crap English · revision 5496

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1425|origins=la-med crappa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kræp/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|crappe|t=chaff, grain trodden underfoot]],^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) [[bor|frm|crape|t=siftings]], from Old French crappe,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-med|crappa|t=chaff]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) Barnhart suggests that the Latin word is from Old Dutch krappen “to cut off, pluck”;^(Barnhart 1988) the SOED and Word Origins compare Dutch krappe, from krappen “to pluck off”,^(SOED 2002)^(Cresswell 2021) and MWU derives the word from Middle Dutch crappe “pork chop, greaves, grain in chaff”, from crappen “to tear off”.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Chaff, the husk of grain: before 1425 in Barnhart, about 1440 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Weeds growing among corn are about 1425.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The older nouns all named things cast off: weeds, the residue from rendering fat (1490s), money in 18th-century slang, and the dregs of beer.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The verb “to defecate” is from 1846,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and the noun “excrement” and the sense “rubbish, nonsense” are both from 1898; they share the idea of rejected matter.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) The verb “to talk nonsense” is from 1930.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Crappy'' is from 1846.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1425 – chaff.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1490s – residue from rendering fat.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1846 – to defecate.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1898 – excrement; rubbish, nonsense.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1930 – to talk nonsense.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(vulgar)'' [[excrement]], or an act of defecating.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(slang)'' Nonsense, or something of poor quality; [[rubbish]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(vulgar)'' To defecate.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(slang)'' Of very poor quality.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[crapola]]

+ * [[crappy]]

+ * [[crapper]]

+ * [[crapshoot]]

+ * [[crapshooter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[craps]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Crap, a losing throw in the dice game [[craps]], is a back-formation from craps, from 1885 in MWU.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024) Crap, the gallows, and crap, to hang, were thieves' slang of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, from Dutch krap “clamp”.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}