Scots

Of the various nationalities that make up the United Kingdom, the Scots have been stereotyped as backward, mean, and tightfisted. This characterization is fairly recent, dating back about two centuries. Dr. Johnson was noted for his prejudices against the people, some of which were enshrined in the most quoted definition in his famous Dictionary (1755), that for oats: “a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.” Various English authors, including Horace Walpole, Lord Byron, Charles Lamb, and Sydney Smith contributed their critical comments. In addition, a number of humorous, ironic, and demeaning idioms using the epithet Scotch were recorded by Captain Francis Grose in his Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785). Grose (who knew Scotland well and was a friend of Robert Burns) records such ironic uses as Scotch chocolate for “brimstone and milk,” Scotch mist for “sober soaking rain,” Scotch warming pan for “a wench; also a fart,” Scotch greys for “lice,” and the related Scotch fiddle for “the itch,” (also a euphemism for venereal disease). The association is further reinforced by Itchland and Scratchland being given as ironic entries for Scotland. Many of these have survived, but below the level of standard usage. A number of similar derisive uses, such as Scotch coffee for imitation coffee, are recorded in Australian English from 1836. Irving Lewis Allen, in “Lexicon of Ethnic Epithets” (1983, 66), has a few mild generic terms like kiltie, mack , and sandy , of which only pinchpenny could be regarded as offensive. Hugh Rawson’s Dictionary of Invective (1991) has considerably more. Jock is defined by Grose as “a jeering appellation for a north-country seaman,” the first explicit association with a Scot being recorded in 1865. The term is also found in a slang sense in J.H. Vaux’s Flash Dictionary of 1812: “a person of an irritable temper, easily put in a passion.” As the entry for Australia shows, the flash or criminal slang language spread to Australia with the convicts, and the term scotty , meaning “irritable or bad-tempered” has become established. However, as generic names Scotty and Jock have now lost their negative overtones.