Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1768-1769, 1873-1996
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STAMAGAST, n., v. Also stamma-, -gust, and now more freq. in deriv. forms stam(m)agaster, stam(m)i(e)-, -y-, stammer-. Also misprinted slammy-, and second element ¶-gant. [stɑmɑ′gɑst(ər)]
I. n. 1. A disgust or nausea at food (n.Sc. 1808 Jam., stammagust); whatever causes this; more gen. a source of displeasure or repulsion.Mry. 1873 J. Brown Round Table Club 34:
They're a perfect stamagast — a perfect scunner tae me.
2. A great and sudden disappointment, an unpleasant surprise, a shock (ne.Sc., Ags. 1971).Abd. p.1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 187:
The news brak out and flew unto the glen, An' pat an unko stammagast to Ken.Abd. 1920 R. Calder Gleanings 7:
As great a stammagast as Jamie Buck got fan he set a girn to tak a hare an' catch't a muckle cat.Kcd. 1932 L. G. Gibbon Sunset Song 36:
With one of them he'd met a sore stammygaster.Abd. 1940 C. Gavin Hostile Shore xiii.:
They'll fair get a stammygaster this week when the thing arrives o' Friday.Abd. 1981 Christina Forbes Middleton The Dance in the Village 11:
Then ae simmer day oot o' the blue
We got a stammagaster
She announced that she wis leavin' Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web iii:
Twis a stammygaster fin a wee Scots pedant screived tae me (fair set on garrin me agree wi him) that the grammar an spellin o Lallans wis fit Scots poetry sud be aa aboot!
II. v. 1. To sicken with a surfeit of food, to nauseate in gen. (Ags., Fif. 1921 T.S.D.C., stammagant; Abd., Fif., wm.Sc. 1971).Abd. 1922 Swatches o' Hamespun 67:
The scumficin' reek an' heat stamigastered her.
2. To affect with sudden astonishment or disappointment, to flabbergast, bewilder (Rxb. 1921 T.S.D.C., stammergastit; ne.Sc., Ags., Dmf. 1971).Abd. 1891 J. Leatham Ancient Hind 12:
I wiz clean stammagaster't at this.Kcd. 1933 Scots Mag. (Jan.) 255:
So fair stammy-gastered they were with the news.Abd. 1957 Bon-Accord (21 Feb.):
The maist stammiegasterin' racket o' their hale career.
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"Stamagast n., v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 7 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/stamagast>
