ramdam

fuss, racket

“faire du ramdam” — to make a fuss

Eventually probably from Arabic رَمَضان (ramaḍān). However, it does not seem entirely certain that it was borrowed by French colonial soldiers from Maghrebi Arabic, as some sources say. Instead compare Italian Rabadan (“carnival in Bellinzona, Switzerland”), which connects the two meanings or even Italian ambaradan. Further also German Remmidemmi (“fuss, racket”), though the latter is attested late and could be influenced by the French. In regards to the general semantic evolution from "holy mon