{"id":14766,"date":"2017-11-10T12:35:58","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T11:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/blog\/?p=14766"},"modified":"2017-11-10T12:35:58","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T11:35:58","slug":"troupers-and-troopers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=14766","title":{"rendered":"Troupers and Troopers"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the songs we sang last night in the ukulele group was Abba’s Super Trouper<\/em><\/a>. One member of the group wondered whether trouper was spelled correctly, thinking that it should be trooper.<\/p>\n

We discovered that they are in fact two different words:<\/p>\n

Trouper<\/strong> = a member of a theatrical company (a troupe); a veteran performer; a reliable, hard-working and unselfish performer [Source<\/a>].<\/p>\n

Trooper<\/strong> = a soldier of private rank; a cavalry horse; charger; one who endures adversity or hardship with an attitude of stoicism and persistence [Source<\/a>]. <\/p>\n

Both words come from the French word troupe<\/em> (troop), from the Old French trope<\/em> (band, company, troop), from the Frankish *thorp<\/em> (assembly, gathering), from Proto-Germanic *\u00feurp\u0105<\/em> (village, land, estate), from the Proto-Germanic *treb-<\/em> (dwelling, settlement) [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n

However, the word trouper in the song has nothing to do with the above words – “Super Trouper” actually refers to spotlights<\/a> used in stadium concerts [source<\/a>]. So now the first line, “Super Trouper beams are gonna blind me”, makes sense.<\/p>\n