# Scottish Simpsons fans - Is Willie offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 10, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345 "2005-02-10T04:18:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/21 "2005-02-10T22:05:15Z")
I’m living in Scotland with two Scottish flatmates. The accent is terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/22 "2005-02-10T22:32:19Z")
My great-grandmother was from Scotland. But I’ve never been there. So I guess my opinion doesn’t count. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/23 "2005-02-10T23:05:14Z")
I’m Scottish. I’ve lived here my whole life. What is being gently missed here is that there are a HUGE variety of accents in Scotland, just like in England. There was once a record called “The Rumour”, which was about a piece of gossip being spread around Scotland, and it was sung in a differnet accent every time it got to a new place. I have to say I’ve met more than a few people who sound like Willie, and they’ve come from all over the place. Shetland, some of them (although you might get hit if you tell Shetlanders that they’re Scottish, and besides, there are loads of different accents up there, including English ones). So do bear in mind that there’s no really generic “Scottish” accent. The closest I’ve ever heard was Mike Myers, and his accent is utterly appalling, made me want to hit someone. People trying to do “Scottish” usually end up doing a mixture of different regions, which always sounds ridiculous even to the untutored. I know that’s what happens when we try to do American accents. For a really good Scottish accent you’d be better to pick one place and stick with it. Dudley Moore did a very good posh Edinburgh. Mel Gibson sounded reasonably west-coast. Etc. Um. Offensive… well, not because he wears a kilt and bangs on about bagpipes all the time, because we take the piss out of those people ourselves (until we feel like doing it ourselves, and then woe betide anyone who doesn’t dab his eyes with the hem of his kilt). I think he’s just annoying, really, but I suppose I can see why it’s funny. Like on Shooting Stars when they had Curtis Stigers on as a guest and Bob asked him “So, who’s winning over there at the moment - the cowboys or the indians?” On [this page](http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/r/video_clips/rabcnesbitt_7775310_1.shtml) there is a realplayer clip of the infamous Rab C Nesbitt. Watch, listen, take notes, inwardly digest. That’s what we sound like in Glasgow. The show apparently went out with subtitles in England. I’d be fascinated to see if anyone in the US can understand it. It sounds clear enough to me! (I don’t sound like that, but that’s why I get beaten up) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/24 "2005-02-10T23:09:25Z")
> [@AlbertHosteen](#): > > No, not offensive. Funny, actually. > > Though my six-year-old daughter does act shocked every time someone says his name! I wonder how she’d respond if you brought [this DVD](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106965/) home for her collection. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alonzo\_John\_Blitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@Alonzo\_John\_Blitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alonzo_John_Blitz)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/25 "2005-02-10T23:21:38Z")
Thanks for the link **Ross**! Now I’m not going to get anything done for the next three days while I explore that site. We need more BBC comedy shows in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/26 "2005-02-10T23:22:03Z")
Married to a Scot - all her family live in Glasgow and environs - not offensive. Rab Nesbitt DID NOT have subtitles, though it was handy having a scottish wife. Me - ‘What’s a “bahookey”?’ ‘What does “clartey” mean?’ I saw Gregor Fisher, the actor who plays Rab today in Carlisle as it happens. Worse than Willie’s accent waas the brief appearance of a scottish girl when Bart stole the tractor during the school inspection. It seemed to be based on Maureen O’Hara’s bad Irish accent from ‘The Quiet Man’! MiM ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/27 "2005-02-10T23:38:14Z")
> [@Ross](#): > > The closest I’ve ever heard was Mike Myers, and his accent is utterly appalling, made me want to hit someone. Please make that someone Mike Myers. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/28 "2005-02-11T06:29:35Z")
I wonder if people from “North Kilttown” find willy offensive… ---
**Author:** ![Arch\_Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@Arch\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arch_Trout)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/29 "2005-02-11T12:43:23Z")
> [@Made in Macau](#): > > Married to a Scot - all her family live in Glasgow and environs - not offensive. > Rab Nesbitt DID NOT have subtitles, though it was handy having a scottish wife. > Me - ‘What’s a “bahookey”?’ ‘What does “clartey” mean?’ bahookey means ‘arse’, or as the yanks would say ‘fanny’. clartey means ‘dirty’, but usually in a disgusting sense. If someone was to say drink the beer straight from the slops tray you’d call him clartey. As for Wullie. I find him quite funny, not offensive. Interestign how in one episode they had him say ‘shite’, I always thought American tv was quite unforgiving about swearing. His accent, sounds to me, to be stereotypical/generic highlander accent. But certainly not doric. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/30 "2005-02-11T13:15:25Z")
