Scotch

See also scotch

English

Etymology

Contraction of Scottish.

The tape brand is supposedly after its cheapness (as the Scottish were stereotyped as cheap).

The chess opening is supposedly after its having been played in a correspondence game between Edinburgh, Scotland, and London, England.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /skɒtʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɒtʃ
• (US) IPA: /skatʃ/

Noun

Scotch (countable and uncountable; plural Scotches)

1. (as a plural noun, the Scotch) The people of Scotland.

   The Scotch are a hardy bunch.

2. (uncountable) Whiskey distilled in Scotland, especially from malted barley.

   Vahag has drunk a lot of Scotch.

3. (countable) Any variety of Scotch.

   My favorite Scotches are Glenlivet and Laphroaig.

4. (countable) A glass of Scotch.

   Gimme a Scotch.

Usage notes

• Use of Scotch to refer to the people of Scotland is currently deprecated by the Scottish.

Synonyms

• (people of Scotland): Scots, Scottish
• (whisky): malt, malt whiskey, malt whisky, Scotch whiskey, Scotch whisky

Translations

people of Scotland

• Dutch: Schotten (nl) pl
• Greek: Σκοτσέζοι (el) (Skotsézoi) m pl

• Polish: Szkoci (pl) pl m

uncountable: whisky made in Scotland

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蘇格蘭威士忌 (cmn), 苏格兰威士忌 (cmn) (Sūgélán wēishìjì)

• French: scotch (fr) m
• German: Scotch (de) m
• Japanese: スコッチウィスキー (ja) (sukotchiwisukī)

• Korean: 스카치 (ko) (seukachi)
• Marathi: स्कॉच (mr) (skǒca)
• Polish: szkocka (pl) f
• Russian: скотч (ru) (skotč) m, шотландский виски (ru) (šotlándskij víski) m, шотландское виски (ru) (šotlándskoje víski) n

any variety of Scotch whisky

• Armenian: սկոտչ (hy) (skotč)

glass of Scotch whisky

Proper noun

Scotch

1. The Scottish dialect of English, or the Scots language.
   • 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song, Polygon 2006 (A Scots Quair), p. 156:

     But Rob was just saying what a shame it was that folk should be shamed nowadays to speak Scotch – or they called it Scots if they did, the split-tongued sourocks!

2. (chess, informal, the Scotch) The opening 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4.

   Karpov played the Scotch against Anand.

Synonyms

• (dialect): Scots, Scots English, Scottish
• (chess opening): the Scotch Game (not informal)

Translations

dialect

• Dutch: Schots-Engels (nl) n

• Greek: σκοτσέζικα (el) (skotsézika) n pl

Adjective

Scotch (not comparable)

1. (dated) Of or from Scotland; Scottish.
   • 1817, Walter Scott, Rob Roy:

     our landlord informed us, with a sort of apologetic tone, that there was a Scotch gentleman to dine with us.

Synonyms

• Scottish
• Scots

Usage notes

• The Scottish dislike the term Scotch and consider it offensive. The more appropriate adjectives are Scottish or Scots.

Derived terms

Related terms

Scotch barley Scotch broth Scotch cap Scotch egg Scotch fillet Scotch fir

Scotch Game Scotch mist Scotch tape Scotch terrier Scotch whiskey Scotch whisky