To not understand why some people write 'kin' instead of 'can', 'wan' instead of 'one' etc?

[FiveSugarsPlease]

Not sure if it's just a Scottish thing (since i don't know many people who aren't Scottish), but why on earth wouldn't you just write the correct spelling when it has the same amount of letters as the wrong spelling?

I'm Scottish too, but i don't thing i've ever wrote in 'Scots' before. Lately, I've noticed a lot of my friends texting me in this way, or people's comments on FB.

Here's an excerpt of the latest convo on my newsfeed between my friend and someone he knows:

Yae doin anyhin tonight babez?
Naw, nuhin dawl. U uptae anyhin?
Naw kin a jist cum roon tae yours en?
Aye nae bother. Pm me.

WHY? I realise this is a very trivial thing, but i just don't get it. Surely it would be quicker to write 'No' than 'Naw'?

I speak Doric but I tend not to write in it. I can see why people would though, I mean, if it comes naturally to you, why not? Or indeed, fit wae nae?

And don't we give the Sassenachs enough concessions without having to write in a specific way to please them as well, eh? Eh?

Anyone know what region "howfin'" belongs to? Actor/director who does the Tron panto in Glasgow keeps using it.

As an English teacher, in Scotland, pupils are expected to write correct formal English. So it's not 'the law' but it is required in order to gain qualifications. A short story may be written in Scots, but a candidate will find it very difficult to do it effectively enough to gain a reasonable grade, so most of them don't. I don't see why writing on Facebook or Internet forums should not require the same levels of accuracy. The reason there was standardisation of language is to ensure that meaning was not lost.

I find it really sad that so many people don't want to use their own dialect.

Nae winner the Sassenachs aye win.

Scots is indeed a language, although the conversation in the OP is a mixture of Scots words and phonetic translations and Scots pronunciations IMO rather than written in Scots. "Naw" for example isn't a Scots word, it's the Scots pronunciation of "no".
I'm glad that part of the SNP propaganda for independence is promotion of Scots language and literature. Scots shouldn't be ashamed to speak in their own accent and dialect. I largely speak standard English - with a few Scots words thrown in I guess, as it's the way I was brought up, but I love having conversations with people who speak Scots. It's worth noting that the short-vowel Scottish - and also Northern English to a lesser extent - pronunciation of words pre-dates the long vowels used in Southern England. Much of Scots is actually akin to old English, but things evolved differently in the south of Britain, leading to standard English and R.P.

It depends on the pupil...I wouldn't recommend it for a general set but an able candidate can do well with it. It does a level of maturity and it's something more original. I mark folio at both levels.

I was brought up speaking Lowland Scots. I now speak with a dialect still, but find over the years of living abroad in England I have had to tone it down considerably.

So, when I chat on facebook with my friends in Scotland, I have been known to write in dialect. I'm not changing now

It drives me mad trying to read messages that are sent to me written like that.

I tend not to speak like that though so maybe that's why it annoys me.

As an English teacher Celticlassie, surely you are aware of registers of language, and (I would hope) of a bit of the history of the Scots language (similar but with marked differerences to most dialects of English). It might not be your language, but it is the first language for some, why shouldn't they write in it? Of course gaining qualifications in English requires a certain set of skills, and I'm glad you can pass those on to your students, but the world doesn't end at the school gate - maybe there are different linguistic skills they learn outside school. In some progressive classrooms this is even encouraged...!

The idea that exam English is how people should write in every context is mad, and even in that context, not every pupil (particularly when young) will find Scots harder than English, it depends on the language of the home. It is also tempting to point out that text speak and other forms of communication can be equally acceptable in different contexts, perhaps part of the very reason they are so popular with people on social networks is because they are not always understood by those outside of their circle. Why the hell do we think mumsnet is full of acronyms? Wouldn't be allowed to use them in exams, after all...

For me, language lives and breathes, it changes and adapts, and it's the joy of that, the range of vocabulary and codeswitching that makes it a bloody interesting subject imo. (With no apologies for the acronyms!) If people want to write in a language that hasn't standardised its spelling but has been around for centuries, I'm fine with that.

Completely agree Euphemia, bluer, and Saltire - xpost

I mark folios too, but have never seen this, even at markers' meetings. We have one or two examples in my school, but these were exceptional candidates, so in general I wouldn't advise it to my classes.
I don't think people should be ashamed to use their own dialect, (I use a lot of Scots words too) as long as they are able to distinguish between that and standard English when necessary.

Fair does, Celtic, distinguishing is different from not using, and a valuable skill I agree.

Ah hae tae say that I hae a great deal o respect fur folks wha can writ whale pages o text in Scots.

Ah'm an educated professional and I cannae dae it. Mind I dinnae speak Scots much at all but I dae understand it as maist oh the folk I work wi use it.

Glaikit and Dreich are my all time favourite descriptive words. I'm from the lowlands.

Not wishing to hijack....i'm sure there was an exemplar higher one kicking about at some point! Then again I may be losing the plot and getting confused!
I use the Anne Donovan stories and then lead the pupils to write their own...to be fair i've had mostly high sets the last few years.

Am ur - have heard this twice recently. And they weren't being ironic.

I love sending messages in various scots dialects.
Ex dh is a broad aberdonian and I do it to him and slip into speaking it when we are together.
Have a few weegie friends that as that is my own native tongue text to each other like that. I even bought one of them a pair of bawbags boxers for Christmas because he says it a lot and I love it in a pure weegie accent.
When I speak I'm actually quite well spoken and often considered a bitty posh

If it was good enough for Burns, it's good enough for me. Though I'm not a Scot - my dad is though, so I've never had a problem understanding Dorric.

I only use it when writing to people who I know will understand it, likewise when talking with a dialect.

In the name o the wee man some eh ye are needing to haud yer wheesht!

Away ben the kitchen n make yersel a wee cuppa tea and get a wee slice ae cloutie dumplin oot the press in calm yerself doon.

Whit a stramash aboot nuthin!

But ah hinnae bin fur ma messages yet apostropheuse so ave nae dumplin left. [:(]

Ah hope yer goany get them in the moarnin. Ye dinnae seem tae be much oh a hoosewife.

I bet yer a clarty bizzum annaw.