#scottish characters

[celtic-character-of-the-day]

Today's Celtic character of the day is Hortense McDuck from Ducktales who is Scottish. She is from Glasgow, Scotland.

Requested by Anonymous. Thank you, Anon!

[gj340]

[lisbetadair]

Some Thoughts On Writing Scottish Characters

I see this a reasonable amount in fandom, where writers want to add some depth to their characterisation of Scottish characters by using Scots, or Scots words in their dialogue.

I understand that this is meant in good spirit, and where the words and language are used incorrectly, that this out of ignorance rather than malice, so I'm not salty about it, nor do I want to discourage people in their attempts to learn more about Scotland or Scots language.

This said, if a character has never spoken in Scots, or used Scot words frequently, having them suddenly do so will feel jarring, unless you have the excuse that they have code-switched to present less Scottish professionally, or to non-Scottish people.

Nevertheless, as they have more dialogue, or internal monologue in fanfiction, this is a good time to explore a more natural way of speaking that's appropriate for them.

So I've written a short, beginner's guide to using some Scots words and phrases that might help writers to enhance their dialogue:

1) Lassie. This means "girl or young woman". This is the one where people go wrong the most. These days, you almost never hear someone refer directly to a woman as "lassie", and in my own (and the straw polled local friends') experience, the people who would do this would tend to be elderly men. So, if you have someone's grandfather addressing the person in question, maybe they would say "Is that so, lassie?". So this way of addressing a young woman is archaic, and I would also say, demeaning.

If you've got a character who is Glaswegian, they would say "Is that so, hen?" which tends to be said by older people to younger women, but as it's said by older men and women, it doesn't come across as demeaning, but it's a definite regional colloquialism and would tend not to be used in professional setting.

What is normal is to refer to young women generally as "lassies" i.e "I'm not doing that, that's for lassies!" in place of "I'm not doing that, that's for girls!".

2) Aye. This means "yes" and is in common parlance. You can pepper this in when your Scottish character is talking to other Scottish characters and characters who are not Scottish. It would be considered normal by characters of all ages.

3) Swithering. This means "being indecisive". e.g. "I'm swithering over whether to go."

4) To be away. This is used in place of "to go" so someone might say "I'm away to Spain for my holidays" or "I'm away to the shops". This is entirely fine as a replacement for "to go" in all conjugations.

5) Motor. This means "car".

6) Wee. This means "little" and is common parlance. Examples are "I'm a wee bit confused" or "I've got a wee bit of wood leftover." You can't say "I only want a wee" instead of "I only want a little". You would say "I only want a wee bit" instead. "Wee" is also a colloquial noun in many parts of the UK that means "urine" so if you say "I only want a wee" then you would be saying "I only want to urinate." so that's quite important.

7) Using the present participle i.e. the "-ing" form a verb. This is a tough one, because there are some situations where this feels natural and others were it's just not something that's said, but there are a few examples where this would feel natural.

"I'm needing" instead of "I need"

e.g. "I'm needing a new hat"

"I'm wanting" instead of "I want"

e.g "I'm wanting to go to Spain"

"I'm missing" instead of "I don't have"

e.g. "I'm missing a screw for the shelf"

8) Up To High Doh. This means "in a state of heightened anxiety" e.g. "He's up to high doh about this interview." and would be well understood by other Scottish people, but be unfamiliar to non-Scots; although from context, they should be able to understand the meaning of the phrase from the context if they are native English speakers.

9) Chancer. This means "a person who is trying to take advantage" i.e. "Simon came round asking for my Netflix password. Fucking chancer!"

10) Hun. This is an extremely derogatory term for person of the Protestant faith. Whilst the phrase is popular in parts of English as a shortening of the colloquial term of endearment "honey" this has not caught on in Scotland where ongoing sectarianism means that derogatory terms for Catholics and Protestants are still in use. It's not a reclaimed term and unless your character is a Catholic having a loaded discussion amongst similarly minded individuals about sectarian issues, leave well alone. Definitely don't have them call their significant other that.

[tourneyofashvara]

Would any writeblrs be interested in having their questions answered about Scotland and creating Scottish characters?

Just....... seen some interesting takes lately and as a Scottish person thought I might be able to help

[sheanam]

i’ve always found the scottish tradition of specifically designed and registered family tartan patterns interesting, so i looked up jamie’s and heck’s (barclay and mccabe respectively), and let’s just say some choices were certainly made (not really, it’s just adolescent boys being self-conscious about wearing bright colors, especially so much yellow)

thankfully the barclay alternate is a pretty chill pattern, and heck took jamie’s last name after they married (much to his family’s consternation), so it’s what they go with when the occasion calls for bein’ fancy

[bansheesquad]

Isle of the Cowled Woman

Isle of the Cowled Woman by bansheesquad Chapters: 10/10 Fandom: Original Work Rating: Teen Tags: Original Female Character(s), Werewolves, Hunters & Hunting, Scottish Character, Family Drama, Slow Burn, Single Parents, Banter Summary:

Two joint rescue missions run side-by-side as Sophie and Diana try to get themselves out and those left behind try to track them down. Everyone wishes they'd paid more attention to survival TV shows.

[celtic-character-of-the-day]

Today's Celtic character of the day is Findlay Docherty (Hazard) from Overwatch 2 who is Scottish. He is from Glasgow, Scotland.

[celtic-character-of-the-day]

Today's Celtic character of the day is Lord Callan from Thomas & Friends who is Scottish.