Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to
The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.
Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
I received an e-mail yesterday from a (highly educated) friend who told me I had been “a real trooper” during a recent illness. I realized that I hadn’t, in fact, seen the correct usage in many years. Seems amusing that somebody would commend another for behaving like a cop, as opposed to a veteran actor, but I think that’s the way the idiom has evolved. Hope this qualifies. Apologies if it doesn’t. ~joni
Offline
Welcome to the forum, Javalon! The trouper/trooper thing is very popular on sites that deal with usage issues, and we’re no exception. Here are some earlier posts on trouper/trooper substitutions:
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?pid=796
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?pid=550
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/contribute/comment-page-1/
[scroll down to comment #8]
According to all the authorities, the original phrase was “a real trouper” “Trooper” started being substituted for “trouper” in the 20th C, and that seems to qualify it for eggcorn status – at least in a historical sense. Here’s what the Merriam Webster Dictionary of English Usage has to say about the “trooper” eggcorn:
This use of “trooper” is treated as standard in the OED Supplement, wherein “trooper” is entered as a secondary spelling variant of “trouper.” However, this use of “trooper” is not entered in Merriam-Webster dictionaries, and usage writers who take up this subject consider it an error.
The MWDEU is a bit out of date – the MW online dictionary now lists “trooper” as a spelling variant of “trouper” in this sense. And I just googled “a real trouper” vs. “a real trooper”: 13k hits vs. 67k hits. The usage writers are swimming against a very strong tide – as you imply, this now appears to be standard and no longer an eggcorn in contemporary usage. I predict the smart usage wallahs will start going with the flow real soon now.
Offline
Next thing you know, people will be saying that “Route 66” was written by Bobby Troop.
Offline
Isn’t that “Root 66”?
Offline
Which came on right after “F Troup”....
Offline
When I was a kid, the only “troopers” I knew about were state highway cops. They were always out on the road, driving long distances, away a couple of days at a time, all by themselves, w/ little to no backup, little to no oversight.
A hard job. One they needed to be quite faithful in, were they to perform it well. They seemed admirable, hardworking, and utterly true.
And even though I was a drama-teacher’s daughter, I didn’t know any troupers.
It was a logical eggcorn to me!
(edited to fix a typo)
Last edited by TootsNYC (2007-07-02 10:34:24)
Offline
Hmmm. Experiences vary, which I suppose goes a long way in explaining why some people take to some eggcorns so swiftly, while others resist them to the end. Where I grew up, the state troopers were running a drug ring from contraband that they had seized illegally. One state trooper blew off someone’s head while they were getting out of their car. So, even though the battle is lost, I will stick to the thespian origins, and never call anyone I admire a “trooper.”
Offline