fantouche

adj. fancy, extravagant, frivolous. Also fantoosh. Subjects: English, Scots, Scotland

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Citations: 1947 Dictionary of the Scots Language: There are quite a number who consider it more fantoosh to do their shopping in Perth. 1996 Sheila McGregor Usenet: soc.culture.celtic (May 25) “Re: Cernunous”: It seems to me very like the situation in England; Scots is closer to the short-word phase, having lost all its fantoosh expressions when it lost its Court and fashionable people in the 1600s. 2000 [journeytox@aol.com (Kim)] Usenet: alt.tv.x-files (Aug. 10) “Re: R: News from Locarno?”: We’ll watch some Mitch and later, I’ll try out my sister-in-law’s fantouche recipe on you. *2003 Simon Taylor Scottish Place-Name Society (Scotland) (Aug. 5) “About the Scottish Place-Name Society”: Onomastics is the “leirit or fantouche” word for the study of names of all kinds, especially personal and place-names.

Posted 12 Jul 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

You can also find the word used in “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency,“ where there is a reference to the “fantouche Republic of Bophuthatswana.“

by goethe girl 20 Jun 06, 0335 GMT

That’s so funny- I’m reading ‘The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’ right now, and that reference you made is exactly the reason I’m on this site now- looking for the meaning of the word ‘fantouche’! :)

by Maria 11 Jan 07, 1253 GMT

Me too! How strange…

by Martin 27 Jan 07, 0916 GMT

And me! Doesn’t it occur anywhere else?

Gösta

by Gösta Luthman 10 Feb 07, 1005 GMT

It’s July 07 now and I too have just finished “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.“ Thanks, must be a common Scottish word. Alexander McCall Smith is Scottish.

by mary 17 Jul 07, 1207 GMT

My first experience of this word(see previous messages) made me think it had a French origin. Fantoche means puppet in french , so the context would seem to imply that the republic of Bophuthatswana was a puppet state “set up by its masters in Pretoria”.(page 209)
Anybody else agree?

by Linda Sunderland 01 Sep 07, 0941 GMT

I’m here because my shorter OED failed me in this instance!
In the context of the passage in the book (The No.1 ..., which I’m thoroughly enjoying) Linda’s suggestion seems to make more sense than the definition above.
However, given that it’s supposedly Mma Ramotswe’s thought, the word (regardless of the definition) just seems to be a bit of cheek on McCall Smith’s part. Good on him.

by Alec 10 Jan 08, 0902 GMT

It is an unusual experience to find myself as a dictionary reference. I reckon Linda Sutherland is correct in thinking it is French but it is rather related to Fr. fantaisie ‘imaginativeness’ . So fantoosh would be ‘marvellous, fancy, fun, novel, whimsical, unconventional’. Certain words of French were introduced into Scottish speech in the 16th (?) century. Fantouche can be linked with other fancy novelties such as ashets (Fr. assiette).

by Sheila McGregor 01 Aug 08, 1054 GMT