of fuck-up and general untidiness.Levels range from a 'bit of a bourach' to 'complete and utter bourach' (and the spelling is very flexible!) The original meaning seems to have been something to do with digging and turning soil, so the leap to untidiness and other kinds of messes seems quite natural.
    – Spagirl
    8 hours ago






  • 2




    @Mitch I understood you to be describing 'burach' as a minced oath, whereas it would be clusterburach that met the definition. I appreciate you adding the google translate link, but I suspect from the lack of evidence from other sources that mischievous boggarts have been meddling to create 'evidence' for the very etymology you go on to describe! As for whether burach means mess, given the scottish context for the use of cluster burach, you can probably leave Irish meanings out of the equation. This was a term generated in Scotland.
    – Spagirl
    7 hours ago








  • 2




    An old Scots Gaelic dictionary and grammar has: BURACH, bûr'-ăch, n. m. searching or turning up the earth; delving, digging. (Neil M'Alpine, A Pronouncing Gaelic Dictionary, 1883)
    – MetaEd♦
    6 hours ago













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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes








up vote
13
down vote



accepted










The writer of this article is assuming the reader is familiar with a rather vulgar term, cluster fuck, given by M-W as:




a complex and utterly disordered and mismanaged situation : a muddled mess




I am not that familiar with the term bourach, but one of the meanings given in your own link is "mess," possibly deriving from the original meaning of a dwelling in a bad state of upkeep.



So the writer has made a slightly humorous attempt to bowdlerize his statement by replacing the vulgar portion of cluster fuck with something else. Whether the attempt worked and got the desired effect is another question.






share|improve this answer

















  • 1




    That makes total sense! I never considered clusterfuck as a source (although I am vaguely familiar with it). Would you take a stab at a definition, in the light of what you've said? For instance, would it be fair to describe the meaning of the quote in my question as "not just a mess but a total and utter mess"?
    – The Dark Lord
    11 hours ago






  • 2




    By the by, I don't think it necessarily has the effect of bowdlerising clusterfuck, rather of playfully making bourach more emphatic. If it does modify clusterfuck then it 'Scottishises' it, giving it a distinctive Scottish nature. Which suits the SNP down to the ground. I do at least know more about Scottish politics than I do about Scottish linguistics! I do rather like it as a phrase. Playful and mischeivous.
    – The Dark Lord
    11 hours ago










  • Responding to your first comment, yes, that paraphrases I nicely.
    – cobaltduck
    50 mins ago















up vote
13
down vote



accepted










The writer of this article is assuming the reader is familiar with a rather vulgar term, cluster fuck, given by M-W as:




a complex and utterly disordered and mismanaged situation : a muddled mess




I am not that familiar with the term bourach, but one of the meanings given in your own link is "mess," possibly deriving from the original meaning of a dwelling in a bad state of upkeep.



So the writer has made a slightly humorous attempt to bowdlerize his statement by replacing the vulgar portion of cluster fuck with something else. Whether the attempt worked and got the desired effect is another question.






share|improve this answer

















  • 1




    That makes total sense! I never considered clusterfuck as a source (although I am vaguely familiar with it). Would you take a stab at a definition, in the light of what you've said? For instance, would it be fair to describe the meaning of the quote in my question as "not just a mess but a total and utter mess"?
    – The Dark Lord
    11 hours ago






  • 2




    By the by, I don't think it necessarily has the effect of bowdlerising clusterfuck, rather of playfully making bourach more emphatic. If it does modify clusterfuck then it 'Scottishises' it, giving it a distinctive Scottish nature. Which suits the SNP down to the ground. I do at least know more about Scottish politics than I do about Scottish linguistics! I do rather like it as a phrase. Playful and mischeivous.
    – The Dark Lord
    11 hours ago










  • Responding to your first comment, yes, that paraphrases I nicely.
    – cobaltduck
    50 mins ago













up vote
13
down vote



accepted







up vote
13
down vote



accepted






The writer of this article is assuming the reader is familiar with a rather vulgar term, cluster fuck, given by M-W as:




a complex and utterly disordered and mismanaged situation : a muddled mess




I am not that familiar with the term bourach, but one of the meanings given in your own link is "mess," possibly deriving from the original meaning of a dwelling in a bad state of upkeep.



So the writer has made a slightly humorous attempt to bowdlerize his statement by replacing the vulgar portion of cluster fuck with something else. Whether the attempt worked and got the desired effect is another question.






share|improve this answer












The writer of this article is assuming the reader is familiar with a rather vulgar term, cluster fuck, given by M-W as:




a complex and utterly disordered and mismanaged situation : a muddled mess




I am not that familiar with the term bourach, but one of the meanings given in your own link is "mess," possibly deriving from the original meaning of a dwelling in a bad state of upkeep.



