The National:

THREE days ago Nicola Sturgeon did something unforgivable. Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing on July 14, she said: "It's in everyone's interest that we just all just keep the heid around this and do the right things."

The First Minister then had the sheer cheek to repeat the message the following day on Twitter, writing: "Today is a big step out of lockdown. Please act safely & responsibly. Let’s all #KeepTheHeid."

READ MORE: Tories need to keep calm and make up some catchier slogans

Her glaring error will be immediately obvious to anyone used to scouring every sentence Sturgeon speaks for some new reason to attack her. The rest of us may need it explained why the First Minister's use of the Scots phrase "keep the heid" is so terrible.

Thankfully, there's always the Unionists.

Susan Dalgety, a Scotsman columnist and former civil servant who quit her post after the SNP, a party she had previously called a "barmy army ... of oddballs, extremists and out-and-out racists", took control of Holyrood in 2007, tweeted: "Am I the only person who finds the @scotgov slogan #keeptheheid patronising and crass."

Although many replied simply "Yes" to Dalgety's question, the leader of the Scottish government using a Scots phrase to speak to Scottish people has, of course, proved outrageous to some. 

Former political journalist Kerry Gill agreed, saying: "Exactly what I thought. Gross."

One Maureen Johnson did too, writing: "Exactly what it is. Reminds me of the time at St Andrew’s Hospice charity fashion show (ladies lunch) in Bothwell Bridge Hotel.

"Was good then Elaine C Smith - one of the guest entertainers started by ‘YAWRIGHT’ - went downhill after that. Ordinary women cringing at each other."

Another such Disgusted, of Tunbridge Wells, wrote: "I find it quite offensive - not everyone who lives in Scotland is Scottish!"

While this is of course true, and not everyone does speak Scots, it is not a million miles away from the English "keep your head", a phrase so obscure that it appears in the very first line of If by Rudyard Kipling, a poem once voted the UK's favourite.

However, the murky waters of meaning clearly remain opaque to some. One such person wrote: "I’ve lived in Scotland my whole life and don’t know what it means." Another agreed, saying: "I'm not sure what it means!!!"

Even one Glasgow councillor, the Scots Tories' Phillip Charles, asked: "What does she mean?"

However, when called out on his question, he said: "I think you’ll find I do know what it means ... It’s more about her patronising people."

Other Twitter users decried the Scots phrase as "a bit common", "try-hard" and a shallow attempt from the FM to "make it more Scottish".

Ultimately though those annoyed at Sturgeon's use of a Scots phrase were vastly outnumbered by those who clearly understand, and listen to, the slogan.

As Uzma Mir, the Herald columnist, wrote today: "Scots was uniformly referred to as slang and therefore mightily frowned upon, I understand the cringe factor.

"Many of us are still stuck in the mindset, that it’s old fashioned, twee or just a bit 'rough', not realising that Scots is 900 years old and not just a lazy way of speaking English."

READ MORE: People can’t get over how bad the UK Government’s new coronavirus slogan is

"Only if the use of the Scots leid triggers inner cringe. Mibbe tak a wee thocht on yon," one Patrick Joyce said, echoing Mir's sentiment. 

Whether one speaks Scots, understands because of its remarkable similarity to an English phrase, or had to look up what "keep the heid" actually means, it is still a whole lot clearer than "Stay Alert"...