What it means
To scarper means to run off fast or clear out sharpish, usually because trouble's brewing, the police have turned up, or you suddenly don't fancy sticking around for the fallout. It's a cheeky, very British kind of escape, not a neat polite exit.
Usage examples
"We’d barely sat down when the manager came over waving CCTV stills, so we scarpered out the fire exit and onto the night bus."
"The lads heard the bus coming and scarpered across the road, bags flying, just making the doors in time."
"He scarpered the moment the bill arrived, left me sitting there with my wallet and a face like thunder."
"Soon as someone shouted security, half the queue scarpered round the back of the chippy."
"Don't just scarper when it's your round, you slippery little gremlin."
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Where it comes from
Scarper is proper British slang, usually traced back to Polari, which seems to have nicked it from the Italian scappare, meaning to escape. That bit's the sturdy plank. You'll hear the odd tale linking it to Scapa Flow and wartime rhyming slang, but that's mostly pub fog, not the accepted root.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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