The Scottish Trope: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Comedians are notoriously superstitious, more so even than actors, who fear the word {{spoiler|Macbeth}} so much that they will attempt to stab anyone who dares speak or print it. This is why [[Shakespeare]] is dead now, and why I remain in hiding."''
|'''John Hodgman''', ''[[The Areas of My Expertise]]''}}
Certain words are just not spoken. Beyond [[Speak of the Devil]], past the [[Brown Note]], you never, ''ever'' say the true name of '''The Scottish Trope'''! Just saying its true name once is enough to break your fine china, cause [[Dramatic Thunder]], make all the nearby dogs howl, cause milk to sour, and trigger [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|a mild itching sensation]].
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* In [[Naruto]], Ginkaku and Kinkaku have a ninja tool that causes people's souls to get absorbed if they say the word they said most in life. Unlike the Yu Yu Hakusho example above, remaining silent for too long also results in one getting absorbed. {{spoiler|Ginkaku ends up having his own tool turned against him}}.
== Fan
* Certain stories can become The Scottish Trope within respective fandoms.
** It is nearly taboo in the ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' community to mention the story "Squad Broken," which is about
* ''In the [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** Though on the other hoof, it's also become somewhat fandom tradition to ''reference'' the fic in some fashion. A common one is to have {{spoiler|Rainbow Dash jokingly ask Pinkie Pie when they're alone if she's going to take her to her basement and murder her}} or simply some kind of [[Take That]] at the fic. Still, the ''name'' is rarely actually mentioned.
* ''[[Rectified Anonymity]]'', a profoundly horrible and unspeakably horrifying [[Fan Fiction]] of ''[[Pokémon]]'', is invariably referred to as just ''[[The Pokémon Story]]''.
== Comic Books ==
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* In ''[[Looney Tunes: Back in Action]]'', Daffy tries to save Bugs by assuming the persona of [[Duck Dodgers]], but whenever he says his name his jet pack blows up. Eventually he gets the hang of it.
{{quote|Aha, it's You-Know-Who to the rescue! It helps if you don't say the name.}}
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* The [[Not Using the Zed Word|"Zed" word]] in ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'' And the same word in many other works relating to the dead that walk.
* This isn't that bad relative to the other examples, but saying "Blücher",<ref name="Blücher">*WHINNY*</ref> as in Frau Blücher,<ref name="Blücher" /> in ''[[Young Frankenstein]]'' anywhere in the castle caused horses to whinny ominously.
* The evil M (voiced by David Bowie) in ''[[Arthur
* Saying the name of ''
* In the movie ''[[Candyman]]'', saying the name Candyman five times in front of mirror will cause him to appear.
* The titular "Ghost with the Most" of ''[[Beetlejuice]]''.
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Well how the hell are we supposed to figure out what it is we can't say in front of you if you won't tell us what it is! It's very silly to not reveal it so we can stop saying it!
AHHHH!! }}
* Stoning scene in Monty Python's ''[[Life of Brian]]'': anyone saying 'Jehovah' must be pelted with rocks.
* In ''[[The Producers]]'' the taboo of saying good luck is explained to Bloom. [[Hilarity Ensues]] as Bialystock spends the entire song telling the entire cast good luck as they enter the theater as they're secretly [[Springtime for Hitler|trying to make the play fail]].
* At the beginning of ''[[Cecil B. Demented]]'', Honey Whitlock gets pissed off when someone tells her "Good luck."
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** Also [[The Fair Folk|"The Fair Folk." "The Shining Ones." "The Gentry." "The Lords And Ladies."]] Those names were originally used in place of "Elf" because saying Elf would draw their attention, but as the Elves drew near even saying "The Gentry" or "The Lords and Ladies" would do the job.
** Note that Rincewind while [[Wangst|lamenting]] about his [[The Chew Toy|chew toy]] status notes that his room at Unseen University was room 7a.
** ''In [[
* In ''[[Harry Potter]]'', [[Speak of the Devil|saying Voldemort]]. Most adults who had to live through his reign will call him "He Who Must Not Be Named" or "You-know-who", while his followers call him "The Dark Lord". Some adults and most students will just say his name because it's easier that way.
