tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-930120922627919768.post5737670907542845867..comments2024-03-29T11:59:17.118+00:00Comments on SCOT goes POP!: McLetchie favours tyranny of the linguistic majorityJames Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01516007141763230886noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-930120922627919768.post-3492213679453519942010-12-03T22:02:26.543+00:002010-12-03T22:02:26.543+00:00This "complete and utter waste of money"...This "complete and utter waste of money" has been foisted on the people of Scotland by the British government's signing of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.<br />Is McLetchie suggesting that the SNP government renaig on resposibilities entrusted to it as a result of international agreements entered into by the British government?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-930120922627919768.post-61435126894337719622010-12-03T15:17:31.850+00:002010-12-03T15:17:31.850+00:00Very good points. Although even if we were talking...Very good points. Although even if we were talking about something other than the Scots language, it's McLetchie's general intolerance that leaps out at me - simply because something isn't to his (or to "the majority's") taste, it's apparently of no value whatever and shouldn't be catered for.<br /><br />Left-handed? You're out of luck, mate. I prefer using my right hand and so do the overwhelming majority of the people of Scotland.James Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01516007141763230886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-930120922627919768.post-76869643555508125542010-12-03T12:02:34.725+00:002010-12-03T12:02:34.725+00:00"Personally, I favour the Queen’s English, as...<i>"Personally, I favour the Queen’s English, as do the overwhelming majority of people in Scotland."</i><br /><br />And in that little sentence you find the Scottish cringe of the unionists encapsulated along with the usual accompaniment of anti-Scottishness.<br /><br />Several assumptions lie behind that statement from McLetchie.<br /><br />1. He regards Scots not as a language but as a lesser dialect because he's proud that he speaks, "the Queens English".<br /><br />2. There is no sense of ownership about Scots in what he says. It is regarded as, "other", and not a living link to Scotland's history and literature. He's defining it as outside his own culture and feels no need to try and save or promote it.<br /><br />3. There's that distinct element of cringe where he distances himself from Scots both as a language and as an identity. He doesn't speak Scots or Scottish English or simply English but, "the Queen's English". There's shades of Ulster Unionism in there with that invocation of the Queen.<br /><br />Scots has always been handicapped by its closeness to standard American which is becoming the world language. It's always been an easy target to denigrate as a rough dialect for those such as McLetchie who always feel uneasy about distinctly Scottish identifiers and have latched onto a dialect of American, "the Queens English", as some form of gold standard.DougtheDughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02952281599715356995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-930120922627919768.post-11030622769376970702010-12-03T11:57:23.394+00:002010-12-03T11:57:23.394+00:00Whilst I recognise that the majority of Scots do n...Whilst I recognise that the majority of Scots do not "really speak Scots at all", that is only because a complete Scots language barely exists any more.<br />What most Scots speak is a hybrid of (Scots)English, Scots and colloquialisms. <br />Our everyday speech is quite different to our 'official' voice - terrified as we are that speaking, or even worse, writing in our domestic idiom marks us out as being of a lower social class or intelligence. Approximation of the manners, custom and language of the social elite confers status by association. Or at least that's what they hope. There is early adoption of these by what the Romans called 'clientelae', local bigwigs desperate to receive the patronage of the ruling class, then you have the social climbers as described above, and finally you have the cringeing masses.<br />I do it myself. I have a certain intellectual vanity and find that, if I'm trying to assert the superiority of my argument, I start to speak in 'proper' English.<br />As for the 'Queen's English', other than an entirely literal definition, wtf is that?voiceofourownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09821703633244094283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-930120922627919768.post-78590165782226035042010-12-03T11:41:09.630+00:002010-12-03T11:41:09.630+00:00The author is clearly just bitter because he's...The author is clearly just bitter because he's been demoted to political editor of the Jockgraph. He used to have a job on <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-494112/Three-year-freeze-Scottish-council-tax--England-pays.html" rel="nofollow">a proper English paper</a>.rullkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06468064035662238392noreply@blogger.com