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tawpie / taupie
Sep. 25th, 2012 07:11 amtawpie (TAW-pee) - n. (Scot.) a foolish or thoughtless young person, esp. a young man.
taupie (TAW-pee) - n. (Scot.) a foolish or thoughtless young person, esp. a young woman; a slothful or slovenly woman.
Words that show up in the novels of Scott and the poems of Burns, among other places, with the former appearing more often in dictionaries but the latter having more examples. Not clear how current they are, however. First attested in print in the 1720s, borrowed from some Scandinavian langugage -- compare Norwegian tåpe, Swedish tåp, Danish tåbe, all meaning simpleton, fool.
---L.
taupie (TAW-pee) - n. (Scot.) a foolish or thoughtless young person, esp. a young woman; a slothful or slovenly woman.
Words that show up in the novels of Scott and the poems of Burns, among other places, with the former appearing more often in dictionaries but the latter having more examples. Not clear how current they are, however. First attested in print in the 1720s, borrowed from some Scandinavian langugage -- compare Norwegian tåpe, Swedish tåp, Danish tåbe, all meaning simpleton, fool.
---L.