** In ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (novel)|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'' it really
** In an interview with Pottercast, Rowling called her Harry Potter Encyclopedia "the Scottish Book" (which may instead take the form of the website Pottermore); it's a double joke as she is Scottish.
* "[[Rumpelstiltskin]]". This is paid tribute to in ''Shrek The Third''.
* The ''[[Thursday Next]]'' villain Acheron Hades can hear his name spoken (but not written down) anywhere within at least half a mile, though he isn't summoned by it. However, speaking it ''will'' get his attention, and you do not want him paying attention to you.
* The [[Big Bad]] of Garth Nix's ''[[Old Kingdom]]'' trilogy {{spoiler|Orannis, the Ninth Bright Shiner}}. The protagonists are warned not to speak its name when it is close to breaking free, and instead call it "the Destroyer" or similar.
* The evil M in ''[[Arthur
* In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'', one should not say speak the real name of [[Big Bad|The Dark One]]. (It's Shai'tan). Doing so will bring his attention to you. The only time it is ever stated outside of battle caused a horde of trollocs to over run the city the heroes were in, and steal an incredibly valuable magical artifact.
* One of the worst Librarians in the [[Alcatraz Series|''Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians'' series]] is known as "She Who Must Not Be Named". Not because her name is cursed or anything, don't be silly - it's just that nobody can pronounce it.
* Entire passages in ''[[House of Leaves]]'' concerning {{color|red|the Minotaur}} are struck out, perhaps to avoid a grisly fate. They were restored by Johnny Truant when he annotated the manuscript. But still other passages were ''burned off the page with some sort of acid''. Given that Truant is an [[Unreliable Narrator]], it's entirely possible he destroyed other parts of the book to keep them from seeing the light of day. [[Brown Note|He would have good reason]].
* The "Triple Thee" in the ''[[Apprentice Adept]]'' series: Saying "thee" to someone three times in a row is a pledge of deepest love and devotion and it carries the power of an magic oath, so saying it casually is A Bad Thing. (Like most oaths and promises in the Adept series, the consequences of breaking an oath are never even hinted at. Probably terminal [[Honor Before Reason|loss of honor]])
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* In the ''[[Chronicles of Narnia]]'': ''The Magician's Nephew'', the witch Jadis speaks the Deplorable Word, a magical incantation "which, if spoken with the proper ceremonies, would destroy all living things except the one who spoke it." Unlike conventional examples of this trope, this word actually ''was'' used to kill everyone on her planet. Scholars had been aware of the Deplorable Word for centuries, but Jadis was the only person on her world ever evil enough to actually use it.
** And that's saying something, considering how ruthlessly ambitious, corrupt, and prone to wholesale slaughter the royal family of Charn was.
* In Astrid Lindgren's
* In the ''[[Dresden Files]]'' book ''Turn Coat'', the {{spoiler|skinwalker}} gets more powerful from feeding off fear, so mentioning it makes it more powerful. Harry [[The Nicknamer|being Harry]], he compensates by renaming it "Shagnasty
** Near the end of the book ''Summer Knight'', Harry yells {{spoiler|"I don't believe in faeries!"}} as a battle cry during
** Saying Mab's name three times apparently summons her, at least once
* Heroes participating in the [[Show Within a Show|South Seas Treasure Game]] from ''Dream Park'' were barred from speaking the name of the enemy New Guinea tribe, as using an enemy's name or magic without permission would invite retribution by supernatural forces. Subverted in that the ''players'' could name the
* In Margaret Atwood's ''Cat's Eye'', a character acting in the play has to refer to it as "The Tartans."
* In [[Diane Duane]]'s ''[[Young Wizards]]'' series, specifically mentioned in "High Wizardry", saying the Lone Power's full name in the Speech is said to get Its attention. Nita, who is using the name to track Dairine, tells Kit that It was already paying attention anyway, so it wasn't going to make much of a difference; in fact, it might even help Dairine.
* In the ''[[Gaunt's Ghosts]]'' novel ''Blood Pact'', Ayatani Zweil doesn't want to hear of {{spoiler|his terminal condition}} and insists that it be called "The Concern". {{spoiler|Problem is, it's not his... but Dorden's.}}
* ''Light Thickens'', by [[Ngaio Marsh]], is about a production of [[The Scottish Play]]. Some actors are skeptical, some superstitious, all notice some strange events occurring during rehearsal. And then once it's in production, that isn't a prop head coming out impaled on the claymore ....
