Scotch (adjective)
Scotch is an adjective meaning "of Scotland". The modern usage in Scotland is Scottish or Scots, where the word "Scotch" is only applied to specific products, usually food or drink, such as Scotch whisky, Scotch pie, Scotch broth, Scotch tape, or Scotch eggs, and "Scotch" if applied to people is widely considered pejorative, reflecting old Anglo-Scottish antagonisms. However, 'Scotch' is still widely used in England and Ireland, and in common use in North America.
The verb scotch is unrelated to the noun, and is not related to "Scotland". It derives from Anglo-French escocher meaning "to notch, nick", from coche, "a notch, groove", extended in English to mean "to put an abrupt end to", with the forms "scotched", "scotching", "scotches". For example: "The prime minister scotched the rumours of her illness by making a public appearance."
Read more about Scotch (adjective): Decline in Usage
Famous quotes containing the word scotch:
“Wooing, wedding, and repenting, is as a Scotch jig, a measure, and a cinquepace; the first suit is hot and hasty, like a Scotch jig, and full as fantastical; the wedding, mannerly-modest, as a measure, full of state and ancientry; and then comes repentance and, with his bad legs, falls into the cinquepace faster and faster, till he sink into his grave.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)