ramdam

French

Etymology

Alteration of ramadan, as pronounced in Northern Africa; the word dates back to the colonization period. The end of the day during Ramadan is linked with festive (and noisy) family gathering.
In regards to the semantic evolution from "holy month" to "noisy meeting" compare with brouhaha, sabbat

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁam.dam/

Noun

ramdam m (plural ramdams)

1. fuss

   Faire du ramdam.

   Vous faites pourtant un de ces ramdams, dit le flicard. (Raymond Queneau, Zazie dans le métro, 1959)

Synonyms

• boucan, tapage

References

“ramdam”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.