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Not in OED

Posted by DGW on May 14, 2002

In Reply to: Not in OED posted by R. Berg on May 14, 2002

: : Has anyone come across this phrase - may be derived from Welsh/Gaelic. My recolection was it meant to be scrammed or scratched by a cat. Spag/Spagged

: The Oxford English Dictionary (1st ed.) has no "spag."

"Concise Scots Dictionary" shows "spag" = "paw, hand, foot", from Gaelic "spag" = "claw, paw, (animal's) foot". No verb like "claw" listed, but it seems likely related.

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