* ''[[Labyrinths of Echo]]'' has a superstition among the Uguland wizards that speaking the name of the Grand Magician of the Order of the Secret Grass (as the [[Magical Society|Orders]] go, it used to be very laidback and concerned with quality of life… but also among those good at defence) can be fatal. Some insist that it's dangerous only for those with bad feelings toward the man, and some dismiss it altogether as a silly rumour. Though everyone who actually speaks his name aloud happens to have a good opinion of him.
== Live-Action TV ==
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** Being angry about premature celebrations was a [[Running Gag]] with Toby. On the night their first supreme court justice was confirmed he refused to let the staff drink (or even ''decorate'') until the 51st 'yea' vote was recorded.
** There was also the time Ed & Larry tried to give Josh some news about a recession. Josh said that the R-word was forbidden in the White House, and they ended up calling it a "bagel." (The news was good; they expected that the bagel would be mild.)
* Any time someone mentioned the word "[[Adult Fear|audit]]" in the tax day episode from the original series of ''[[Roseanne]]'' a cliché [[Scare Chord]] would play and the cast would look around nervously.
* The second season of ''[[Slings and Arrows]]'' had an opening title sequence built around this trope.
* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'':
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* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]''
** In one episode, Tom tricks Mike into saying "[[Lost in Space]]", which he and Crow use as ''carte blanche'' to dress up as the robot and Dr. Smith and goof around. At the end of the episode, Tom tries to trick him into saying "[[Gilligan's Island]]", but Mike has gotten wise to the whole thing.
** Another episode started with Tom and Crow asking Joel, "What was that word that Mr. Moose tried to get [[Captain Kangaroo]] to say all the time?" Joel answered, "Oh yeah, I remember, it was 'ping-pong balls'." Joel then gets pelted with a shower of ping-pong balls. This was an homage to a [[Running Gag]] from ''[[Captain Kangaroo]]''.
* An episode of ''[[Midsomer Murders]]'' starts with a performance of said play. Apparently, the idea of not mentioning the name off-stage hadn't gotten through to everyone on the set yet. Someone promptly is murdered on stage (and stays dead).
== Music ==
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* The ancient Greeks did not generally speak Hades' name, for fear of attracting his attention. He was often called by euphemisms (e.g., the "Host of Many"), or by complimentary nicknames such as "the rich one" (''Plouton'', which the Latins spelled ''Pluto'').
* If you stand in front of a mirror in the dark and say "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary!" she'll appear and scratch your face off. {{spoiler|No, she won't.}} Who is "she", you ask? ''Mary Worth'', and no, not [[Mary Worth|that one]].
** ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' has it that if you drink a hundred of these in front of a mirror, you'll die. Of alcohol poisoning.
*** There is however the Guy Mad of Bees who does appear if his name is spoken before a mirror five times.
** Also referenced in ''[[Xkcd]]''.
== Sports ==▼
* This trope is common in a wide variety of sports. Taboo topics can include:▼
** Hockey: Saying "shutout" in ice hockey when a goaltender has yet to surrender a goal▼
** Baseball: talking about a perfect game/no hitter in progress, especially to the pitcher. In the latter innings of a perfect game, the other players will refuse to speak or even sit anywhere near the pitcher for fear of letting anything slip.▼
** Bowling: Talking about a perfect game in progress, or, back when one could find bowling alleys without automatic scorekeeping machines, even writing down the 30-60-90-120-etc. scores in each frame until the game is over or the bowler throws a non-strike (quite a few of the automatic machines will do this too).▼
** All of the above is likely due to confirmation bias, but to many fans this is [[Serious Business]] in the utmost.▼
* If you happen to be in Winnipeg, the team in Phoenix, formerly the Winnipeg Jets, will not be mentioned by name.▼
** and if you live in Atlanta, the team in Winnipeg will not be mentioned by name...at least by the people in Atlanta who actually cared about the Thrashers.▼
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' (Fiendish Codex 2): saying Pazuzu's name 3 times will cause him to appear and offer the character a wish. Making said wishes is not recommended. On the other hand, it worked out really well for Pun-Pun.▼
** Generally there's an uncommon, but widespread notion that names of the gods should be avoided unless you ''want'' the one mentioned to notice you. It's also mostly true. In fact, most august malign outsiders and deities in ''D&D'' or ''D&D''-esque games seem to have pretty good hearing… at least, near the places where they have any influence.
