Look, State Police and Cavalry, It Isn’t Fair, But the Actors Got There First
In the latest of my posts where I yell at people for misusing cliches, I thought I’d tackle the mistaken use of “Like a trooper” or “A real trooper”, to indicate gumption and stick-to-itivness, which I’ve been seeing a lot lately. I suspect that I’ve been hearing it even more, but I wouldn’t know, because of course the correct use is the homonym “Like a trouper”.
Nope
Now, far be it from me denigrate the gumption and stick-to-itivness of troopers, be they state police, cavalry, paratroopers, or Isuzu owners (and I certainly won’t get into which of those groups has the most gumption, etc. – that is one batch of folks I don’t want to get in the middle of if they are arguing).
Not that either
But the fact of the matter is that the phrase is meant to describe plucky troupes of performers, with their famous “show must go on” attitude. It simply isn’t fair for some other group, no matter how plucky they may be, to appropriate the phrase just because of an accident of pronunciation. After all, you rarely see women whose siblings have children going on about how “aunts never borrow, aunts never lend” when you ask them for money (and rarely do they discuss “aunts in your pants”, at least those in my acquaintance don’t).
But of course, all this discussion of grammar is a bit self-absorbed, and I don’t want to be accused of naval gazing. Not sure what the point of looking at a bunch of ships is, anyway.
Little known fact, but Madonna’s song was originally titled “like a Trooper,” and was an homage to Star Wars.
“Like a Trooper
Killing Ewoks
For the very first time…”