Is the word 'Soothmoother' a bad 'un?

[trout]

Right! We've all been through this ...

 

Let's get back to the thread and the question at hand. Regurgitating old news helps nothing!

[Ghostrider]

^^ Yup, and to the best of my recollection, "yes" to both questions.

[AlyBaly]

hmmm

[tlady]

Right! We've all been through this ...

 

Let's get back to the thread and the question at hand. Regurgitating old news helps nothing!

 

I am trying .....

[Spinner72]

I doubt there can ever be an answer to the question in hand.

 

It's all a case of interpetation and social acceptance, as with many "descriptive nicknames".

 

On another chat/forum site i'm involved with, we have recently had a debate, after complaints, about the words "pom" and "pommie" as descriptors for the british. I'm sure most people are no longer concerned by this, and indeed the Advertising Standards Board of Australia unanimously ruled in 2006 that the word "pom" was a part of the Australian vernacular, and was largely used in a "playful or affectionate" sense and so could be used in advertising.

 

Yet for some people, it is clearly still offensive.

 

Perhaps the best example of this, however, is "nigga". Even then i paused as it didnt feel right typing a word with such stigma attached in here, and yet it is also very well accepted in many places and cultures now as a term of endearment - however, it could never be considered correct to use it as a descriptor of any kind in an open public forum.

 

Likewise, on a smaller scale, soothmoother. I'm sure we all know people who use and/or accept the term in different ways, which is fine, so we should all bear these varying opinions in mind and respect them.

[frunco1]

When I interviewed people about Shetland identity, the "soothmoother" question usually came up, and I can say that, regardless of how native Shetlanders feel about the word, incomers tend to feel that it has been used against them derogatively. Not in the sense that anyone ever called them "one of those blasted soothmoothers" but in the sense that they felt they were being denied a sort of emotional and intellectual citizenship, that some people take their opinions less seriously because they are not Shetlanders.

Now, this may be a massive misunderstanding, but let's be honest: How is it fair for the people who are saying the debatably-derogatory word to be the arbiters of whether or not it is appropriate? Surely, it's the "Soothmoothers" who possess that right. Otherwise, you end up taking the Stuart Hill line of "It's your choice whether or not something offends you."

But hey, that's just my opinion...

[Styles]

I dont think it is offensive, but do think it does have a us and them kind of connatation, which is not offensive but just a fact.

[clanchief]

In Captain Alan Whitfield's book "Island Pilot" he describes the various tributes that he received when leaving Shetland after 10 years spent establishing the Loganair inter island and air ambulance service.

 

The SIC ghave him a specially commissioned book with the following poem embossed on the cover:

 

On behalf o da guid fokk o Shetland

Da council wish de 'revoir'

An 'bon chance' in dye new situation

Alto du will niver be faer

Awa fae de herts o da money

On wha's behalf du laboured so hard

In da mooriest, murkiest wadder

Wir burdens du willingly shared

 

Its fine to ken dat nu an dan a Soothmoother comes wan o wire ane

 

 

Not too sure about the quality of the poetry, but this is surely an official endorsement from the SIC that it is Ok to use the term Southmoother

[frunco1]

Its fine to ken dat nu an dan a Soothmoother comes wan o wire ane

 

Not too sure about the quality of the poetry, but this is surely an official endorsement from the SIC that it is Ok to use the term Southmoother

 

Sadly this endoresment is entirely to the point: "Occasionally, a Soothmoother manages to enter the exalted ranks of the real Shetlanders."

 

This poem implictly contrasts most Soothmoothers with Captain Whitfield, saying that Whitfield is no longer a Soothmoother, which in context is obviously supposed to be a good thing.

[Njugle]

Is it though? It doesn't have any reference that he has become better, just different.

[sassermaet]

That's a very good question...

 

I don't really use it myself in case I offend people, but in my opinion it really depends on the context.

[Styumpie]

Soothmoother is a word that describes people from the south, who dont speak Shetlun. The term English could be used in a derogatory way to describe English folk, it all depends on the intent of the person who uses the term, and the context in which it's used. Soothmoother is a word thats been used innocently in Shetland for many years between Shetlanders, I cant see what the problem is.

 

An English born person who learns to speak perfect Shetlun is no longer a soothmoother.

[MJ]

Never could figure out when I was a bairn how come I was a Soothmoother when the "nice" young Shetland lass I was stuck next to in class was born in Aberdeen (I was born in the Annex). But then she really was(maybe still is) a racist bint.

Also remember the shock and horror of one very proud Shetlander being told by an older lady that she was a Soothmoother because she didn't have a Shetland surname.

A couple of years back found myself a wee bit confused to be told by a taxi driver I couldn't call myself a Soothmoother. That it was no longer okay, and the Guizer Jarl had just got in some big stouchie about it. I always thought it didn't matter if you are soothmoother or not it, was where you "belong" that mattered. But very few kids now know what you mean when you ask where they belong.

[junior]

I got called it now and again as a child (again, despite being born in the Gilbert Bain) and it was never in a positive light.

 

So, while the general consensus seems to be that it is OK in context, I'd argue that its OK in any context (sometimes offense should be both given and taken) but if you want to use it without seeming xenophobic, you might want to use it in a good way now and again.

 

.... and always in the proper tongue, none of this Southmoother stuff

[groilick]

Until recent years I'd nivver heard da term soothmoother osed onywharr idder dan in Lerook.

Dis whole soothmoother nonsense started efter a third rate TV presenter caad Fogle wisna allowed tae tak ower Up Helly Aa, dan wir Tourist Board manager started greeting fur he towt Up Helly Aa wis just set on is a tourist attraction.

Years ago I can mind 1st generation incomers biding in Lerook being caaed 'Lerook Scotties'.