10 ms·

Why is becoming a Scottish Lord desirable in the first place ? explained for someone who doesn't live in Scotland or any of the neighbouring Isles ?

dougmwne 4y ago
I doubt it confers any practical modern day benefits aside from the Right of the Braggart.
Macha 4y ago
There are sufficient people who value items that give them (real or imagined) prestige with other people (especially those of a similar mindset) to sustain these industries.
cjbgkagh 4y ago
I think it’s a holdover from when airlines and other service industries would treat their customers with titles more favorably.
CharlesW 4y ago
Scottish Lords and Ladies get a free pint from their local pub the third Tuesday of the month between 3-5pm.
- globalise83 4y ago
  Only if they loudly declaim their status to all present...
  - slowmovintarget 4y ago
    Time was, you could be a Senator in the American South without the land... or the actual job. They'd call you that in the bar or restaurant, just in case your were.
  - tailspin2019 4y ago
    And I believe there is a requirement to do a funny little dance…
ogogmad 4y ago
I imagine it isn't. It's simply something you can mention during drinks. And the correct term is laird btw.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago
  > And the correct term is laird btw. The OP quite clearly notes that this is false: > In the United Kingdom, “lord” and “lady” are peerage titles, meaning a person can only hold the legal recognition, privileges, and protections associated with those titles if they rightfully inherit them, if they marry into a noble family, or if the queen grants them a peerage. > Companies that sell souvenir plots with the claim of granting titles often rely on a conflation of the titles “lord” and “lady” with “laird,” which is not a peerage title, but rather solely a courtesy title akin to the English phrase “lord of the manor.” In Scotland, this title is traditionally applied to a member of the landed gentry who owns a large estate that has a long history and who generally has servants and tenants. Because “laird” is merely a courtesy title, it has no legal significance The title of nobility is "lord". "Laird" is not a title at all, but a conventional designation for a somewhat related concept.
PaulHoule 4y ago
If you make a reservation at the Marriott they have a long list of titles you can claim. You can say you are a "Lord" there. Also an example that "Established Titles" makes is that you can have your credit card say "Lord so-an-so"
- d1sxeyes 4y ago
  For the Marriott, sure. But for credit cards, normally you can't though. It's not part of your name, and it's not a legal title. Most KYC processes will stop you if you try.
dylan604 4y ago
I mean, you know, would you rather have a chat with Ben Kingsley or Sir Ben Kingsley? I know I'd rather chat with Lord Banana699 than just plain-ol' Banana699
- salawat 4y ago
  And this is why marketing is a thing, for the record.
munificent 4y ago
I'm guessing that many of these are targeting Americans. One of the weird side effects of being from a melting pot country only a few hundred years old is a yearning for connection to things that feel permanent and historical. "Owning" some land in Scotland and "having" a title may be appealing to an American who otherwise feels cut off from their Scottish ancestry or other longer-term cultural practices.
- dilyevsky 4y ago
  I don’t think it’s related to melting pot thing - new world history is just not that rich compared to european/asian ones due to its recency and (for the most part) lack of conflict
  - ido 4y ago
    There was a tremendous amount of conflict in the new world, just mostly not between countries (the conquest of the Americas had a death toll of 70-100m people).
    - dilyevsky 4y ago
      Sure but those are relatively few events (though large in magnitude) compared to stuff that was going on in europe/asia. And americas are fucking huge compared to europe and coastal east asia. Turns out when lota people are sandwiched in tight geography, competing for resources for thousands of years a lot of stuff happens!
  - noSyncCloud 4y ago
    Counterpoint: New World history is/was just as rich and valuable; it was just systematically erased by one of the largest genocides in history spanning from pole to pole.
    - dilyevsky 4y ago
      They had 10% of world population at the time conquest began so just by that metric nah
JamesBarney 4y ago
It's bought as a fun gag gift.
WorldMaker 4y ago
Titles are a form of addressing people. Sometimes it is just nice to be addressed by something that isn't Mr/Ms/Mx(/Mrs/Miss). Plenty of people have been motivated towards a PhD or MD for among other reasons the hopes of getting to be addressed as Doctor. For various reasons most of the available Titles to be found in our world are old and baroque (sometimes literally), which both has its appeals (a feeling of "tradition") and detriments (hard to get). I've many non-binary friends that especially pine that Mx isn't greatly accepted by many and most of the non-gendered titles (including Doctor) are hard to acquire. I keep joking that if I were Governor of Kentucky, I'd make a simple form for any non-binary person to acquire the Colonel title if they wished. (In Kentucky the Colonel title, the same one used by, for instance, the well known Colonel Sanders, is a title gifted to anyone for general service to the Commonwealth. It's origins are military, but it's been much more a philanthropic thing for much of the past couple centuries, including in the case of Colonel Sanders who was awarded it for his role as a businessman in the Commonwealth. It's a fascinating title.)

dougmwne 4y ago

I doubt it confers any practical modern day benefits aside from the Right of the Braggart.

