View source for Scotch (adjective)

{{Short description|Adjective meaning "of or from Scotland"}}
{{see also|Scottish (disambiguation)|Scots (disambiguation)}}
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{{essay|date=July 2013}}
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'''''Scotch''''' is an [[adjective]] in [[English language|English]], meaning "of or from [[Scotland]]". Many Scots dislike the term ''Scotch'' and some consider it offensive. The modern usage in Scotland is ''Scottish'' or ''Scots'', and the word ''Scotch'' is now only applied to specific products, mostly food or drink, such as [[Scotch whisky]], [[Scotch pie]] and [[Scotch broth]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/scotch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112005700/https://www.lexico.com/definition/scotch|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 12, 2020|title=Scotch &#124; Meaning of Scotch |website=Lexico Dictionaries &#124; English}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/scotch|title=Scotch definition and meaning |website=Collins English Dictionary }}</ref>

The verb ''to scotch'' is unrelated to the adjective. [[Middle English]] ''scocchen'' derives from [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-French]] ''escocher'' meaning "to notch, nick or pierce", from ''coche'', "a notch, groove".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Scotch|title=Definition of SCOTCH|website=Merriam-Webster }}</ref><ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/scotch|title=scotch &#124; meaning of scotch |website=Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English }}</ref>

== Usage ==
The adjective or noun ''Scotch'' is an [[early modern English]] (16th century) contraction of the [[English language|English]] word ''Scottish'' which was later adopted into the [[Scots language]]<ref>[[A.J. Aitken]] in ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'', [[Oxford University Press]], 1992. p.892</ref> It more or less replaced ''Scottish'' as the prevailing term in England in the 17th century. The English playwright [[William Shakespeare]] used the word ''Scotch'' to describe a [[jig]], but always employed the term ''Scottish'' when people were the subject.<ref>"Scotch jig" (Much Ado About Nothing, Act II,I), "Scottish prisoners" (Henry IV, Part I, I,3), "Scottish power" (Henry IV, Part I, III,1), and "Scottish lord" (Merchant of Venice, I,2</ref> ''Scots'' (the modern Scots language form of [[early Scots]] ''Scottis''<ref>''Inglis'' was the [[Early Scots]] word for ''English'', and the modern form can be found in surnames and place names containing Ingles or Inglis, such as Ingleston or Ingliston, where it is pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɪ|ŋ|əl|z}}</ref>) predominated in Scotland until the 18th century when [[anglicisation]] became fashionable and ''Scotch'' came to be used in both England and Scotland. A 1788 letter by [[Robert Burns]] says in part: "Apropos, is not the Scotch phrase ''Auld lang syne'' exceedingly expressive? There is an old song and tune which has often thrilled through my soul. You know I am an enthusiast in old Scotch songs." [http://www.robertburns.org/encyclopedia/AuldLangSyne.5.shtml ("Auld Lang Syne" in ''The Burns Encyclopedia'', at robertburns.org)]. Burns wrote of himself in 1787, "The appellation of a Scotch Bard, is by far my highest pride; to continue to deserve it is my most exalted ambition."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.robertburns.org/encyclopedia/NationalBardScotlands.676.shtml|title=Robert Burns Country: The Burns Encyclopedia: National Bard, Scotland's|website=www.robertburns.org}}</ref>

From the early 19th century, however, ''Scots'' or ''Scottish'' increasingly became the preferred usages among educated Scottish people, ''Scotch'' being regarded as an anglicised affectation. By 1908, this was described by ''[[The New York Times]]'' as a "long-established… preference" ([https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A05EFDD113EE233A25750C1A9649D946997D6CF see article]). In modern usage in Scotland, "Scotch" is rarely used, other than as described in the following paragraph for certain articles; it has gathered patronising and faintly offensive connotations ("frugal with one's money").<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.answers.com/search|title=Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions|website=Answers}}</ref>

In modern current British usage, in England as in Scotland, 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 in only a few specific cases. 'Scotch terrier' was once one of these legacy uses, but has increasingly  been replaced with [[Scottish terrier]]. Only in [[Ulster]], especially in [[County Donegal]] (chiefly in East Donegal and [[Inishowen]]) and [[County Tyrone]] (especially in rural West Tyrone), is the term ''Scotch'' still widely used.{{fact|date=November 2020}}

Scotland was one of the first countries in the world to introduce [[compulsory education]] for all children in 1696, administered in each parish by the [[Church of Scotland|Kirk]]. When the British government eventually chose to centralise and regulate the system in 1872, the Scottish school system was initially 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 [[Natural language|linguistic]] preferences of modern Scotland.

