On 03 Nov 2002 02:12:54 GMT, (Iris Cohen) wrote:

Here's one for you. The British don't seem to care if Americans say elevator,
aluminum, railroad track, windshield, truck, alfalfa, turnip, squash, eggplant,
or even corn for Zea mays. But if you call Pinus equestris Scotch pine, the
British bonsai growers have a fit. Outside the US it is Scots pine. I have
tried to explain that it is listed that way in American dictionaries, but they
insist the dictionary is wrong (not understanding the function of a
dictionary).
Iris,

I think if you called "Pinus equestris" Scotch Pine _or_ Scots Pine we
English'd be very puzzled. If it existed, perhaps it would have to be
called Horse Pine (cf. Horse Chestnut).

Of course if you can produce a specimen from your car boot or even
have a slip tucked under your trouser braces, we might be persuaded.
:-)

Anyway, nowadays "Scottish" or "Scots" tends to refer to things from
Scotland, and "Scotch" refers to one of the finest drinks in the known
universe, aka whisky (note lack of "e"). So it just sounds plain odd
to hear it applied to other things.

But you can always hit the pedants with historical antecedent. There
are plenty of British references to "Scotch pine" or "Scotch fir" at
least down to the early 20th century.

--
Martin (off-duty)
Chandlers Ford, Hampshire