Macha 4y ago

There are sufficient people who value items that give them (real or imagined) prestige with other people (especially those of a similar mindset) to sustain these industries.

cjbgkagh 4y ago

I think it’s a holdover from when airlines and other service industries would treat their customers with titles more favorably.

CharlesW 4y ago

Scottish Lords and Ladies get a free pint from their local pub the third Tuesday of the month between 3-5pm.

globalise83 4y ago
Only if they loudly declaim their status to all present...
- slowmovintarget 4y ago
  Time was, you could be a Senator in the American South without the land... or the actual job. They'd call you that in the bar or restaurant, just in case your were.
- tailspin2019 4y ago
  And I believe there is a requirement to do a funny little dance…

ogogmad 4y ago

I imagine it isn't. It's simply something you can mention during drinks. And the correct term is laird btw.

thaumasiotes 4y ago
> And the correct term is laird btw. The OP quite clearly notes that this is false: > In the United Kingdom, “lord” and “lady” are peerage titles, meaning a person can only hold the legal recognition, privileges, and protections associated with those titles if they rightfully inherit them, if they marry into a noble family, or if the queen grants them a peerage. > Companies that sell souvenir plots with the claim of granting titles often rely on a conflation of the titles “lord” and “lady” with “laird,” which is not a peerage title, but rather solely a courtesy title akin to the English phrase “lord of the manor.” In Scotland, this title is traditionally applied to a member of the landed gentry who owns a large estate that has a long history and who generally has servants and tenants. Because “laird” is merely a courtesy title, it has no legal significance The title of nobility is "lord". "Laird" is not a title at all, but a conventional designation for a somewhat related concept.

PaulHoule 4y ago

If you make a reservation at the Marriott they have a long list of titles you can claim. You can say you are a "Lord" there. Also an example that "Established Titles" makes is that you can have your credit card say "Lord so-an-so"

d1sxeyes 4y ago
For the Marriott, sure. But for credit cards, normally you can't though. It's not part of your name, and it's not a legal title. Most KYC processes will stop you if you try.

dylan604 4y ago

I mean, you know, would you rather have a chat with Ben Kingsley or Sir Ben Kingsley? I know I'd rather chat with Lord Banana699 than just plain-ol' Banana699

salawat 4y ago
And this is why marketing is a thing, for the record.

munificent 4y ago

I'm guessing that many of these are targeting Americans. One of the weird side effects of being from a melting pot country only a few hundred years old is a yearning for connection to things that feel permanent and historical. "Owning" some land in Scotland and "having" a title may be appealing to an American who otherwise feels cut off from their Scottish ancestry or other longer-term cultural practices.

dilyevsky 4y ago
I don’t think it’s related to melting pot thing - new world history is just not that rich compared to european/asian ones due to its recency and (for the most part) lack of conflict
- ido 4y ago
  There was a tremendous amount of conflict in the new world, just mostly not between countries (the conquest of the Americas had a death toll of 70-100m people).
  - dilyevsky 4y ago
    Sure but those are relatively few events (though large in magnitude) compared to stuff that was going on in europe/asia. And americas are fucking huge compared to europe and coastal east asia. Turns out when lota people are sandwiched in tight geography, competing for resources for thousands of years a lot of stuff happens!
- noSyncCloud 4y ago
  Counterpoint: New World history is/was just as rich and valuable; it was just systematically erased by one of the largest genocides in history spanning from pole to pole.
  - dilyevsky 4y ago
    They had 10% of world population at the time conquest began so just by that metric nah

JamesBarney 4y ago

It's bought as a fun gag gift.

WorldMaker 4y ago

Titles are a form of addressing people. Sometimes it is just nice to be addressed by something that isn't Mr/Ms/Mx(/Mrs/Miss). Plenty of people have been motivated towards a PhD or MD for among other reasons the hopes of getting to be addressed as Doctor. For various reasons most of the available Titles to be found in our world are old and baroque (sometimes literally), which both has its appeals (a feeling of "tradition") and detriments (hard to get). I've many non-binary friends that especially pine that Mx isn't greatly accepted by many and most of the non-gendered titles (including Doctor) are hard to acquire. I keep joking that if I were Governor of Kentucky, I'd make a simple form for any non-binary person to acquire the Colonel title if they wished. (In Kentucky the Colonel title, the same one used by, for instance, the well known Colonel Sanders, is a title gifted to anyone for general service to the Commonwealth. It's origins are military, but it's been much more a philanthropic thing for much of the past couple centuries, including in the case of Colonel Sanders who was awarded it for his role as a businessman in the Commonwealth. It's a fascinating title.)