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Why are people from Liverpool called 'scousers'?

Question #81914. Asked by author.
Last updated Aug 30 2016.

BelenAlaniz
Answer has 3 votes
BelenAlaniz

Answer has 3 votes.
The traditional explanation is that scouse is a contraction of 'lobscouse', which was a type of stew (Norwegian in origin), once popular among sailors, and is still eaten in Liverpool today.
As to whether it's insulting, you could call me paranoid, but any mention of my home town seems intended as an insult these days. People from Liverpool do call themselves Scousers though.

If, like me, you come from the blue half of town you don't refer to yourself as a Liverpudlian (which carries an entirely different connotation).

Jun 13 2007, 12:14 PM
shawn888
Answer has 3 votes
shawn888
20 year member
99 replies

Answer has 3 votes.
People in Liverpool are called scousers, and the word comes from "Scouse",a meal made by poor people in Liverpool in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.


link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouse_(food)

Response last updated by looney_tunes on Aug 30 2016.
Jun 13 2007, 7:42 PM
avatar
nirmalya_b
Answer has 4 votes
nirmalya_b
19 year member
69 replies avatar

Answer has 4 votes.
The word "scouse" has been shortened and it comes from the word "lobscouse" which is a traditional dish made with lamb stew and eaten by the sailors in the Liverpool region. The original word is German "Labskaus".

link http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scouse

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouse

Jun 04 2009, 1:30 PM
author
Answer has 4 votes
author
22 year member
2834 replies

Answer has 4 votes.
"Labskaus" (in Norwegian "lapskaus") is a very common dish also in Scandinavia. I once heard that the word "scouse" actually derives from the Norwegian use of the word. But this may be a myth.

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labskaus

In Norway, which had a long sea-trading association with the Northern English seaports, the dish (known locally as lapskaus) is virtually a national dish using the weekend's remaining food, usually carrots, potatoes, pork sausages in slices or beef cut small and served with flatbrød (unleavened bread dating back to Viking days)

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouse_(food)

Some of the statements in this page support my theory that the Norwegian dish "lapskaus" was the origin of the term "scouse".

link http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-23446,00.html

Jun 04 2009, 5:23 PM
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zbeckabee star
Answer has 5 votes
Currently Best Answer
zbeckabee star
Moderator
18 year member
11752 replies avatar

Answer has 5 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
Scouse -- 1840, short for lobscouse "a sailor's stew made of meat, vegetables, and hardtack," of uncertain origin (cf. loblolly); transf. sense of "native or inhabitant of Liverpool" is recorded from 1945. In ref to the regional dialect, from 1963.

link http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=scouse&searchmode=none

Jun 04 2009, 8:51 PM
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