I was just watching The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Craig, as you know, is a Scot. His guest was TV funnyman Drew Carey. Carey had been on vacation in Glasgow, where he watched a football game between the Rangers and the “Sel-tics.” I thought Drew was transposing from the US pro basketball team, the Boston Celtics (which, in the US, is pronounced “Sel-tics.”) Up until now, I thought the only place Celtic was called Sel-tic was in US basketball. But, then Craig Ferguson said it the same way! Was that a slip of the tongue, or are there Celts (Kelts) who say it “Selts?”
Okay, this is your naive Yank question for today. Feel free to laugh. I don’t care. My grandmother was a Caldwell.
Yep, ‘Sel-tic’ (singular). Rangers-Celtic, the Old Firm, is one of the biggest football rivalries to be found anywhere. Member Ruadh is a season-ticket holder.
“Seltic” is actually the original pronunciation of the word; it’s only recently that it’s come to be pronounced “Keltic”. The football team retain the original pronunciation but in all other cases over here the word would be pronounced with a K sound.
BTW, from what I’ve heard, that’s about the only thing you should believe in Drew Carey’s story about the game he attended.
