Letters: Scotch watch
To claim that I speak "whisky" is plain stupid. If Mr Tudhope will study Scottish literature from the 18th to the 20th century, he will find that Scotch is the normal word. The name Scotch for whisky is a late import from abroad.
Robert Pate
Newton Stewart
Wigtownshire
As Robert Pate writes (Letters, 6 November), Robert Burns sometimes - though not always - referred to his language as Scotch. Usages have changed.
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Hide AdThe late writer Oliver Brown remarked that the term "Scotch" - as opposed to "Scots" - is now reserved for things which are bought and sold, like whisky, potatoes and (some) politicians.
So it has become a bit like the "N" word, which it is no longer acceptable to use for African-Americans.
David Stevenson
Blacket Place
Edinburgh