To Help you understand the Scots so you wear the kilt with Pride

[highlander_Daz]

I agree Jock however if you travel over this fair land there is so much variation its impossible to come up with a "standard" for Scots English, also in the north of England there are many words and phrases that are common to both peoples "bonnie" "nay" "geet" "thy" are all claimed by Lancashire folk as their own, Id love to see more research into the distinct way that folk speak, regional dialects are dying and merging all the time, which is a shame, but languages constatly evolve all the time, I was recently in Wales and the Welsh are passionate about the Welsh language-even non Welsh speakers are passionate that signs are bi lingual, as far as "scottish" English goes its simply English by any other name, English is a language made up of words from other languages anyway and all the hullabaloo about "preserving" it is nonsense - its a foreign language to this country which weve adapted to suit, Id prefer to see resources and effort made into preserving and increasing awareness of scottish Gaelic. I know there are some sources that claim that Scottish Engish is a language of its own, Pleople aer free to belive that if they wish and its a debate that will run and run, The welsh have their own version of Englaish as well but choose to promote Welsh, without getting political I hope Salmond wiil address this.

be safe

[Cawdorian]

From the Highlands of North Atlanta Georgia USA!

I'll have to say that drinking single malt while wearing the kilt is a very enjoyable experience.

On second thought drinking single malt in any attire is an enjoyable experience.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

as far as "scottish" English goes its simply English by any other name, English is a language made up of words from other languages anyway and all the hullabaloo about "preserving" it is nonsense - its a foreign language to this country which weve adapted to suit, Id prefer to see resources and effort made into preserving and increasing awareness of scottish Gaelic.

There is no such thing as the "one" Scottish tongue. Gaelic itself came to Scotland in what, about the fifth century, correct? English (Inglis) came in a few centuries later (about the eighth, I believe). So yes, one is slightly more recent than the other, but sitting here in the year 2007, does it really matter if one language has been in Scotland for 1600 years and the other for only 1300 years?

Gaelic used to be spoken in Scotland over a much broader area than it is today, to be sure -- just look at a Scottish map and see all the place names with Gaelic roots in "non-Gaelic" areas and that will show you how wide spread it once was. But even then, there are some regions of Scotland in the borders especially where Gaelic was never spoken. To the people whose anscestry is there, Gaelic is the foreign language. Scots is the "Mither Tongue."

Scotland has a very unique cultural and ethnic mix. The Scottish people have been cobbled together from Pict and Gael, Anglo-Norman and Norse, and this is reflected in their language as well as their culture.

I think it all needs to be honored.

Aye,
Matt

[Robin]

Nice! I love to read stuff like this!

I noticed many scottish...and even gaelic...words, and the way Scots pronounce english words come close to my language...Dutch.

When I talk to a friend from Liverpool I often don't have a clue what she's saying (sorry Nicole! ), but I never had any problems understanding Scottish people.

Welcome to the funny farm!

Robin