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loppy


Guest Dave S K

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Guest Dave S K

I was talking last week to an old sheffield lady and she used the term Loppy being from Lincolnshire i had not come across this before, can any tell me where this comes from?, i know of Loppy pots in pottery , but loppy meaning mucky, flea ridden etc i had not come across. many thanks

May i also pass my good wishes to all flood victims. Dave k

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Guest tsavo

Sounds agricultural to me, which fits with the Lincolnshire connection. Loppy as in rabbit 'loppy eared', hanging limply. Sounds like a crop description but someone out there will know. If you want another word, how about 'rammy' meaning rubbish, cheap and useless.

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Guest coffee cup

As kids growing up we often used the word loppy for something that was dirty or scruffy.

Parents used to say when we went out to play "and don't get loppy", I assumed it was a Yorkshire term for something that is really dirty.

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My dad use to say to me ...

"Your Ears Are That Muckie You Could Grow Taters In Them"

Perhaps that saying could have originated in Lincolnshire. lol

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The "usual" explanation for Loppy is that the word Lop derives from Old Viking word hloppa meaning flea (hlaupa to leap). Hence if you have lots of fleas (or lice etc) you were loppy.

It is often forgotten that many of our words and pronunciation come from our Nordic ancestors. English was formed from many ancient base languages and in the north Nordic and Germanic language is deeply rooted in our English whereas, “down south” the major influence was from Latin and Latino languages such as French, Spanish and Italian.

So, when a northerner says “Butter” as in Bread and butter he is not mis-pronouncing the southern word they pronounce "Batter", he is simply being true to his(or her) linguistic heritage.

Sadly, the first so called English dictionaries were written in London and so the pronunciation as used in London became “correct” and all the rest became dialects.

In my opinion the beauty of English is her many forms from New Zealand’s fush and chups to Yorkshire’s fish and chips, and they both taste best when freshly cooked and eaten outside wrapped in newspaper.

Any one interested in some of our other Norse words should visit:-

http://www.viking.no/e/england/e-yorkshire_norse.htm :P

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Guest coffee cup

There used to be a bloke that came into Radio Sheffield on Rony Robinsons show who used to give great detail into some of our "Yorkshire" sayings, he might still come in.

I don't know I haven't listened for a while since they moved his show from the morning.

He also used to set tasks and answer questions, on such sayings, and things like the real oldest Pub in sheffield etc. Would be wonderful if he was a member of the forum. No noubt he would be able to provide lots of info and answer our questions too. Might be worth finding out who he is !!

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Loppy to me means something dirty, manky and filthy that is almost beyond use, as follows;

"I'm fed up with these tea towels - they are absolutely loppy!"

"You can't wear that - its loppy Mike!"

I thought this was a commonly used word till work colleagues picked me up on it - my Mum is sheffield born and bred so that is where I must have got it from. Colleagues from Derbyshire and Hull have never heard the term, so it must be very area specific!

Ahh, good old loppy.

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The "usual" explanation for Loppy is that the word Lop derives from Old Viking word hloppa meaning flea (hlaupa to leap). Hence if you have lots of fleas (or lice etc) you were loppy.

That makes sense, I remember my Gran using it to describe someone or thing that was infested with fleas , as well as just very dirty.

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According to the Free Online Dictionary.

lop·py (lp)

adj. lop·pi·er, lop·pi·est

Hanging limp; pendulous.

But i think the very dirty or mucky idea as us Yorkshire sorry Sheffield folk

makes the most sense.

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