So the writer has made a slightly humorous attempt to bowdlerize his statement by replacing the vulgar portion of cluster fuck with something else. Whether the attempt worked and got the desired effect is another question.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 12 hours ago









cobaltduck

11.5k13473




11.5k13473








  • 1




    That makes total sense! I never considered clusterfuck as a source (although I am vaguely familiar with it). Would you take a stab at a definition, in the light of what you've said? For instance, would it be fair to describe the meaning of the quote in my question as "not just a mess but a total and utter mess"?
    – The Dark Lord
    11 hours ago






  • 2




    By the by, I don't think it necessarily has the effect of bowdlerising clusterfuck, rather of playfully making bourach more emphatic. If it does modify clusterfuck then it 'Scottishises' it, giving it a distinctive Scottish nature. Which suits the SNP down to the ground. I do at least know more about Scottish politics than I do about Scottish linguistics! I do rather like it as a phrase. Playful and mischeivous.
    – The Dark Lord
    11 hours ago










  • Responding to your first comment, yes, that paraphrases I nicely.
    – cobaltduck
    50 mins ago














  • 1




    That makes total sense! I never considered clusterfuck as a source (although I am vaguely familiar with it). Would you take a stab at a definition, in the light of what you've said? For instance, would it be fair to describe the meaning of the quote in my question as "not just a mess but a total and utter mess"?
    – The Dark Lord
    11 hours ago






  • 2




    By the by, I don't think it necessarily has the effect of bowdlerising clusterfuck, rather of playfully making bourach more emphatic. If it does modify clusterfuck then it 'Scottishises' it, giving it a distinctive Scottish nature. Which suits the SNP down to the ground. I do at least know more about Scottish politics than I do about Scottish linguistics! I do rather like it as a phrase. Playful and mischeivous.
    – The Dark Lord
    11 hours ago










  • Responding to your first comment, yes, that paraphrases I nicely.
    – cobaltduck
    50 mins ago








1




1




That makes total sense! I never considered clusterfuck as a source (although I am vaguely familiar with it). Would you take a stab at a definition, in the light of what you've said? For instance, would it be fair to describe the meaning of the quote in my question as "not just a mess but a total and utter mess"?
– The Dark Lord
11 hours ago




That makes total sense! I never considered clusterfuck as a source (although I am vaguely familiar with it). Would you take a stab at a definition, in the light of what you've said? For instance, would it be fair to describe the meaning of the quote in my question as "not just a mess but a total and utter mess"?
– The Dark Lord
11 hours ago




2




2




By the by, I don't think it necessarily has the effect of bowdlerising clusterfuck, rather of playfully making bourach more emphatic. If it does modify clusterfuck then it 'Scottishises' it, giving it a distinctive Scottish nature. Which suits the SNP down to the ground. I do at least know more about Scottish politics than I do about Scottish linguistics! I do rather like it as a phrase. Playful and mischeivous.
– The Dark Lord
11 hours ago




By the by, I don't think it necessarily has the effect of bowdlerising clusterfuck, rather of playfully making bourach more emphatic. If it does modify clusterfuck then it 'Scottishises' it, giving it a distinctive Scottish nature. Which suits the SNP down to the ground. I do at least know more about Scottish politics than I do about Scottish linguistics! I do rather like it as a phrase. Playful and mischeivous.
– The Dark Lord
11 hours ago












Responding to your first comment, yes, that paraphrases I nicely.
– cobaltduck
50 mins ago




Responding to your first comment, yes, that paraphrases I nicely.
– cobaltduck
50 mins ago












up vote
5
down vote













The more common spelling of this is




clusterburach




meaning something like an 'awful great big complicated mess'. It has been used commonly recently to describe the legal difficulties in Brexit negotiations.



An example usage from recent news:




Scotland does deserve better. No reasonable person looking at the clusterburach at Westminster this week can deny that.”




It of course is patterned after the much more pejorative/taboo 'clusterfuck', a big mess. The interesting part is that




'burach' is Scots Gaelic for 'mess.




(thanks Spagirl for the Scots dictionary link). So 'clusterburach' is two euphemism steps away from 'clusterfuck'.




