''Teuchter'' ( , ) is a Lowland Scots word sometimes used to offensively describe a Scottish Highlander, in particular a Gaelic-speaking Teuchter. The term is also in use with more broader meanings attached, commonly applied to any Scot perceived to be from a rural area, and within Glasgow those who are from outwith the Greater Glasgow area. It is offensive, equivalent to other cultural epithets used by more powerful groups to describe people they have oppressed, but is often seen as amusing by the speaker. The term is contemptuous, essentially describing someone seen to be uncouth and rural.

Derivation

The word also shows up as ''cheuchter, tschooktir, chuchter, teuchtar, chookter'' but has no universally accepted orthography. From relative obscurity, it gained currency around 1910. There are three main theories on the etymology of the word: * a purely Gaelic derivation from ''tuath'' "peasantry, tenantry" or ''deoch'' "drink" (borrowed into Scots as ''teuch'') plus an agent-forming

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

''-air'' or ''-adair'' * a derivation from the Scots

adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...

''teuch'' "physically or mentally strong, tough" plus a suffix * a derivation from the Scots

noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...

''teuchit/teuchat'' " lapwing" One

folk etymology Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...

urban myth Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

is that during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, many members of the Highland regiments were pipers. A book of sheet music for the pipes is called a "tutor", and when pronounced with the pre-aspiration of Gaelic accents when speaking English, this sounds like "teuchter".

Humour

Like other rural stereotypes, teuchters commonly feature in jokes ( Billy Connolly has performed and recorded a sketch where a teuchter visiting the city marvels at a bus as "a hoose wi wheels") though such stories often end with the apparently naive teuchter triumphing through hidden wiliness. The archetypal cartoon teuchter is the cartoon character Angus Og, created by Ewen Bain. A teuchter is the hero of Scottish musician Bill Hill's ''The Portree Kid'', which parodies the song ''Ghost Riders in the Sky'' as "The teuchter that cam frae

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

References

Pejorative terms for European people Culture of Scotland Stereotypes of rural people {{scotland-stub

Derivation

Humour

See also

References