Scots/Scotch
William Ryan
wfr at SAS.AC.UK
Sun Dec 7 18:10:54 UTC 2008
A nice point, but not really an analogy since it is a matter of regional
preferences within a single language (more or less). Whether or not you
would risk referring to a Scot as Scotch to his face might depend on how
much Scotch you both had taken. My own feeling is that in the UK Scotch
is actually a little archaic nowadays and Scot, Scottish are more
common. I am not sure why the Scots dislike Scotch as a word - there is
no obvious connection with the stinginess reputation, which also applies
to Yorkshiremen. Perhaps the verb 'to scotch' is part of it but even
that is not as potentially offensive as the verb 'to welsh', which
caused a rumpus in Parliament a year or two ago, but has not forced the
equally sensitive Welsh to seek a distinctive form of their name. Nor
has 'Irish' as pejorative adjective made the Irish call themselves
anything different, although I have on occasion felt obliged to make
sarcastic rejoinders.
Who is master over English terminology? No one yet, thank God.
Will Ryan
E Wayles Browne wrote:
> This is, of course, a Slavic discussion list, but there is a similar
> case of competing terms in the English language, which it might be
> instructive to consider.
>
> A traditional term for a person from Scotland is Scotch (pl. and adj.),
> Scotchman (masc. sg.). Many people from Scotland nowadays urge other
> English-speakers to use Scots (pl. and adj)., Scot or Scotsman (masc. sg.),
> and even say that Scotch is archaic except when applied to whiskey and
> in some other fixed phrases.
>
> It doesn't seem archaic to me. But one reason the people themselves might
> take exception to "Scotch(man)" is the traditional derogatory association
> that other English-speakers have between Scotch people and stinginess.
>
> Who, then, is to be master over English terminology? Shall I defer to
> the preferences of a person who would rather be called a Scot or a
> Scotsman, or shall I regard such deference as unnecessary political
> correctness, and still refer to him as Scotch if I feel like it?
>
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