31 mai 2006

Taffies and Jocks

I am still learning new interesting words every day.
I knew that the English were called Tommies and that they call the Irish Paddies (because of so many Patricks – Padraig among them). And I have just learnt that Wales is called ‘Taff’ and the Welsh are called Taffies and the Scots are called Jocks (because of many Jacks).
So I asked my Scot colleague David MacQueen the secret Scottish word for the English. The answer is : ‘Sassenachs’, a Doric (Scottish dialect) word which originally means "lowlander". And I am told another popular nickname for the English in Scotland and Wales is ‘bastards’.

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