boorach

Scots

Alternative forms

• bourach, bourock, boorock

Etymology 1

From Scottish Gaelic bùrach (“digging; earthworks; disorder”). The semantic development, already in Gaelic and continued in Scots, seems to go from digging, to digging a mound or trench, to a mess. The sense of mess or confusion presumably comes from the idea of disturbing the earth by digging, or from the confusion of things being thrown in a heap. In the sense of chaotic incompetence, the word enjoyed an upsurge in popularity in 2019 after being used several times in parliament.

Noun

boorach

1. mound
2. mess, guddle

Descendants

• Scots clusterboorach

Etymology 2

Some sources link this with etymology 1, a stone cottage being an extension of earthworks. Others derive it from Scots bour (“room”), from Old English bur (cf. modern English bower) and -ock.

Noun

boorach

1. humble or inadequate cottage (now mainly Angus)