Nigel wrote:
here is a toast which has become traditional in Scotland:
"Here's tae us wha's like us!", meaning "Here's to those that are like us!". Unfortunately it has become distorted into an arrogant "Here's tae us! Wha's like us?" meaning "who on this earth is as magnificant as we Scots?", usually appended with "Damn few, an' they're a' deid!"
Jack will probably jump in on this one, but I think the arrogant version is old, correct and grammatically sound while your douce variant is not sound Scots or Inglis. The toast is a Border motto, and Borderers were not renowned for holding back on arrogance.
Not sure about the 'Damn' though, I suspect that may have been Burns getting a bit racy. I've heard 'Gey few' from folk who will not say 'Damn' - and there are still plenty of those around, even in the Borders. Might say it falling off a horse, but not in a toast.
I think Jack, again, might provide some history of toasts in Scotland. They led to some phenomenal feats of drinking, since it was not unusual to have a couple of dozen toasts proposed, and a glass drained for each one!
You certainly should not toast a woman/girl by name - 'to the lasses' is fine, but not singling one out. It's got a specific meaning historically, as the words to Barbara Allen show. 'You gar'd the toast gae roon an' roon, an' slichted Barbara Allen' - it was a way of boasting of a conquest.
David
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