Aside: there may be no trustworthy evidence for it but
'burach' may also mean 'duck', which may have been a multilingual rhyming euphemism (this is very questionable but entertaining). In other words, a cluster of ducks is not necessarily evocative of a terrible complication, but is associated by translation first and then by rhyming with a taboo word for 'a great big mess'. I have no evidence for this other than Google Translate, which is notoriously problematic for underrepresented languages like Irish, and idle, or rather motivated, speculation.






share|improve this answer



















  • 5




    I'm going to start using "clusterduck" in casual conversation until it turns into a thing
    – automaton
    9 hours ago






  • 1




    Do you have a source for 'Búrach' meaning duck? Dwelly has three pages of results for Gaelic duck-related words, but none of them resemble Búrach', likewise on learnGaelic. Also, can you expand on bourach being a 'minced oath'? The word is in common use in my part of the world to mean 'mess' and I've not previously been aware of its being a euphemism and certainly have no experience of it being in any way taboo.
    – Spagirl
    9 hours ago








  • 2




    @tmgr Im not a gael, but I do live in the Highlands and burach is commonly used to mean 'mess', both in the sense of fuck-up and general untidiness.Levels range from a 'bit of a bourach' to 'complete and utter bourach' (and the spelling is very flexible!) The original meaning seems to have been something to do with digging and turning soil, so the leap to untidiness and other kinds of messes seems quite natural.
    – Spagirl
    8 hours ago






  • 2




    @Mitch I understood you to be describing 'burach' as a minced oath, whereas it would be clusterburach that met the definition. I appreciate you adding the google translate link, but I suspect from the lack of evidence from other sources that mischievous boggarts have been meddling to create 'evidence' for the very etymology you go on to describe! As for whether burach means mess, given the scottish context for the use of cluster burach, you can probably leave Irish meanings out of the equation. This was a term generated in Scotland.
    – Spagirl
    7 hours ago








  • 2




    An old Scots Gaelic dictionary and grammar has: BURACH, bûr'-ăch, n. m. searching or turning up the earth; delving, digging. (Neil M'Alpine, A Pronouncing Gaelic Dictionary, 1883)
    – MetaEd♦
    6 hours ago

















up vote
5
down vote













The more common spelling of this is




clusterburach




meaning something like an 'awful great big complicated mess'. It has been used commonly recently to describe the legal difficulties in Brexit negotiations.



An example usage from recent news:




Scotland does deserve better. No reasonable person looking at the clusterburach at Westminster this week can deny that.”




It of course is patterned after the much more pejorative/taboo 'clusterfuck', a big mess. The interesting part is that




'burach' is Scots Gaelic for 'mess.




(thanks Spagirl for the Scots dictionary link). So 'clusterburach' is two euphemism steps away from 'clusterfuck'.




Aside: there may be no trustworthy evidence for it but
'burach' may also mean 'duck', which may have been a multilingual rhyming euphemism (this is very questionable but entertaining). In other words, a cluster of ducks is not necessarily evocative of a terrible complication, but is associated by translation first and then by rhyming with a taboo word for 'a great big mess'. I have no evidence for this other than Google Translate, which is notoriously problematic for underrepresented languages like Irish, and idle, or rather motivated, speculation.






share|improve this answer



















  • 5




    I'm going to start using "clusterduck" in casual conversation until it turns into a thing
    – automaton
    9 hours ago






  • 1




    Do you have a source for 'Búrach' meaning duck? Dwelly has three pages of results for Gaelic duck-related words, but none of them resemble Búrach', likewise on learnGaelic. Also, can you expand on bourach being a 'minced oath'? The word is in common use in my part of the world to mean 'mess' and I've not previously been aware of its being a euphemism and certainly have no experience of it being in any way taboo.
    – Spagirl
    9 hours ago








  • 2




    @tmgr Im not a gael, but I do live in the Highlands and burach is commonly used to mean 'mess', both in the sense of fuck-up and general untidiness.Levels range from a 'bit of a bourach' to 'complete and utter bourach' (and the spelling is very flexible!) The original meaning seems to have been something to do with digging and turning soil, so the leap to untidiness and other kinds of messes seems quite natural.
    – Spagirl
    8 hours ago






  • 2




    @Mitch I understood you to be describing 'burach' as a minced oath, whereas it would be clusterburach that met the definition. I appreciate you adding the google translate link, but I suspect from the lack of evidence from other sources that mischievous boggarts have been meddling to create 'evidence' for the very etymology you go on to describe! As for whether burach means mess, given the scottish context for the use of cluster burach, you can probably leave Irish meanings out of the equation. This was a term generated in Scotland.
    – Spagirl
    7 hours ago








  • 2




    An old Scots Gaelic dictionary and grammar has: BURACH, bûr'-ăch, n. m. searching or turning up the earth; delving, digging. (Neil M'Alpine, A Pronouncing Gaelic Dictionary, 1883)
    – MetaEd♦
    6 hours ago















up vote
5
down vote










up vote
5
down vote









The more common spelling of this is




clusterburach




meaning something like an 'awful great big complicated mess'. It has been used commonly recently to describe the legal difficulties in Brexit negotiations.



