• thegiddystitcher@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    27
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    To scupper something is to ruin it, prevent it, etc.

    “We wanted to have a BBQ, but the rain’s scuppered that!”

    Never thought about it before. Now it looks weird written down 😄

    • vivadanang@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      1 year ago

      “Scupper - an opening cut through the bulwarks of a ship so that water falling on deck may flow overboard”

      like so much other bullshit, this comes from the navy. can’t just say tossed overboard, nope, gotta have a whole new nomenclature regarding gutters on gunwales to say the same damned thing as landlubbers

      • quinkin@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        1 year ago

        Well that’s where it originated from. Scuppers on ships were the deck drains that let water that came over the railings drain back out.

        A ship was deemed scuppered when it was so low in the water that water could now enter through the scuppers, which is a bit of a point of no return in sinking a ship. No bailing or pumping will help at that point.