Category talk:American people of Scots-Irish descent

Latest comment: 6 years ago by Ragityman in topic Pejorative

Pejorative

edit

Copying and pasting my note from Talk:Chester A. Arthur

Scots Irish

Many Americans are unaware the word "Scotch" is a pejorative for a Scotsman. We just had guests from Scotland who confirmed that notion. "Scotch," said they, "is whisky, never people." (Actually, what they said was, "Scawch is whisky, neigh-vaihrr peeep'l.") Here it is online:

USAGE NOTE Scottish is the full, original form of the adjective. Scots is an old Scottish variant. Scotch is an English contraction of Scottish that came into use in Scotland as well for a time (as in Burns's "O thou, my Muse! guid auld Scotch drink!") but subsequently fell into disfavor there. In the interest of civility, forms involving Scotch are best avoided in reference to people; designations formed with Scots are most common (Scot, Scotsman, or Scotswoman), but those involving the full form Scottish are sometimes found in more formal contexts. Scotch-Irish is the most commonly used term for the descendants of Scots who migrated to North America, but lately Scots-Irish has begun to gain currency among those who know that Scotch is considered offensive in Scotland. There is, however, no sure rule for referring to things, since the history of variation in the use of these words has left many expressions in which the choice is fixed, such as Scotch broth, Scotch whisky, Scottish rite, and Scots Guards.

http://www.answers.com/topic/scottish

Now, I can't actually find this line in the article. :O But I offer this explanation for my reversion. Yopienso (talk) 06:44, 4 May 2010 (UTC) Yopienso (talk) 09:09, 4 May 2010 (UTC)Reply

I clicked through here as I have similar concerns, being Scots-English myself. Is there any motion yet to have this renamed as "Scots-Irish Descent"? --Sinnyo (talk) 21:56, 23 July 2011 (UTC)Reply
Having been personally corrected by those of Scottish descent, I am surprised that this was not corrected long ago. Is an RfC necessary to develop a consensus? I realise many Americans are unconcerned with sentiments across the pond, but this is, after all, not the American Wikipedia, but the English Wikipedia, and we should take care not to offend, when issues are as plain as this. Just my 2¢. rags (talk) 03:37, 27 November 2018 (UTC)Reply
I have made reference to this topic on the Scittish Project talkpage: maybe that will stir the pot a bit. These 'cat_talk' pages are not patrolled, I am informed, but the contraction 'Scots' is in use across the project. Curious that this oversight should persist for so long. Maybe Chester A. Arthur wasn't such a bad place for this discussion, after all. rags (talk) 04:20, 27 November 2018 (UTC)Reply