▲*
** Hastur works on similar principles, except instead of wishes, you get death. As something of a joke, dying player characters will [[Talking Is a Free Action|state as their dying words, "Hastur Hastur]] [[Total Party Kill|Hastur]]". Invoked in The [[Binder of Shame]], where El Disgusto's character is about to be killed by another PC for thieving, so he screams "You'll pay for this! You'll all pay for this! Hastur! Hastur! Hastur! Hastur! Hastur!" Also mentioned in [http://www.wfrp.de/hosted/flw/en/index.html The Canonical List of Famous Last Words]: "[[What an Idiot!|What a useless scroll. It just says 'Hastur Hastur Hastur' over and over ...]]"
*** Demogorgon works on the same principle as Hastur. Put together, they're a pretty good way to [http://community.livejournal.com/gamehorrorstory/503.html get out of a boring session]...
** Mentioning Orcus's name is not a good idea, either
** In the now-defunct ''[[Planescape]]'' setting of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', the city of Sigil was ruled by a mysterious (and very dangerous) entity known only as the Lady of Pain—but 'naming the Lady' (ie,
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'': While it's not universally considered bad luck to do it, you'd better not speak {{spoiler|Yawgmoth}}'s true name when you have so many euphemisms. [[Ghostbusters|It would]] be bad. Some fans, particularly [[Rooting for the Empire|Phyrexian symphathisers]], have taken up this custom.
* In ''[[Demon: The Fallen]]'', demons can feel it if you say their name. Strong ones can get a sense of what you're saying, making it a useful messaging service. Very strong ones can get a compass bearing or more...
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* While probably just a fiction even within the setting, the ''[[Unknown Armies]]'' cabal known as Mak Attax never speak the name of the fast food restaurant they all work for. You may call it Mickey-Ds, Maccas, the Golden Arches, Mc Do, Placcy-Ds, Mc Dicks, Makku, or most commonly The Scotsman (how appropriate!) but never, ever call it by the name on the sign. Like the name of God, it has power, and you don't want to invoke it. Also a possible example of [[Writing Around Trademarks]].
** Likewise, the Arthaus ''[[Ravenloft]]'' supplements [[Writing Around Trademarks|refrain from naming]] Lord Soth, former darklord of Sithicus, by claiming that the domain's elven inhabitants fear that invoking their old ruler's name will call him back from wherever he vanished to.
== Theater ==
* The [[Trope Namer|trope non-namer]] for this one is a certain play by [[Shakespeare]] about regicide and Scottish royal succession, which is allegedly cursed such that even mentioning its name in a theater, or quoting dialogue from it if not actually rehearsing or performing it, can bring ruin, let alone trying to actually stage it. A number of historically documented productions of [[Macbeth|The Scottish Play]] have been notoriously unlucky. There are legitimate reasons [[Macbeth|The Scottish Play]] has more than its fair share of accidents—much of the play's action taking place at night and outdoors, which increases the chance of somebody tripping over something; there's more sword fighting than the average, which always brings the chance of an accident; and most importantly it's a very cheap play to run (a guaranteed crowd
** As a play on this trope,
** For those
** This history of bad luck began with its first performance on 7 August 1606 at the Globe Theatre, when the boy-actor playing Lady {{spoiler|Macbeth}} died of a sudden fever in the middle of the play. More recent years have seen the postponement of Olivier's first production at the Old Vic due to the death of Lilian Baylis on the opening night (1937), three deaths in the company during the first production with Gielgud (1942) and, on an eventful tour in 1954—an attempted suicide, an accident in which the company manager broke both legs, the electrocution of an electrician, and the death of a visitor from a blow by a stage spear after a member of the crew uttered the fateful word to him in conversation.
* There's a similar taboo in theater regarding the phrase "good luck". Saying "good luck" to an actor supposedly curses their performance, causing dropped lines or unfortunate accidents. Instead, actors tell each other to "break a leg", under the assumption that if wishing someone good luck brings them harm, wishing someone harm will certainly bring good luck.