An example usage from recent news:




Scotland does deserve better. No reasonable person looking at the clusterburach at Westminster this week can deny that.”




It of course is patterned after the much more pejorative/taboo 'clusterfuck', a big mess. The interesting part is that




'burach' is Scots Gaelic for 'mess.




(thanks Spagirl for the Scots dictionary link). So 'clusterburach' is two euphemism steps away from 'clusterfuck'.




Aside: there may be no trustworthy evidence for it but
'burach' may also mean 'duck', which may have been a multilingual rhyming euphemism (this is very questionable but entertaining). In other words, a cluster of ducks is not necessarily evocative of a terrible complication, but is associated by translation first and then by rhyming with a taboo word for 'a great big mess'. I have no evidence for this other than Google Translate, which is notoriously problematic for underrepresented languages like Irish, and idle, or rather motivated, speculation.






share|improve this answer














The more common spelling of this is




clusterburach




meaning something like an 'awful great big complicated mess'. It has been used commonly recently to describe the legal difficulties in Brexit negotiations.



An example usage from recent news:




Scotland does deserve better. No reasonable person looking at the clusterburach at Westminster this week can deny that.”




It of course is patterned after the much more pejorative/taboo 'clusterfuck', a big mess. The interesting part is that




'burach' is Scots Gaelic for 'mess.




(thanks Spagirl for the Scots dictionary link). So 'clusterburach' is two euphemism steps away from 'clusterfuck'.




Aside: there may be no trustworthy evidence for it but
'burach' may also mean 'duck', which may have been a multilingual rhyming euphemism (this is very questionable but entertaining). In other words, a cluster of ducks is not necessarily evocative of a terrible complication, but is associated by translation first and then by rhyming with a taboo word for 'a great big mess'. I have no evidence for this other than Google Translate, which is notoriously problematic for underrepresented languages like Irish, and idle, or rather motivated, speculation.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 6 hours ago

























answered 10 hours ago









Mitch

49.7k1599207




49.7k1599207








  • 5




    I'm going to start using "clusterduck" in casual conversation until it turns into a thing
    – automaton
    9 hours ago






  • 1




    Do you have a source for 'Búrach' meaning duck? Dwelly has three pages of results for Gaelic duck-related words, but none of them resemble Búrach', likewise on learnGaelic. Also, can you expand on bourach being a 'minced oath'? The word is in common use in my part of the world to mean 'mess' and I've not previously been aware of its being a euphemism and certainly have no experience of it being in any way taboo.
    – Spagirl
    9 hours ago








  • 2




    @tmgr Im not a gael, but I do live in the Highlands and burach is commonly used to mean 'mess', both in the sense of fuck-up and general untidiness.Levels range from a 'bit of a bourach' to 'complete and utter bourach' (and the spelling is very flexible!) The original meaning seems to have been something to do with digging and turning soil, so the leap to untidiness and other kinds of messes seems quite natural.
    – Spagirl
    8 hours ago






  • 2




    @Mitch I understood you to be describing 'burach' as a minced oath, whereas it would be clusterburach that met the definition. I appreciate you adding the google translate link, but I suspect from the lack of evidence from other sources that mischievous boggarts have been meddling to create 'evidence' for the very etymology you go on to describe! As for whether burach means mess, given the scottish context for the use of cluster burach, you can probably leave Irish meanings out of the equation. This was a term generated in Scotland.
    – Spagirl
    7 hours ago








  • 2




    An old Scots Gaelic dictionary and grammar has: BURACH, bûr'-ăch, n. m. searching or turning up the earth; delving, digging. (Neil M'Alpine, A Pronouncing Gaelic Dictionary, 1883)
    – MetaEd♦
    6 hours ago
















  • 5




    I'm going to start using "clusterduck" in casual conversation until it turns into a thing
    – automaton
    9 hours ago






  • 1




    Do you have a source for 'Búrach' meaning duck? Dwelly has three pages of results for Gaelic duck-related words, but none of them resemble Búrach', likewise on learnGaelic. Also, can you expand on bourach being a 'minced oath'? The word is in common use in my part of the world to mean 'mess' and I've not previously been aware of its being a euphemism and certainly have no experience of it being in any way taboo.
    – Spagirl
    9 hours ago








