Photo credit: online-english-lessons.eu
The gaps between the posts are getting lengthier, I know, but I’m hoping that a few posts are better than no posts, so I’m going to keep writing as and when I can.
Today I got a dreaded call from nursery – they said my daughter was running a fever and I was very welcome to collect her earlier, so naturally I dashed to the nursery instead of going for a coffee with a friend. She was indeed very hot, so the nursery staff took off her trousers and top, leaving on just a vest, to help her cool down a little. When we were about to go I couldn’t find the trousers – it’s good we keep some spares at nursery. We had a quick look, but they were nowhere to be found! Alisa’s key worker said ‘One of the children has scarpered with them!’
I haven’t come across this verb for a while, so I thought it’d make a nice addition to my blog.
‘To scarper‘ means, quite simply, ‘to run away’. Here’re some examples:
- It wasn’t noble, but I scarpered double-quick (Oxford Dictionaries)
- As huge rain-drops begin to spatter the ground, people scarper for cover (The Economist)
- Tips are paid after the service is provided, allowing opportunistic stinges to scarper, free-riding on the generosity of others (The Economist)
Confessions of the Linguistic Spy 