UNIONISTS really can contort themselves into making the most bizarre pronouncements whenever an opportunity arises to put down Scotland – especially when it comes to the language.
As our readers will know, be it anonymous Unionist Twitter accounts or Labour MSPs called Neil Findlay, using Scots brings down a mist as red as Jackson Carlaw’s cheeks at First Minister’s Questions.
The latest prime example of this comes courtesy of Patricia Watson OBE, who was a West Scotland candidate for George Galloway’s All For Unity anti-independence party.
READ MORE: This major web browser is first to be available in Scots language
Michael Dempster had shared a fantastic resource on Twitter, offering an hours-long course learning about the Scots language and accent.
He tweeted: “If ye like ma descriptive linguistic tweets here a wheen o videos based on material A developed atween 2018 an 2020 gaun throu aw the foondation basics o Scots accents an Scots language.
“Nothin tellin ye ‘how tae talk’, juist explorin ‘how we actual talk’”
If ye like ma descriptive linguistic tweets here a wheen o videos based on material A developed atween 2018 an 2020 gaun throu aw the foondation basics o Scots accents an Scots language.
— michael dempster • ᶜʸᵇᵉʳˢᶜᵒᵗˢ •🧠🗣🦾🤖👽🎶🎵 (@DrMDempster) August 17, 2021
Nothin tellin ye "how tae talk", juist explorin "how we actual talk" https://t.co/OnftCdF5ag
That tweet managed to find its way through to business owner Patricia.
She replied: “Anyone think most of this is just lazy spoken English? I exclude from that the use of actual Scots words such as wheen, braw, sapples, sine, glaikit, and many more I sometimes use, but laziness to move facial muscles gives us o instead of off, atween instead of between etc.”
Anyone think most of this is just lazy spoken English? I exclude from that the use of actual Scots words such as wheen, braw, sapples, sine, glaikit, and many more I sometimes use, but laziness to move facial muscles gives us o instead of off, atween instead of between etc. https://t.co/XzlnYElS6d
— Patricia Watson (@PMWatsonOBE) August 17, 2021
The Unionist candidate seems to have a very interesting criteria for what a valid Scots word is – anything she uses is fine, and anything she doesn’t is raw laziness.
It rings a bell. Tories going on holiday during an Afghanistan crisis is fine, Scottish ministers going on holiday at absolutely any time is wrong.
(And we wonder whether the byline on this article will make the cut or not...)
There is also the obvious point that there aren’t too many facial muscles involved in writing a tweet, unless perhaps you’re a Tory MSP, frothing at the mouth because you’ve just seen the only thing as vile as an article in Scots … an article in Gaelic.
Michael responded: "Lexical cognates are words which share an etymological origin. They often sound quite different in different languages, and may have similar, quite different, or even opposite meanings. Folk linguistics is the use of uninformed speculation rather than the scientific method."
Twitter, of course, also took Patricia to task for her remarks.
Uilliam Mac G made a key point: “Atween comes from atwene, which both English & Scots inherited from early Middle English.
“The fact that it has become archaic in modern English, but not in Scots, has misled you into believing it's not a real word and must therefore be a mangling of an English word.”
Atween comes from atwene, which both English & Scots inherited from early Middle English. The fact that it has become archaic in modern English, but not in Scots, has misled you into believing it's not a real word and must therefore be a mangling of an English word.
— Uilliam Mac G 🐞 (@LiamTheBrewer) August 17, 2021
And plenty of others had more to say.
Thanks, Patricia, the grimace I made after readin this gied every single lazy wee muscle across ma hale face a whoor ae a workoot. X https://t.co/MPpokyRU9L
— ✨ Miss PunnyPennie ✨ (@Lenniesaurus) August 17, 2021
According to Patricia Watson OBE here prepositions in the #Scots language exist because we are too lazy to move our facial muscles. You heard it here first, folks https://t.co/FgbejuNt1x
— Ailig Ó Maolchalann / Alex Mulholland (@molach95) August 17, 2021
Oh dear. Us Scots speakers with our lazy faces... https://t.co/6UUBt69Sky pic.twitter.com/dR3DpmYXDQ
— Dawn Leslie (@_DawnLeslie) August 17, 2021
Imagine being this ignorant and uninformed. Centuries of literary history all for Patricia to rubbish it away. England really did a good job of making so much of a nation internalise disdain of its own language and culture. https://t.co/sBdZYwed7p
— Iosua Mac Roibeirt (@our_joshua) August 17, 2021
‘Proud to be Scottish…’ Unless, of course, that includes speaking Scots. https://t.co/tm9C4rvYKv
— Nicky Lawson (@NickyLawson1990) August 17, 2021
ach well https://t.co/nWv1661hB1 pic.twitter.com/gwtEQOwP3Z
— ASLS (@scotlit) August 17, 2021
Ainly eejits wid hink this, Patricia. https://t.co/my0iObZOi2
— MizLNicTeàrlach - “Queen” & “chip on shoulder” (@MizLiot) August 17, 2021
Responses oan this wan fair tickled me. Ye'll rue the day ye invite the wrath o' Scottish Twitter - or linguists. Reckon someone's gonnae haud her wheesht next time. https://t.co/kdmMSL1q6d
— ~morag (@marr0g) August 17, 2021
Patricia was awarded her OBE for services to business and disabled people.
We'll certainly be digging into the instructional video – perhaps she should too...
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