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Thanks guys

Posted by Lotg on December 07, 2003

In Reply to: I'm also sorry for all my typos - it's late posted by MichaelFr on December 07, 2003

: : : : So where does stroppy come from? And no, I don't mean me in the morning. I've know people to use words such as (and I must apologies for the following cos I've got no idea how to spell them)... obstroperous, obstropolous, abstrepperous - yeah I know, this will be a hideous misrepresentation.

: : : : Anyway, can someone firstly tell me if any of the above words are really words and how to spell them, and whether 'stroppy' comes from any of those words?

: :
: : All good bookshops carry a wide selection of dictionaries and the Web is awash with online versions - all just a click away via Google or any similar search engine. There is no excuse in the modern world, other than sheer laziness, for spelling mistakes in any language.

: Here is what you can get online from the Merriam-Webster (m-w.com)

: Main Entry: strop·py
: Pronunciation: 'strä-pE
: Function: adjective
: Etymology: perhaps by shortening & alteration from obstreperous
: Date: 1951
: British : TOUCHY, BELLIGERENT

Sorry Wise One, I don't know what time it was in your country when responding, but it was 1.45ish am in mine (so given your apparent frame of mind, which seemed, well, a bit stroppy actually, you'd probably say I shouldn't be 'foruming' at that time of the morning) and I actually did attempt to find these spellings on line. However, you might note that my versions were appalling and way off the mark, and there isn't much software that can read minds and allow for the mispellings I was offering. Hence I couldn't find it.

But thanks to the rest of you who did have a clue, I now know how to spell 'obstreperous'.

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