English
Etymology
In Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor (vol 3 1851) there is a chapter on "Punch Talk" (basically the slang language used by travelling Italian Punch and Judy men and entertainers). This slang contains English, Italian, Jewish and traveller roots. In Punch Talk, "To get away quickly" (e.g., from the police or authority) is spoken and written as "scarper". This comes from the Italian scappare, escappare (compare English escape).
An alternative etymology traces the word "scarper" to the Cockney rhyming slang Scapa flow, that is, go (as in, e.g., "go away").
Pronunciation
:Rhymes: Rhymes:English:-��(r)p�(r)|-��(r)p�(r)
Verb
en-verb
- (British slang) To run away; to flee; to escape.
Quotations
2007, w:The Guardian|The Guardian, 1
:Helm writes: 'As if she were some street criminal, ready to scarper, Ruth's home was swooped upon by [Assistant Commissioner John] Yates's men and she was forced to dress in the presence of a female police officer.
ro:scarper
vi:scarper
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