* According to the theater version of ''[[Peter Pan]]'', saying "I don't believe in fairies" will cause a fairy to drop dead. (See the ''Dresden Files'' in ''Literature'' above for a case of weaponizing this.)
* The writer of ''[[Shoggoth on the Roof]]'' is referred to as "He Who [For Legal Reasons] Must Not Be Named". This is partly because the play borrows the music (if not the words) for its songs from ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]'' and thus can't be performed, at least in the United States.
** Mostly, though, it's because he was [[Cthulhu Mythos|driven insane by perverse dreams of non-euclidean geometry and whispers of names the human tongue could not bear]], and now resides in an asylum, which also [For Legal Reasons] must not be named.
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* The magician act of ''[[Penn & Teller]]'' had a tradition where they would shout "Good luck, {{spoiler|Macbeth}}!" before every show they performed in defiance of this trope. They eventually realized this was becoming their own little superstition and began opening it without any announcement.
== Video Games ==
* Alluded to in ''[[Drakengard]]''. A message written in the blood of a deceased soldier of [[The Evil Army]] mentions several ways of speaking of or depicting [[Cosmic Horror|the Watchers]] that are not to be done.
* In ''[[RuneScape]]'', speaking the name of the evil God {{spoiler|Zaros}} gives him power.
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* ''[[Baldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate II]]'' features class-specific quest chains; if you play as a bard, you can acquire the deed to a playhouse and supervise the production of a play called "The Sorcerer's Bane". But there's a rumor saying that the sorcerer it's supposed to be about really existed and he cursed the play for mocking him, resulting in ill fortune befalling anybody who says the name of the play out loud. The actor who plays the sorcerer insists that it be referred to only as "The Turmish Play".
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', Roy had a code word that would activate a Mark of Justice curse on Belkar if spoken aloud. Belkar managed to {{spoiler|trigger the curse by himself anyway}}, so Roy mentioned the word to satisfy readers' curiosity {{spoiler|"Squiddleydoodlefluff"}} and then the matter was dropped.▼
▲* ''[[PvP (webcomic)|Pv P]]'': The Office Panda attacks when someone mentions it.
▲* In ''[[Order of the Stick]]'', Roy had a code word that would activate a Mark of Justice curse on Belkar if spoken aloud. Belkar managed to {{spoiler|trigger the curse by himself anyway}}, so Roy mentioned the word to satisfy readers' curiosity {{spoiler|"Squiddleydoodlefluff"}} and then the matter was dropped.
* ''[[Goblins]]'': Temps Fate once encounters a dragon whose name is censored by [[The Powers That Be]], lest he be swallowed by a black Plot Hole from which space, time and bad writing cannot escape.
== Web Originals ==
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* Some [[LiveJournal]] communities have gotten to the point in which a certain movie is only to be referred to as "[[The Human Centipede|The Movie Which Must Not Be Named]]", for [[Nausea Fuel|obvious reasons]].
* ''[[Asdfmovie]]'': Saying that you like trains summons...guess what?
* There is, in fact, a
** This now also goes for tropes which have been moved to the [[Darth Wiki]]. We'd name some, but [[Self-Demonstrating Article|they're not supposed to be linked on the main site]].
** Also, [[Flame Bait]] tropes, which aren't even allowed in the YMMV tabs anymore.
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* Subverted in [https://web.archive.org/web/20131113152448/http://rdouglasjohnson.com/hamlet/ this] [[Text Adventure]] pastiche of ''[[Hamlet]]''. Shouting "{{spoiler|Macbeth}}!" inside the theater will result in a rope coming loose, which you need in order to progress. Doing it again will make the ground shake for a few seconds, but has no other consequences.
* The people who did the [[Let's Play Sonic 2006|infamous Let's Play]] of ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 video game)||Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)]]'' refer to it as "that other game" in their later [[Let's Play]]s.
