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In older times Scotch was an adjective meaning 'of Scotland'. Nowadays the preferred adjective is Scottish, and Scotch usually means Scotch whisky. The remainder of this article is about the word.1 Scotch, Scottish or Scots?
The adjective or noun Scotch is an Early Modern English ( 16th century) contraction of the English word Scottish which was later adopted into Older Scots. It more or less replaced Scottish as the prevailing term in England. Scots (the modern Scots form of Older Scots Scottis 1) predominated in Scotland until the 18th century when anglification became fashionable and Scotch was used in both England and Scotland.
From the early 19th century Scots or Scottish were the preferred usages among educated Scottish people, Scotch being regarded as an anglicized affectation. Scotch is sometimes still used by the working classes who often regard Scots as an anglicized affectation.
In modern English usage the general term for things from or pertaining to Scotland is Scottish. Scots is usually reserved for the Scots language and legal system. Scotch remains in use only for phrases like Scotch broth and Scotch terrier , etc. One cynical joke is that Scotch can only be used for things which can be bought, such as whisky, eggs and politicians.
2 See also
3 Other meanings
- A scotch is another name for a chock, a wedge which is placed under a wheel to stop it moving.
- To scotch a rumor is to quash or refute it.
- A scotch eggA Scotch egg is a snack food of Scottish origin consisting of a hard-boiled egg, removed from its shell, wrapped in a sausage meat mixture, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried. It is eaten cold, typically with salad and pickles. Large-scale caterers manu is a boiled egg served wrapped in sausage meatA sausage consists of ground meat and other animal parts, herbs and spices, and possibly other ingredients, generally packed in a casing (traditionally the intestines of the animal), and preserved in some way. Unfortunately, there is no consensus whether, then dipped in breadcrumbs, and fried.
- Scotch Tape is a commercial brand name for a type of adhesive tapeAdhesive tape is an adhesive-coated fastening tape used for temporary or, in some cases, permanent joining. Single-sided tapes allow joining of two overlapping or adjoining materials, while double-sided tape (adhesive on both sides) allows joining of two made by the 3MThis article is about the American company, for the Russian company involved in a pyramid scheme, see MMM (pyramid 3M Company ( NYSE:MMM) (originally Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company is an American corporation that produces a widely diversified company.
- Scotch mist is a term for something which doesn't exist.
- Scotch mist is also a cocktail whose main ingredient is whisky.
- Hopscotch is an English name for the children's game of peevers, where a bed is marked out with chalk lines on the pavement to form a series of squares and the children (usually girls) take turns to slide the peever (often a round stone or a shoe polish tin filled with sand) along the bed and then try to hop and jump from square to square to reach the peever without misstep. The Scotch in hopscotch means a slight surface cut - especially a notch that is made to keep a tally refering to the scratches made on the ground when marking the bed. The Romans also played hopscotch scotching the idea of it being a Scotch game.
- Butterscotch is a kind of hard toffee. The scotch has the same origin as in hopscotch. The toffee was notched, or scored, to make it easier to break into pieces.