> [@Arch Trout](#): > > bahookey means ‘arse’, or as the yanks would say ‘fanny’. We hardly ever say that… ‘ass’ is much more common. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/31 "2005-02-11T13:38:05Z")
> [@Arch Trout](#): > > As for Wullie. I find him quite funny, not offensive. Interestign how in one episode they had him say ‘shite’, I always thought American tv was quite unforgiving about swearing. If he pronounced ‘shite’ with a long\*\* i\*\*, the networks probably assumed it was a scottish word and didn’t even notice. I remember when _Star Trek’s_ Capt. Picard used the word _merde_ (French for shit) and it was not censored. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/32 "2005-02-11T13:43:54Z")
“Wankers” has got through on a couple of occasions as well. It must be that they don’t know what it means (or at least assume the audience won’t). ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/33 "2005-02-11T13:52:50Z")
I can provide a parallel, I guess. I’m from the South (in the US), and back when I was a kid, two very popular sitcoms were _The Beverly Hillbillies_ and _The Andy Griffith Show_, which portrayed southerners as complete idiots. Ironically, these shows were very popular in the south and still are in reruns, I reckon. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/34 "2005-02-11T14:41:36Z")
> [@Ross](#): > > The show apparently went out with subtitles in England. No, it didn’t and I saw it from the first episode. Took me a few episodes to get my ear tuned though. ---
**Author:** ![RitzyRae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@RitzyRae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitzyRae)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/35 "2005-02-11T15:23:16Z")
Ah ha! Maybe I should have waited for this thread (when all the Scots were about) to ask the meaning of “away and raffle yer donut”! No worries, though. I received a quite ::cough:: clear answer. Back to the OP, I wouldn’t or haven’t felt that Willie (or Wullie) would be any more offensive then having Apu work at a convenience store. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/36 "2005-02-11T19:24:55Z")
> [@+MDI](#): > > I’m living in Scotland with two Scottish flatmates. The accent is terrible. Whose … yours or theirs? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/37 "2005-02-11T20:30:32Z")
> [@RitzyRae](#): > > Ah ha! Maybe I should have waited for this thread (when all the Scots were about) to ask the meaning of “away and raffle yer donut”! No worries, though. I received a quite ::cough:: clear answer… I’ve heard this before. It’s an insult, isn’t it? A serious one? I was amazed at how the UK’ers would talk to each other (well, not so much the English). One can tell, in context, that a lot of stuff said between them is in jest and good fun; but, if you were to read a transcript of it, it sounds bloody awful. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RitzyRae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@RitzyRae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitzyRae)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/38 "2005-02-11T20:53:54Z")
> [@mazinger\_z](#): > > I’ve heard this before. It’s an insult, isn’t it? A serious one? \*\*irishgirl \*\* told me it means: “To raffle…to sell tickets for a prize. The winner is picked out of a hat. Yer doughnut…think figuratively rather than literally. A body part resembling a doughnut. It’s like ‘away off and sell your hole to the highest bidder’.” Apparently, it is the stronger version of “away and boil yer heid”. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/39 "2005-02-11T21:09:22Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > I can provide a parallel, I guess. I’m from the South (in the US), and back when I was a kid, two very popular sitcoms were _The Beverly Hillbillies_ and _The Andy Griffith Show_, which portrayed southerners as complete idiots. Ironically, these shows were very popular in the south and still are in reruns, I reckon. Just as ironically, the old \*Amos n’ Andy \* radio show was popular among blacks. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345/40 "2005-02-11T22:17:39Z")
> [@Made in Macau](#): > > Married to a Scot - all her family live in Glasgow and environs - not offensive. > Rab Nesbitt DID NOT have subtitles, though it was handy having a scottish wife. > Me - ‘What’s a “bahookey”?’ ‘What does “clartey” mean?’ > I saw Gregor Fisher, the actor who plays Rab today in Carlisle as it happens. > > Worse than Willie’s accent waas the brief appearance of a scottish girl when Bart stole the tractor during the school inspection. It seemed to be based on Maureen O’Hara’s bad Irish accent from ‘The Quiet Man’! > MiM Although Rab C Nesbitt did not have subtitles as such they were available via the normal option for those people who were hard of hearing. I actually used to turn those on when the show was being broadcast so that I could understand what he was saying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scottish-simpsons-fans-is-willie-offensive/289345.md?page=3)