  • 2




    @tmgr Im not a gael, but I do live in the Highlands and burach is commonly used to mean 'mess', both in the sense of fuck-up and general untidiness.Levels range from a 'bit of a bourach' to 'complete and utter bourach' (and the spelling is very flexible!) The original meaning seems to have been something to do with digging and turning soil, so the leap to untidiness and other kinds of messes seems quite natural.
    – Spagirl
    8 hours ago






  • 2




    @Mitch I understood you to be describing 'burach' as a minced oath, whereas it would be clusterburach that met the definition. I appreciate you adding the google translate link, but I suspect from the lack of evidence from other sources that mischievous boggarts have been meddling to create 'evidence' for the very etymology you go on to describe! As for whether burach means mess, given the scottish context for the use of cluster burach, you can probably leave Irish meanings out of the equation. This was a term generated in Scotland.
    – Spagirl
    7 hours ago








  • 2




    An old Scots Gaelic dictionary and grammar has: BURACH, bûr'-ăch, n. m. searching or turning up the earth; delving, digging. (Neil M'Alpine, A Pronouncing Gaelic Dictionary, 1883)
    – MetaEd♦
    6 hours ago










5




5




I'm going to start using "clusterduck" in casual conversation until it turns into a thing
– automaton
9 hours ago




I'm going to start using "clusterduck" in casual conversation until it turns into a thing
– automaton
9 hours ago




1




1




Do you have a source for 'Búrach' meaning duck? Dwelly has three pages of results for Gaelic duck-related words, but none of them resemble Búrach', likewise on learnGaelic. Also, can you expand on bourach being a 'minced oath'? The word is in common use in my part of the world to mean 'mess' and I've not previously been aware of its being a euphemism and certainly have no experience of it being in any way taboo.
– Spagirl
9 hours ago






Do you have a source for 'Búrach' meaning duck? Dwelly has three pages of results for Gaelic duck-related words, but none of them resemble Búrach', likewise on learnGaelic. Also, can you expand on bourach being a 'minced oath'? The word is in common use in my part of the world to mean 'mess' and I've not previously been aware of its being a euphemism and certainly have no experience of it being in any way taboo.
– Spagirl
9 hours ago






2




2




@tmgr Im not a gael, but I do live in the Highlands and burach is commonly used to mean 'mess', both in the sense of fuck-up and general untidiness.Levels range from a 'bit of a bourach' to 'complete and utter bourach' (and the spelling is very flexible!) The original meaning seems to have been something to do with digging and turning soil, so the leap to untidiness and other kinds of messes seems quite natural.
– Spagirl
8 hours ago




@tmgr Im not a gael, but I do live in the Highlands and burach is commonly used to mean 'mess', both in the sense of fuck-up and general untidiness.Levels range from a 'bit of a bourach' to 'complete and utter bourach' (and the spelling is very flexible!) The original meaning seems to have been something to do with digging and turning soil, so the leap to untidiness and other kinds of messes seems quite natural.
– Spagirl
8 hours ago




2




2




@Mitch I understood you to be describing 'burach' as a minced oath, whereas it would be clusterburach that met the definition. I appreciate you adding the google translate link, but I suspect from the lack of evidence from other sources that mischievous boggarts have been meddling to create 'evidence' for the very etymology you go on to describe! As for whether burach means mess, given the scottish context for the use of cluster burach, you can probably leave Irish meanings out of the equation. This was a term generated in Scotland.
– Spagirl
7 hours ago






@Mitch I understood you to be describing 'burach' as a minced oath, whereas it would be clusterburach that met the definition. I appreciate you adding the google translate link, but I suspect from the lack of evidence from other sources that mischievous boggarts have been meddling to create 'evidence' for the very etymology you go on to describe! As for whether burach means mess, given the scottish context for the use of cluster burach, you can probably leave Irish meanings out of the equation. This was a term generated in Scotland.
– Spagirl
7 hours ago






2




2




An old Scots Gaelic dictionary and grammar has: BURACH, bûr'-ăch, n. m. searching or turning up the earth; delving, digging. (Neil M'Alpine, A Pronouncing Gaelic Dictionary, 1883)
– MetaEd♦
6 hours ago






An old Scots Gaelic dictionary and grammar has: BURACH, bûr'-ăch, n. m. searching or turning up the earth; delving, digging. (Neil M'Alpine, A Pronouncing Gaelic Dictionary, 1883)
– MetaEd♦
6 hours ago




















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