Is the word 'Soothmoother' a bad 'un?

[Fjool]

No.. ok; that comes across as really sinister and calculating. A concerted effort wasn't really what I meant. More that there are some people who believe that soothmoothers should not attempt to use Shetland dialect. This is the kind of thing I am talking about. Whatever the reasons behind this (it sound ridiculous, etc), there is a line there.

[TeeAyBee]

 

I don't for a minute think that I could move to Cornwall or Belfast and blend in and, yes, I'm sure there would be a name for me there too.

 

I think in Cornwall they called me an "Emmet" (no I don't know what that means), in Belfast I was "F**king Brit Bas***d", in Yorkshire I was a "Shandy Swilling Southerner", in Kent (oddly where I come from) I was "Northern Scum", and it goes on. In Shetland no-one has called me a Soothmoother - this is probably the first place I've been where my accent and my manner of speech hasn't been an issue, well at least openly. Mind you, I tend to lapse into my normal pattern of speech which sounds like the more dodgy end of East London so perhaps they've branded me a Mitchell

 

I have heard the use of the word SoothMoother as a term of abuse used to describe other people, and while it might be indicative of a different accent, it is more to do with describing someone from somewhere else that they're either frightened of or dislike.

 

As I said, I've never had this term applied to me personally, and Shetland is the first place where my I suppose the word is ethnicity wasn't an issue. To echo and agree with Penfold and others, some people do this sort of thing, I guess the South doesn't hold the franchise on small minded morons, but what they hell, this is a free country (although I'm sure Vic Thomas would argue otherwise) so let them have their opinion.

 

Your SoothMoother,

 

T

[TeeAyBee]

No.. ok; that comes across as really sinister and calculating. A concerted effort wasn't really what I meant. More that there are some people who believe that soothmoothers should not attempt to use Shetland dialect. This is the kind of thing I am talking about. Whatever the reasons behind this (it sound ridiculous, etc), there is a line there.

 

I agree with you here. I once heard a Southerner (okay a Scot so I should say compared to me a Northerner) call something a "Tiny Peerie Wee Thing" - hmm. Excessive adjectives and what the "Just A Minute" lot would call 'repetition'. My personal opinion is that I should endeavour to understand as much dialect as I can to allow me to communicate with those who use dialect words in their natural conversation - had I moved to Spain I would have to understand Spanish even were I to live in "Eldorado" where everyone sounds like they come from Essex, but to use Shetland Dialect myself up here would sound a bit silly.

 

I guess I'll remain a Mitchell

[Frankie]

More that there are some people who believe that soothmoothers should not attempt to use Shetland dialect. This is the kind of thing I am talking about. Whatever the reasons behind this (it sound ridiculous, etc), there is a line there.

 

If I moved to the East end of London, I would feel a bit silly if I started to try to speak Cockney.

[TeeAyBee]

If I moved to the East end of London, I would feel a bit silly if I started to try to speak Cockney.

 

Gor Blimey, apples and pears, luv a duck, get awt of my parrrrb! Gwant?

[Fjool]

If I moved to the East end of London, I would feel a bit silly if I started to try to speak Cockney.

Absolutely. But if you'd grown up there, nobody would bat an eyelid.

[EM]

... some people who believe that soothmoothers should not attempt to use Shetland dialect.

 

I think that this is also entirely dependent on the specific usage. When it comes across as being affected and artificial then it is probably best avoided. On the other hand, I have many a time greatly enjoyed hearing humorous tales related where adoption of dialect has been masterfully achieved. In particular the dry Whalsay wit is almost always enhanced when pronounced with a Whalsay accent. I should stress that I consider both the wit and the accent to be amongst Shetland's greatest cultural gems.

[Muppet]

All this discussion seems to be centering on 'soothmoothers' shouldn't try to use the shetand dialect.

 

Surely everyone knows an expatriate shetlander who returns speaking as if he'd lived in America/Oz or elsewhere all his life! I've met a few. Wher's the difference?

 

I cant see the problem with somebody speaking the local lingo. Some people do it well, some people give you a laugh, but really it only shows that people are trying to fit in. Whats the problem?

 

I remember a lot of years ago, Radio Shetland interviewing the son of a Shetland emigrant who'd never been to Shetland before. He spoke with an accent which would have put a lot of Shetlanders to shame, but he was a 'soothmoother'. Should he have been ridiculed?

 

You need to remember that if Shetland never admitted anyone from outside to embark on it's shores, not one of us would be here today! Theres a big world out there. Accept it and get on with serious things in life!

[MJ]

I remember a lot of years ago, Radio Shetland interviewing the son of a Shetland emigrant who'd never been to Shetland before. He spoke with an accent which would have put a lot of Shetlanders to shame, but he was a 'soothmoother'. Should he have been ridiculed?

 

Now when I was was a bairn it wasn't where you were born, it was who your parents were (where they were born, surname, etc).

It doesn't seem to be a problem in the local school as much as it was. And it seriously could be a problem in the past, there are a lot of incomers now.

The only problem my daughter's had isn't that she's a Soothmoother, it's that she needs to learn Shetland. I found it quite amusing, she got told with her mum coming from Shetland she should start speaking dialect. I explained if she can switch between the Deeside and the Shetland that would be fine, but we spent a lot of money trying to achieve her accent! (god I'm a snob).

 

What about all these folk who go down to hospital and refuse to speak in English? Pretty much everyone born in Shetland will have been to school. Therefore they will have been forced to speak English for at least 7years of their lives. But will they speak to the nurses/doctors in language they understand? When in hospital the term Soothmooth shouldn't be applicable but you still here it used.

[Pleepsie]

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.

 

The fact is that a real Shetlander uses the term Soothmoother to describe anyone from the the rest of the World.

 

So stop beating yourselves up over it!

[jaydee67]

 

 

I think in Cornwall they called me an "Emmet" (no I don't know what that means)

 

An emmet is a type of ant and refers to the way people scurrying around on the beaches look from on top the cliffs.

 

I used emmet as a child and never thought it was derogatory - it just meant a holiday maker to me. I have been refered to as a soothmoother generally and heard soothmoother used as an insult in the 28 years I have been here, but generally it is used to mean someone who came in the south mouth - which I did.

 

Of course if it is preceded by the word bl**dy then it is not a good term!

[TeeAyBee]

 

I think in Cornwall they called me an "Emmet" (no I don't know what that means)

An emmet is a type of ant and refers to the way people scurrying around on the beaches look from on top the cliffs.

 

Thanks very much! I always wondered what that meant. No can anyone tell me what a Blackpool "Grockle" is? I gather it is used in the same context as Emmet.

[Guest posiedon]

In Blackpool "grockle" is a derogatory term for tourists.

[groilick]

I wis telt dat toorists wir caaed piles in Cornwall becase dey cam doon in bunches an wir a pain in da er*e

[wilks]

re 'Emmet'

 

ant

· n. a small insect, usually wingless and with a sting, living in a complex social colony with one or more breeding queens. [Family Formicidae.]

– PHRASES have ants in one’s pants informal be fidgety.

– ORIGIN OE &mete, of W. Gmc origin: cf. emmet.

 

an den...

 

grockle

· n. Brit. informal, derogatory a holidaymaker, especially one in the West Country.

– ORIGIN an invented word, orig. a fantastic creature in a children’s comic, popularized by the film The System (1962).

 

 

When I lived in Helston, Cornwall, baith wirds wir used by da locals bit never in a derogatory wy, except when prefixed wi certain idder wirds.

Tae my mind it's da sam wi 'soothmoother'.

In da end we're aa caad something as a wy o differentiating wis fae each idder.