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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

RADGE, adj., n. Also in form radgie, -y (Watson).

I. adj. Mad, violently excited, furious, wild, obstreperous (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Bwk. 1958; ne.Sc. 1967, radgie); sexually excited, lustful (Kcb. c.1920; Watson). Gen.(exc. I.)Sc.; silly, weak-minded (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., 1950 Scots Mag. (Feb.) 336; Edb. 1956). Deriv. radger, a wild, intractable creature.Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) i.:
Whaur did ye get that hunger'd-lookin' radger, Sandy? . . . That beast's no' fit for gaen aboot.Abd.¹⁵ c.1930:
“Files he gangs nae that ull, bit aftfiles he funks an' kicks.” A ploughman's comment about a radgy horse.Edb. 1986:
She went radge. Edb. 1991 Irvine Welsh in Hamish Whyte and Janice Galloway New Writing Scotland 9: Scream If You Want to Go Faster 145:
The most important item had already been procured from a visit to the parental home, my Ma's bottle of valium, removed from her bathroom cabinet. I don't feel bad about this. She never uses them now, and if she needs them her age and gender dictate that her radge GP will prescribe them like jelly tots. Ags. 1993 John Glenday in A. L. Kennedy and Hamish Whyte New Writing Scotland 11: The Ghost of Liberace 35:
Ower coorse for the rose
(thank christ). Ower smaa for the pine.
Ower radge for the lily's chastity
an the orchid's miles too rare. Edb. 1994 Irvine Welsh Acid House 48:
They're radge, the Doyles, every fucker in the scheme kens that. Ah'm radge, if the truth be telt, ever getting involved with a Doyle. Dundee 1996 Matthew Fitt Pure Radge 4:
ah'm mentul
pure radge
a richt ramstoorie ragabasch em.Sc. 1997 Ian Rankin Black & Blue (1999) 12:
He'd done most of the major drugs in his time: Billy Whizz, skag, Morningside speed. He was on a meth programme now. On dope, he was a small problem, an irritation; off dope, he was pure radge. He was Mental. Sc. 1997 The List (30 May - 12 Jun):
So much for the Star Wars Special Editions. Scotland will shortly have its own radge trilogy in which space cadets have a square go with the negative forces of society, encountering weird life forms (bluebottles, animatronic babies) in the course of their journey towards self-realisation. em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 15:
Ye fuil fowk that wur radge for gowd
Mair nor for Heiven's hame content,
Wanworth an wastit is yer niffers,
An yer gowd's aw spent.

II. n. A wild obstreperous person or animal (Abd.³⁰ 1963); a loose-living woman (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Abd., Ags., Lnk., Slk. 1967); a lively girl (Kcb. 1967); an idiot, fool.Abd. 1990:
Get away ye radge! Edb. 1990:
Shut yer face ya wee radge. Abd. 1990 Stanley Robertson Fish-Hooses (1992) 38:
" ... Here, let mi tell ye aboot a peer loonie I kent and abody made a radge oot of him cos he wis a bittie queer-looking. ... " Edb. 1991 Irvine Welsh in Hamish Whyte and Janice Galloway New Writing Scotland 9: Scream If You Want to Go Faster 147:
As Sick Boy once said, doubtlessly paraphrasing some other fucker: nothing exists outside the moment. (I think some radge on a chocolate advert said it first.) em.Sc. 1997 Ian Rankin Black & Blue (1999) 436:
One-fifteen in the morning: he'd rung Burke's, the bar-side payphone, asked a punter what time the place shut.
'Party's nearly finished, ya radge!' Phone slammed home. m.Sc. 1998 Herald (3 Feb) 16:
"Aye, ah dae. Ah know ma jaicket's oan a shaky nail, but it wisnae me, ya auld radge. It was that frigging fop, the Earl of Oxford, him and wee Frankie Bacon!"

Phr. to tak a radgie, to fly into a rage.Dundee 1996 Matthew Fitt Pure Radge 5:
ah'll hae ye
tak a radgie
loss the rag
an stove yir heid in
palEdb. 2003:
She'll take a radgie if yer late fur yer tea.