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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

FIZZ, v., n. Also fiz. Sc. usages:

I. v. 1. To make a fuss, to bustle; to be in a great rage (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Gen.Sc. Vbl.n. fizzen, wrath, rage.Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 52:
Het-skin'd fock to flyting soon begin; The Frenchman fizz'd, and first wad foot the field.Fif. 1814 W. Tennant Trottin' Nanny xi.:
Weel thou kent to cool her fizzen.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry 12:
East Anster burghers . . . Were fraithin' at the mou', and fizzin' At beads and halie water.

‡2. Phr. fizzin' deevil, a pellet of wet gunpowder set alight as a kind of firework (Bnff.², Abd.², Ags.¹⁷ 1942).Abd. 1882 W. Forsyth Writings 159:
There was firing of pistols and letting off what the laddies called fizzin' deevils.

II. n. A bustle, commotion, a state of great excitement or rage (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Gen.Sc. Also in Eng. dial.Abd. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 107:
Douce wife, quoth I, what means the fizz.Rnf. 1813 G. MacIndoe Wandering Muse 33:
The roar o' tap-rooms, an the rants o' liquor — In sic a fiz my life I wadna spen'.Ags. 1820 A. Balfour Contemplation 264:
Stools, water-tubs, an' washin' skeels, A' got a dreel, in Katharine's fizzes.Dmf. 1836 Carlyle Letters to his Youngest Sister (ed. Copeland 1899) 59:
What a fizz I am kept in with one thing and another!Edb. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick 64:
Ye needna be in sic a fizz. I'm no' sayin onythin against you or your minister neither.Sh. 1897 Shetland News (2 Oct.):
Dü wis in sic a fizz for me ta come, 'at I couldna wait ta ken.

Hence deriv. adj. fizzy, bustling, fussy (I.Sc. 1975).  Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) 28:
"Noo, juist see an' mak' yersels a' at hame," said Mistress Mikaver, in her uswal fizzy kind o' way.