word of the week: braveheart

Second, all my friends said Braveheart was very violent and I'm a natural pacifist still recovering from Reservoir Dogs to which I was taken under false pretences. Third, I do like my history to be a tad factual and the sight of Mel Gibson's painted face on the film ads did suggest to me that perhaps Braveheart did not quite fit this description.

I might have missed Braveheart in film form, but it is not possible to miss it in word form. As was the case with the film, the word braveheart has been embraced with overwhelming and unstinting enthusiasm. New words or meanings often take quite a while to make their presence felt in the language but not braveheart. It seemed instantly to storm the linguistic ramparts and overrun the press.

Braveheart, in common with many vogue words which invade our communications industry, is difficult to pin down. Its exact meaning is both vague and variable, but that seems simply to add to its popularity. The more broad ranging the word, the more useful it is, seems to be the modern attitude.

You might not always think it, but space-saving can be an important issue in newspapers, particularly with regard to headlines. In this context braveheart is the journalist's friend, since it can be used as a sort of symbolic shorthand in connection with various Scots-based stories. It can save the reader a lot of time too - we are all guilty of headline grazing.

At first the word braveheart, in keeping with the great swell of love of country which the film called forth, was shorthand for Scottish patriotism. However, very early on it formed a connection with deeds of bravery or high achievement, thanks to the fine feats of Wallace/ Mel Gibson in the film. Thus a Scot who tries to apprehend a criminal singlehandedly might now appear in headlines not as a ''have-a-go jock'', as formerly, but as a braveheart.

Braveheart's association with heroism might not altogether have been a good thing. It is part of the human psyche to be deeply suspicious of heroes and we much prefer to dole out bricks than bouquets. Where we find innate goodness we like to tarnish it and so it was with braveheart. One minute it was basking in the squeaky-clean purity of patriotism and heroism and the next it was having mud slung at it for being jingoistic. It had joined the ranks of that form of patriotism which goes completely over the top and is beloved of the ''here's tae us - wha's like us?'' brigade. This being the case, braveheart was inevitably going to be linked with a spot of English-bashing.

Now, let us be truthful. There is nothing new about this. We've always liked to have a go at our southern neighbours. However, the scale of the practice is apparently on the increase, and excessive patriotism - or braveheartism - is getting the blame.

It was lucky for braveheart that the devolution referendum occurred. During the campaign the word succeeded to some extent in fluffing off both its unfortunate jingoistic image and its virtual demise brought on by the mass mourning for Diana. Braveheart became once again associated with admiral concepts. This time these were such things as a historic victory, a sense of nationhood and a new dawn. Sympathy was even expressed for the Welsh that they did not have such a word to inspire them on their way to their own devolution crunch point, although they did succeed eventually in getting a braveheart result - just.

Despite the current rosy picture, it would be unwise of braveheart to rest on its laurels - it is even now not without its detractors. These include English commentators who have begun to use the word to denote things Scottish but not the things Scottish on which we like to pride ourselves.

Although they, too, are using braveheart to indicate jingoism, and even racism, especially when these are directed at themselves, they are also using it to suggest a maudlin, unsophisticated Scotland which is usually depicted by the most banal of Harry Lauder songs and the most tawdry of our tartan souvenirs. Such an association clearly denobles braveheart.

So what is the future for braveheart? The likelihood is its meaning may fluctuate but it will not go away. It may go into the linguistic wilderness from time to time, but it is sure to be resuscitated by some headline writer whenever something Scottish hits the headlines - our performance on the football field at next year's World Cup, perhaps? There are bound to be a few bravehearts there.

How could braveheart just disappear, when we are likely to be besieged by its namesake's film for decades to come? We have become such a nation of couch potatoes box-watching has largely taken over from attendance at any of our national celebrations. The film is the obvious programme schedule filler for such occasions, and I fear that it will catch up with me eventually.

home of the bravehearts

Here's how a band of bravehearts charged into the Herald recently:

l Scotland is becoming a ''cultural themepark'' and its past reduced to the history of Braveheart and Rob Roy, according to one of the country's leading academics

l Get behind the business bravehearts who are interested in starting and

developing their own companies

l Here we have the braveheart commuter's ideal home - a pretty place deep in the country near enough to Perth (18 miles) but barely within day-return reach of the bigger cities

l Three youths who assaulted a 15-year-old schoolboy after watching Mel Gibson's Braveheart - because the youngster had a English accent - must be sentenced by the sheriff who last month heard evidence of the attack, a court ruled yesterday

l The sight of their big New Zealand lock trudging back to the pavilion merely lit the touchpaper for the fireworks as the Accies challenge withered under a braveheart barrage led by the Wallace brothers, Murray and Fergus