The Word Spree

I got to thinking about how the phrase "killing spree" just seems so incongruent to me. To my understanding a "spree" is a fun filled excursion or day (like spree day at school). Coupling the word "spree" with the word "killing" just didn't seem right (fun filled time of murder - see what I mean?).

The definitions from Dictionary.com seemed to bear me out:

1. A carefree, lively outing.
2. A drinking bout.
3. A sudden indulgence in or outburst of an activity. See Synonyms at binge.

But the origin of the word told a different story altogether.

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[Perhaps alteration of Scots spreath, cattle raid, from Irish and Scottish Gaelic spréidh, spré, cattle, wealth, from Middle Irish preit, preid, booty, ultimately from Latin praeda. See ghend- in Indo-European Roots.]
Word History: A spending spree seems a far cry from a cattle raid, yet etymologists have suggested that the word spree comes from the Scots word spreath, “cattle raid.” The word spree is first recorded in a poem in Scots dialect in 1804 in the sense of “a lively outing.” This sense is closely connected with a sense recorded soon afterward (in 1811), “a drinking bout,” while the familiar sense “an overindulgence in an activity,” as in a spending spree, is recorded in 1849. Scots and Irish dialects also have a sense “a fight,” which may help connect the word and the sense “lively outing” with the Scots word spreath, meaning variously, “booty,” “cattle taken as spoils,” “a herd of cattle taken in a raid,” and “cattle raid.” The Scots word comes from Irish and Scottish Gaelic spréidh, “cattle,” which in turn ultimately comes from Latin praeda, “booty.” This last link reveals both the importance of the Latin language to Gaelic and a connection between cattle and plunder in earlier Irish and Scottish societies.

So a Scots clan goes on a raid into an "enemy" clan's territory to steal cattle. Violence is most likely. And after a successful raid there is much drinking and rejoicing. A spree.

I guess the phrase "killing spree" isn't incongruent.