Scotching the spirit of independence- Frank McNally's brilliant piece

Scotching the spirit of independence: "There was a time, after all, when it was still acceptable to use the term “Scotch” of Northern Britons, as well as of their whisky and terriers. But such has the word’s stigmatisation over the centuries, by the English mainly, this is no longer the case.
Thanks to the likes of “Scotch bum” (the bustle of a skirt), “Scotch fiddle” (the itch), and even “Scotch mist” (a euphemism for rain), the old adjective gradually came to be considered offensive, at least when applied to humans.
A subtle rebranding process was necessary. Now, when referring to the people – and to most of their achievements outside the distilling sphere – Scottish, or better still Scots, is the preferred descriptive.
Of course the natives of Scotland were not alone in being adjectivally disparaged by their neighbours. The Dutch, for example, still account for a remarkable number of insults in English (“Dutch bargain”, “Dutch treat”, “Double Dutch”, etc) mostly dating from a series of 17th-century wars. Indeed, all of England’s neighbours have had their identities borrowed for some derogatory purpose or other (from “French leave”, to “Welshing” on debts, to that multipurpose slur, “a bit Irish”). But so far as I know, only the Scots have taken it so personally as to shun the adjective."



'via Blog this'