The word Sassenach comes originally from the Gaelic word Sasunnach, meaning Saxon. Now it is used to mean an English person.
Some people use it to mean Southerner and as that is all relative to where you are, it isn’t unheard of for a Highlander to call a Lowlander a Sassenach.
Mind you – as a Lowlander myself I would take great umbrage if anyone dared to call me a Sassenach. Not that I’m racist or anything! But I am a Viking/Celt, definitely not a Saxon.
Me too, but with a name like Inglis I get it all the time. Inglis is just the Scots word for English when pronounced In- gliss, but we pronounce it as Ingalls – and don’t say Oh, Little Hosue on the Prairie! Actually I loved those books when I was a kiddie.
Evee,
I just read those books recently as I hadn’t read them as a kid, the TV series put me off as the youngest daughter was so whiney. I wanted to know what I had missed, actually they were still quite enjoyable. It must be annoying having to tell people how to pronounce your name. You sometimes here people in England saying In-gliss when it’s their name.
My Canadian cousins and one branch of the Aussies use Ing-gliss. In England I never get any of my name pronounced correctly. I’m really Ev-lin but they say Eev-lin! I like it pronounced with the second e pronounced like er without the r! Ev-e(r)-lin!
Evve,
I’ve only ever known one other Evelyn and she had the same problem – she hated being called Eve – lynn.