SCARPER - ETYMOLOGY

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

spalidinggray@spaldingray.com - 25 Jan 2007 09:36 GMT

possibly from the Italian imperative 'scappa' to flee from the verb
scappare : to escape, run away;

Reply to this Message

contrex - 25 Jan 2007 18:35 GMT

On 25 Jan, 09:36, "spalidingg...@spaldingray.com"
<spalidingg...@spaldingray.com> wrote:

> possibly from the Italian imperative 'scappa' to flee from the verb
> scappare : to escape, run away;

Maybe. However, Cockneys will tell you it's rhyming slang: "Scapa Flow"
= "go". Scapa Flow was a big British naval base at one time.

Reply to this Message

Francis Cameron - 26 Jan 2007 10:28 GMT

>On 25 Jan, 09:36, "spalidingg...@spaldingray.com"
><spalidingg...@spaldingray.com> wrote:
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>Maybe. However, Cockneys will tell you it's rhyming slang: "Scapa Flow"
>= "go". Scapa Flow was a big British naval base at one time.

It was also the place where the German fleet surrendered and scuttled
itself in 1918 ..

Signature

Francis Cameron

Reply to this Message

John Dean - 25 Jan 2007 18:49 GMT

> possibly from the Italian imperative 'scappa' to flee from the verb
> scappare : to escape, run away;

Quite likely. And, as OED says, reinforced by the rhyming slang Scapa Flow =
go which became popular when Brits realised how important the naval
facilities were

Signature

John Dean
Oxford

Reply to this Message

Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

SCARPER - ETYMOLOGY