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MSP's controversy in the aisles

Categorised in: Language Strategy Activism
Dr Wilson with sybies - spring onions

Dr Bill Wilson, MSP for West of Scotland, has proposed that supermarkets and other shops in Scotland should label produce with their Scots names as well as the English equivalents. In response to this idea, it has been reported that Richard Todd, of the Scottish Retail Consortium, has said that the Consortium must only use ‘correct’ words. In a press statement Wilson has challenged Todd over his suggestion that the Scots language terms for items of produce were somehow ‘incorrect’ and asked why Scots vocabulalry was not being employed by shops in localities around Scotland.

Wilson did not suggest that every individual item should be provided with a Scots label, but rather that supermarket and shop shelves and sections could be marked or headed with a Scots name for the items being sold. He said that this could be done at minimal cost and would certainly enhance ‘Brand Scotland’ in tourist markets as well as raising the profile of Scottish produce.

Wilson further added that the apparent attitude of the Scottish Retail Consortium was “cultural arrogance” and made a “mockery” of the Year of Homecoming and of the language of Robert Burns that it was intended to celebrate.