Jock (ethnophaulism)

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Jock [ dʒɒk ] is a nickname used jokingly or disparagingly in British English for Scots , especially for Scottish sailors or soldiers.

History and Uses

The term derives from the name Jock from, one in Scottish English common diminutive of the name John . The corresponding nicknames or mock names for the Irish (“ Paddy ”) and the Welsh (“ Taffy ”) are derived from first names, as is the term “ Tommy ” for a British or especially an English soldier. The evidence for the first name Jock goes back centuries, as a generic term for a Scotsman it has only been in use since the 19th century; the Oxford English Dictionary lists a nautical dictionary from 1867 as the first reference.

"Jock" forms with "Taffy" "Paddy" as well as " Tommy " (generally a British soldier, but often limited to the English) a quartet of terms that is closely linked in the collective memory of the British with the experience of the First World War , in which Soldiers and regiments from all four parts of the United Kingdom found themselves together in the trenches of Flanders and France. It was symbolic of the unity of the British nation, but at the same time it was an assertion of the regional and ethnic characteristics of its constituent peoples. Ireland became independent in 1922, so that this connotation hardly resonates with “Paddy” today, but at least “Jock” and “Taffy” and “Tommy” are complementary terms that still represent a form of Britishness .

“Jock” is mostly used lovingly or jokingly, but depending on the context it can also be intended or understood as derogatory and offensive, i.e. as ethnophaulism . Eric Partridge warns against pronouncing the word within earshot of Scots. In 2009, a British Airways Scottish pilot sued his employer because his colleagues often referred to him as a “jock” and felt this was racial discrimination . The competent labor court in Watford dismissed the lawsuit. In a survey published in 2010 on the perception of ethnophaulisms, “Jock” ranked with a value of 4.38 (on a scale from 0 [negative] to 10 [positive]) in the middle, roughly on par with “Tommy” (4.60) for comparison : “Paddy” achieved a value of 2.88, “ Sauerkraut ” as a derisive term for Germans only achieved a value of 2.80.

Other, sometimes outdated, mocking names for Scots are "Sandy", "Sawney" and "Saunders" (short forms of the first name Alexander , which is particularly common in Scotland ), "Kiltie" (after the kilt , the Scottish men's skirt), "Mack" (after ' Mac, 'a common component of many Scottish family and clan names such as MacDonald or Mackintosh), as well as "Scotty" and "Scotchy."

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Irving Allen Lewis: Personal Names that Became Ethnic Epithets . In: Names: A Journal of Onomastics 31: 4, 1983. pp. 307-317.
  2. ↑ Jock, n. 1 , in: Oxford English Dictionary (online edition), < http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/101432?rskey=ufDYpf&result=1 > (restricted access, seen on May 19, 2013).
  3. ↑ Doug Kennedy: Is it a slur to call someone a Jock? , in: BBC News (online edition), June 14, 2009: The origins of Jock go back hundreds of years […], but it was the 20th Century and World War I which cemented it into the British psyche, along with Tommy and Taff .
  4. ^ Mark Perryman, Imagined Nation: England after Britain . Lawrence & Wishart, London 2008. pp. 86-87.
  5. ↑ Jock . In: Eric Partridge et al .: The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English , Volume 2. Routledge, London 2007.
  6. ↑ Scottish pilot loses racism claim over 'Jock' insults of his British Airways colleagues , in: Daily Mail (online edition), May 13, 2010.
  7. ^ Diana R. Rice, Dominic Abrams et al .: What Did You Just Call Me? European and American Ratings of the Valence of Ethnophaulisms . In: Journal of Language and Social Psychology 29: 1, 2010. pp. 117-131.