Soss
May 9th 2026
The Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL) tell us that this term first referred to, “a wet, soggy or unpalatable mess of food”. It was then applied more widely to, “a wet state, sopping condition, a dirty wet mess”, or “a state of dirt and disorder, a muddle, chaos, confusion”.
In 1827, C.I. Johnstone used the term in Elizabeth de Bruce: “When I trailed her hame some sosserie o’ treacle”.
In 1866, Walter Gregor’s The Dialect of Banffshire recorded the following harsh judgement of the cleanliness of someone’s home: “She keeps hir hoose in a sod soss”.
The term now seems to be closely associated with the North East, as it often appears within the Aberdeen Press and Journal. In May 1995, we find the following from a frustrated football fan: “Michty it wis the same players at pit us in the muckle soss in the first place”.
Then, in August 2015, we find an anecdote about getting caught out by the rain: “Facin the win an rain I drappit ma notes an there they were fleein roon the Green an me left wi siccan a soss o soggy paper”.
Finally, in December 2018, it featured within a writer’s description of his cluttered office: “Last wikk I left ye wi jist a feow o ma memories o the Tivoli hopin they hae brocht back some tae you ana, sae again, rakin throwe the soss at is my archive far ye canna see onything for aathing, I cam across mair names tae conjure wi”.
Dictionaries of the Scots Language would like to thank Bob Dewar for illustrating our Scots Word of the Week feature.