In 1965, the historian [[A.J.P. Taylor]] wrote in his ''Preface to English History 1914–1945'': "Some inhabitants of Scotland now call themselves ''Scots'' and their affairs ''Scottish''. They are entitled to do so. The English word for both is ''Scotch'', just as we call les français the French and Deutschland Germany.  Being English, I use it."<ref>Taylor, Alan John Percivale ''English History 1914–1945'' (p.v) The ''[[Oxford History of England]]'', vol.XV (ed. Sir George Clark), Oxford, at the Clarendon Press, 1965, reprinted (with corrections) 1966</ref>

"Scots" is the modern preferred usage in all levels of society in Scotland, but occasional use of "Scotch" in varieties of the [[Scots language]] continues with terms such as ''Scotch and English'' (a game), ''Scotch fiddle'' (itchiness), ''Scotch mile and ell'' (measures) and many other examples (see the Scots Dialect Dictionary compiled by Alexander Warrack M.A. (1911) republished by Waverley Books 2000). There are other good indicators that the use of "Scotch" has been "whitewashed out" and become a [[shibboleth]]. Early versions of dictionaries produced in Burns' wake in the 19th century had titles such as "A Dictionary of the Scotch Dialect of the Lowlands" and modern place names now written as "Scots" e.g., Scotstarvit and Scotscalder existed in previous incarnations as "Scotch".{{citation needed|date=January 2008}} [[Scotch Corner]] survives as a place-name in England.

In a reminiscence on his early training as an advocate in [[Edinburgh]], [[Sir Walter Scott]] describes the law as "Scotch Law" some four times and as "Scots Law" just once. By the 1840s, other writers were using the phrase "[[Scots law]]", and this usage is now standard (although not universal) world-wide. Scots law reports in the nineteenth century show frequent judicial usage of 'Scotch' as referring to people; by the turn of that century, and since, practically no examples (other than by English judges) can be discovered.

In 1978, the song "Scotch Machine" by the pan-European group [[Voyage (band)|Voyage]] was released in the UK as "Scots Machine".

In the 1937 film ''[[Storm in a Teacup (film)|Storm in a Teacup]]'', the Scottish/Scotch debate is a running joke. In one scene, Vicky ([[Vivien Leigh]]) is mixing cocktails. She explains to Frank ([[Rex Harrison]]) that her father, [[Provost (civil)|Provost]] Gow ([[Cecil Parker]]), who is standing for [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] as a member of the "Caledonia League", "...wants to be prime minister of the first Scotch parliament." "Scottish, Vicky, Scottish!" her father pompously corrects her. "Well then, fix yourself a scottish and soda!" she replies, and flounces out of the door. In another scene, one of Gow's Caledonia League minions says to him "I've never seen the like in thirty years of Scotch politics!", with the same stern rebuke from the provost.

In the chorus of his song "I Love a Lassie (My Scotch Bluebell)", [[music hall]] comedian and singer Sir [[Harry Lauder]] sings "I love a lassie, a bonny hielan lassie... Mary ma Scotch bluebell."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/jukebox-128199.1|title=I love a lassie|website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1277606/i-love-a-lassie-sheet-music-lauder-harry/|title=I Love A Lassie|date=January 15, 1905|via=Victoria & Albert Museum}}</ref><ref>https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1680&context=mmb-vp</ref>

All editions of [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s 1887 collection of essays ''[[Memories and Portraits]]'' use ''Scotch'' as both an adjective and noun throughout. 

The first edition of John Kenneth Galbraith's ''The Scotch'' was published in the UK under two alternative titles: as ''Made to Last'' and ''The Non-potable Scotch: A Memoir of the Clansmen in Canada''. It was illustrated by Samuel H. Bryant. Galbraith's account of his boyhood environment in Elgin County in southern Ontario was added in 1963. He considered it his finest piece of writing.

==See also==
* [[Scotch-Irish American]]
* [[Scottish English]]
* [[Ulster-Scots Agency]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Society of Scotland]]
[[Category:English words]]