Gaelic question mark hangs over Scotland’s ‘hygge’ campaign
It was designed to sum up that feeling of being all cosy, warm and settled indoors as the cold and the dark lurk outside.
But the Gaelic word picked by Visit Scotland to promote its’s own version of Danish hygge - a way of life defined by candlelight, warm glows and logs on the fire - appears to have ruined the moment for some.
The nation’s tourism body selected “còsagach” to market this lucrative lifestyle trend during 2018.
But many Gaelic speakers said they had never heard of the word which defines some- thing “full of holes and crevices.”
Visit Scotland claims its meaning has evolved to define snug, sheltered and cosy but other Gaelic speakers thought of it as a damp, mossy place where a wood louse - corrachòsag - might be found.
Mark Wringe, senior lecuturer at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye, said “I have no complaint about Gaelic being used in marketing, but get it right. It’s is not a language that is dead and gone.
“Something like this can be seen as insulting to Gaelic speakers.”
Visitscotland consulted Gaelic-speaking staff on the choice of word.