Scotch woodcock

9.8

A dish of creamy scrambled eggs on toast spread with anchovy paste

noun
/skɒtʃ ˈwʊdkɒk/

Archaic

: Scotch woodcock

I had a delicious Scotch woodcock for breakfast.

Examples

For breakfast, she made Scotch woodcock with fresh eggs and anchovy paste.
The traditional recipe for Scotch woodcock is a favorite in some English colleges.
You can try Scotch woodcock as an alternative to the usual eggs on toast.
Have you ever tried Scotch woodcocks?
For breakfast, she made Scotch woodcock with fresh eggs and anchovy paste.
The traditional recipe for Scotch woodcock is a favorite in some English colleges.
You can try Scotch woodcock as an alternative to the usual eggs on toast.

Surface Forms

Scotch woodcock singular

Scotch woodcocks plural

Morphology

Scotch + woodcock

Although the parts 'Scotch' (relating to Scotland) and 'woodcock' (a type of bird) are semantically clear, the compound name does not describe the actual ingredients (scrambled eggs and anchovy paste). This is a culture-specific, historical culinary name whose meaning is idiomatic and not derivable from its constituents, so a B1 learner who only knows the words would not predict the dish.

Etymology

Scotch woodcock is a playful British food name for scrambled eggs on toast spread with anchovy paste. Cooks once gave the plain 'egg on toast' a fancy name by using woodcock (a game bird) as a joke, and that image is why the name now refers to this particular dish.