Scotch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other meanings, see Scotch (disambiguation), Scottish (disambiguation), and Scots (disambiguation).

In older times Scotch was an adjective meaning 'of Scotland'. Nowadays the standard adjective is Scottish or Scots, and Scotch usually only pertains to specific items such as scotch whisky or scotch eggs.

[edit] Scotch, Scottish or Scots?

The adjective or noun Scotch is an Early Modern English (16th century) contraction of the English language word Scottish which was later adopted into the Scots language. It more or less replaced Scottish as the prevailing term in England. Scots (the modern Scots language form of Early Scots Scottis¹) predominated in Scotland until the 18th century when anglicisation became fashionable and Scotch was used in both England and Scotland.

From the early 19th century Scots or Scottish increasingly became the preferred usages among educated Scottish people, Scotch being regarded as an anglicised affectation. In modern usage in Scotland, "Scotch" is never used, other than as described in the following paragraph for a short list of articles; it has patronising and faintly offensive connotations, and a non-Scot who uses the word in conversation with Scots as a description of them may find this a good test of their courtesy . The use of "Scots" and "Scottish" is not altogether consistent; but in many words and phrases one or the other is normally used: there is a certain tendency for "Scottish" to be used in more formal contexts.

In modern current English usage the general term for things from or pertaining to Scotland is Scottish. Scots is used for the Scots language and Scots law, although one increasingly hears it used of people and organisations, especially in newspaper articles. Scotch remains in use only for phrases like Scotch broth, Scotch beef, Scotch egg, etc. One cynical joke is that Scotch can only be used for things which can be bought, such as whisky, eggs and politicians. Scotch terrier was once one of these legacy uses, but has increasingly been replaced with Scottish terrier.

Scotland was one of the first countries in the world to introduce compulsory education for all children in 1872 (England introduced it in 1880). The Scottish school system was placed under a "Scotch Education Department" with offices in London. In 1918, as a result of objections from within Scotland, the department was moved to Edinburgh and renamed the Scottish Education Department. This reflects the linguistic preferences of modern Scotland.

John Kenneth Galbraith in his book “The Scotch” (Toronto: MacMillan, 1964) documents how the descendants of 19th century pioneers from Scotland who settled in Southwestern Ontario affectionately referred to themselves as Scotch. He states the book was meant to give a true picture of life in the Scotch-Canadian community in the early decades of the 20th century.

[edit] See also

• Scotch whisky
• Scotch College
• Scots-Irish American
• Scots language
• Scottish English
• Tha Boord o Ulster-Scotch

[edit] Footnote

1. Inglis was the Early Scots word for English, and the modern form can still be found in surnames and place names as Ingles or Inglis [ɪŋlz] (IPA) e.g. Ingleston or Ingliston etc.