A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
Page 207
Scottish
Scottish is the full, original form of the adjective. Scots is an old Scottish variant of the form, while Scotch is an English contraction of Scottish that at one time also came into use in Scotland (as in Robert Burns’s “O thou, my Muse! guid auld Scotch drink! “) but subsequently fell into disfavor. To some extent these facts can serve as a guide in choosing among the many variant forms of related words, such as Scot, Scotsman or Scotswoman, or Scotchman or Scotchwoman, for one of the people of Scotland; Scots, (the) Scotch, or, rarely, (the) Scottish for the people of Scotland; and Scots, Scotch, or Scottish for the dialect of English spoken in Scotland. The forms based on Scotch are English and disfavored in Scotland, while those involving the full form Scottish tend to be more formal. In the interest of civility, forms involving Scotch are best avoided in reference to people. But there is no sure rule for referring to things, since the history of variation in the use of these words has also left many expressions in which the choice is fixed, such as Scotch broth, Scotch whisky, Scottish rite, and Scots Guards.
1
senior
The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of senior in the sense of “an older person” to the 14th century. In contemporary American English, however, senior is generally taken to be a shortening of the more recent senior citizen, and those who object to the compound are apt to object to the shortened form as well. As with the compound, though, you may have difficulty finding a good alternative. When speaking of older people as a group you can of course use the elderly, but when referring to individuals, as in There were several seniors in the cast, there is no clear alternative besides older people, which you may not feel is a significant improvement.
2
senior citizen
Some people object to senior citizen as a patronizing or demeaning euphemism. Though clearly euphemistic in tone, it is not so easy to say exactly what senior citizen is a euphemism for. Most synonyms for “an older person,” such as oldster, old-timer, and golden ager, are far more condescending or offensive, and one is left with compounds such as older person, elderly man, or old woman, which are not always better alternatives.
3
Senior citizen is a well-established term, first recorded in 1938, that rarely gives real offense and that, when used appropriately, can offer certain advantages over other choices. Unlike expressions based on old or older, senior citizen acknowledges that age is not necessarily the only relevant factor in describing people who are advanced in years. Strictly speaking, a senior citizen is a person who has reached an agreed-upon retirement age (though who has not necessarily retired) and whose relation to society—in the form of certain benefits and privileges—has changed accordingly. Thus senior citizen denotes not only age but also social or civic status, making it the natural term to use when discussing an older person in a political or social context. It is when senior citizen is used more loosely in contexts other than the societal that it draws the sharpest criticism.
4
welsh
Etymologists can find no firm evidence that the verb welsh, meaning “to swindle a person by not paying a debt” or “to fail to fulfill an obligation,”
