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Q&A How can I make my character sound Scottish?

Besides the spelling and specific vocabulary, you could make your character Scottish by making him culturally Scottish. This is not about the way you write his speech, but about the content of what...

posted 5y ago by _X_‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-18T21:34:22Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41265
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:34:31Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41265
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T10:34:31Z (over 4 years ago)
Besides the spelling and specific vocabulary, you could make your character Scottish by making him culturally Scottish. This is not about the way you write his speech, but about the content of what your character says.

1. **Jokes.** Make his jokes about Others (e.g. Frenchies, Londoners, Eskimos, etc...) and their habits that Scots may find hilarious. If you don't want to invest too much time in researching that, you could take just any joke that compares two groups of people, or two countries and replace them with Others and Scots for the effect.

2. **Trivia.** Make him refer to Scottish facts and trivia which are known to the greater public. For instance the time when Scotland was still an independent country in its own right could be used as a way to say "a long time ago". Or make him refer to the traditional Scottish kilt as a "traditional AC unit". Or anything that is not clear is "denser 'an fog cross the Highlands". Or perhaps the fact that most of Scottish roads are so narrow than you drive in the middle as a way to say that they drive on both the right and left side of the road at the same time.

3. **The trope.** As with any good comedian, in his professional life he may exaggerate the Scottish stereotype while on stage, and force himself to be more in the norm in private.

4. **Knowns and unknowns.** make him knowledgeable about his background and country. I'd advice you research that. And make him less acquainted about other countries or backgrounds. 

Finally, not quite about language, but a general advice.

1. **Habits.**"That's how we do it." Make him a rough gentleman, how that is honest to his word, parsimonious in his speech. Make him know that, and make him justify his being like that because of his culture. That is not because he is one such, but because that is how he was taught while growing up, and probably values these aspects of life more than others. Make him neutral to fashion, or to loving cheese or refined food, but, as an example, make him absolutely taken by the value of returning favors.

Finally #2, for inspiration (I'd use the modern day English version, but keep the meaning of the old sayings): [https://scotlandwelcomesyou.com/scottish-sayings/](https://scotlandwelcomesyou.com/scottish-sayings/)

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-01-13T21:14:38Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 1