Sprogs

Dr. Bill

Where the hell does this word come from?? How does it related to a child!!!

Anti

blame the english !

Dr. Bill

For what??

Wonder if there are many "sprogs" in Ireland??

Ruu_Old

Apparently it means;

sprog

n 1: a new military recruit 2: a child

Always found that a strange word.

Dr. Bill

That still doesn't give me an idea of why a child is called a sprog!! A military recruit!

Dr. Bill

Was it Kevin Myers !!! Oh no I remember he referred to the children as " bastards"!!!

bullock

I've always wondered what sprog means .... I'd hate to be called a sprog ... It sounds like "FROG"!!!!

Ickle Magoo

According to The Word Detective (http://www.word-detective.com/112700.html)...

The word "sprog" is simply British slang for "baby" or "small child." The origin of "sprog" is something of a mystery. It apparently started out as derogatory slang in the British armed services during World War II, first appearing in print in 1941. "Sprog" didn't originally refer to a child; a "sprog" was a new recruit or trainee, an inferior in both rank and social status. As soldiers and sailors left the services at the end of the war, we find "sprog" showing up in civilian use around 1945, for the first time being used to mean "a child or baby."

But "sprog" was apparently a mutation of a much older word, "sprag," which as of 1706 was used to mean "a lively young fellow," and also a young salmon or cod fish. Yet earlier, around 1676, "sprag" meant a spray or twig taken from a bush or other plant, so the sense of something young and green has been constant throughout the evolution of "sprag" and its derivative "sprog."

scrattletrap

I always call my little ones sprogs just like my mother called me (an English lady by the way) I have no idea where it comes from and rang herself and she has no idea either.


(pipped to the post there, it is now all explained)

Dr. Bill

Sproggles!!! .... Guess that means a small sprog!

deisemum

When the annual Sproai festival is on in Waterford during the summer, one part of the festival is called Sprog, it's a programme of events for young children.

simu

I always thought it was a slightly offensive term, the type used by people who are anti-children. This thread seems to prove me wrong, though!

Victor

simu wrote:

I always thought it was a slightly offensive term, the type used by people who are anti-children. This thread seems to prove me wrong, though!

Offensive would be over-stating it, simply derogatory like "noob".

simu

Victor wrote:

Offensive would be over-stating it, simply derogatory like "noob".

Hence the use of slightly as modifier! :-p

Shabadu

Ickle Magoo wrote:

According to The Word Detective (http://www.word-detective.com/112700.html)...

AFAIK it stems from progeny.

bullock

Bastard ... Would be the offensive term I guess!!! Some the legend Kevin Myers would use!!!