== Western Animation ==
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* In ''[[Freakazoid!]]!'', [[Candle Jack]] kidnaps you if you say his na {{color|white|It's because they never say Sir.}}
** [[Memetic Mutation|But at least Candle Jack is nice enough to always hit the "submit" button before he leav]] {{color|white|Well, I was raised with manners.}}
* Saying "Lord Moldybutt" in ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
** Even better, Moldybutt himself isn't immune to the hazards of saying his own name.
** Even better, this aired before the character he is a parody of actually jinxed his own name.
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* When General Foods introduced Crispy Critters in its line of Post Cereals back in 1963, its spokescharacter, Linus the Lionhearted, would get stampeded by the cereal's animal shapes whenever he said "Cripsy Critters." Similarly in 1966, Kellogg's introduced Froot Loops, and Toucan Sam (voiced then by Mel Blanc) insisted that it be verbally called out in pig latin ("Oot-fray Oops-lay"). Not doing so gave him conniptions, and one of his nephews would yank Sam's chain by deliberately saying "Froot Loops."
* ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'': "This message will self-destruct."
* ''[[The Emperor's
{{quote|'''Kuzco''': ([[Breaking the Fourth Wall|heard the music]]) What the hay?
'''Krunk''': [[Lampshade Hanging|That music? Yeah, it happens everytime you say...]] Condor Patch. (dramatic music) }}
* In ''[[Darkwing Duck (animation)|Darkwing Duck]]'', an eerie music piece starts playing every time somebody says 'The Library of Forbidden Spells'. It’s [[Discussed Trope|discussed]] by Darkwing and Morgana's father.
▲== Sports ==
▲* This trope is common in a wide variety of sports. Taboo topics can include:
▲** Hockey: Saying "shutout" in ice hockey when a goaltender has yet to surrender a goal
▲** Baseball: talking about a perfect game/no hitter in progress, especially to the pitcher. In the latter innings of a perfect game, the other players will refuse to speak or even sit anywhere near the pitcher for fear of letting anything slip.
▲** Bowling: Talking about a perfect game in progress, or, back when one could find bowling alleys without automatic scorekeeping machines, even writing down the 30-60-90-120-etc. scores in each frame until the game is over or the bowler throws a non-strike (quite a few of the automatic machines will do this too).
▲** All of the above is likely due to confirmation bias, but to many fans this is [[Serious Business]] in the utmost.
▲* If you happen to be in Winnipeg, the team in Phoenix, formerly the Winnipeg Jets, will not be mentioned by name.
▲** and if you live in Atlanta, the team in Winnipeg will not be mentioned by name...at least by the people in Atlanta who actually cared about the Thrashers.
== Meta ==
* Perhaps [http://i54.tinypic.com/2i2298x.jpg this] sums it up in a somewhat disturbing and/or scary manner.<ref>[[Don't Explain the Joke|The computer crashed because he had visited the page about The Scottish Trope]].</ref>
== Other Media ==▼
▲== Other ==
* Frequently, objects that conjure up negative associations are subject to this trope; one of the most frequent is the place (and the specific appliance used) where people eliminate waste. The most frequently used words for them are often evocative of other tasks to be done in about the same area - haircare (toilet), cleaning (bathroom, washroom, lavatory) or a central point for water flow in general (water closet and its translations/abbreviations). Moreover, the [[wikipedia:Euphemism treadmill|euphemism treadmill]] eventually results in those words becoming similarly taboo, which results in new phrasing for the purpose of preserving this trope.
* To get around the [[Banned in China|Great Firewall of China]], some websites that reference Tiananmen Square/ the June Fourth Incident will refer to the event as "you know when, you know where." [[It Makes Sense in Context|In the context of a given site, it's pretty obvious what they are talking about.]] Also a case of [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]].
== Real Life ==
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* The name of God is not written in [[The Bible]], and even the substitute for it, the sequence "YHWH" with no definite pronunciation, was historically avoided by Christians.
* Certain beasts used to be referred by circumlocution (which may be euphemisms or kennings). Especially [[Everything's Worse with Bears|bears]]. In Russian it stuck as the new word for bear with obvious etymology (who "knows honey"); also, depending on which source you believe either Caspian tiger or lynx (while lynxes aren't known for attacking humans without provocation, they would hunt cattle or horses, and are dangerous to mess with) was also known as the "fierce beast", but this didn't stick.
----
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Tropes About Taboos]]
[[Category:This Trope Name References Itself]]
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[[Category:Be Careful What You Say]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish Trope, The}}
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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