Dinna Fash

Catherine in Battle Creek, Michigan, saw a bumper sticker with the Scots phrase Dinna fash, meaning “Don’t worry.” Dinna in this phrase means “don’t” and fash incomes from a French verb fâcher, meaning “to make angry.” Another version is Dinna fash yourself. Also, to fash one’s thumb means to “trouble oneself,” and fashious describes something or someone “vexing” or “troublesome.” A wealth of information about these terms is available online as the Dictionaries of the Scots Language website. This is part of a complete episode.

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