Scotch (adjective)

Adjective meaning "of or from Scotland" Scotch is an adjective in English, meaning "of or from Scotland". Many Scots dislike the term Scotch and some consider it offensive. The modern usage in Scotland is Scottish or Scots, and the word Scotch is now only applied only in specific instances, mostly to food or drink, such as Scotch whisky, Scotch pie, and Scotch broth. The verb to scotch is unrelated to the adjective. Middle English scocchen derives from Anglo-French escocher meaning "to notch, nick or pierce", from coche, "a notch, groove". Usage The adjective or noun Scotch is an early modern English (16th century) contraction of the English word Scottish which was later adopted into the Scots language It more or less replaced Scottish as the prevailing term in England in the 17th century. The English playwright William Shakespeare used the word Scotch to describe a jig, but always employed the term Scottish when people were the subject. Scots (the modern Scots language form of early Scots Scottis) predominated in Scotland until the 18th century when anglicisation became fashionable and Scotch came to be used in both England and Scotland. A 1788 letter by Robert Burns says in part: