Is “Scrappy” a Positive or Negative Word?

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Marlee McLean. I’m calling from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Hello, Marlee. Welcome to the show.

Hey, Marlee.

Hi, thanks so much for having me.

Sure, what can we do for you?

I’m going to see if you can weigh in on a debate I’ve been having with my friends.

Before I explain the two arguments that I have, I want to see what your initial response is.

So if I were to describe you as scrappy, would you take it as a compliment or an insult?

What kind of conversation are we having where you bring this up?

I knew you would ask for context immediately.

The two sides that come up in this debate are, in a positive way, it might be someone who is kind of the underdog but makes their way through a situation with the resources they have.

They might face a lot of obstacles along the way, but it’s kind of associated with like a David and Goliath or just a resilient and resourceful person.

And then the negative connotation would be someone who fights dirty and does whatever they have to do to win.

They really take the value of victory over integrity or fairness.

So kind of a scrawny, mischievous, sneaky, or conniving person was the negative way to describe someone.

So in brief, you might say one definition of scrappy is willing to go after what one wants.

And another definition might be always picking a fight.

Yes, absolutely.

And there’s something in common between the two that’s about getting the job done.

I think the difference is between if it is a positive characteristic that you see in someone that’s good and they’re a fighter or if they’re a dirty fighter.

Martha, Marley just called you scrappy.

How do you take that?

Well, I think I take it in the positive sense.

I am scrappy when it comes to challenges.

Yeah, I think so.

What about you, Grant? Do you take it differently?

I’m like you, I think.

Marlee, we often think of the little nonprofit that runs our radio show as a scrappy outfit.

We take resources, cobble them together into a national radio show.

And so we take that definitely as a compliment.

But I could see there, in the right context, scrappy meaning quarrelsome or just itching to fight.

Yeah, pugnacious.

That’s the traditional meaning of it because it has to do with, you know, scrapping.

You know, when you are in a scrap with somebody, you’re fighting with somebody.

But I think both of those meanings are perfectly valid.

It’s all context.

And that’s why you knew that we’d bring that up, right?

Yes, exactly.

So I would love to hear from you guys as the experts on where it originally came from.

And, yeah, does it have to do something with scraps?

And why would it be used, like, more commonly, positive or negative?

Yeah, well, it doesn’t have to do with scraps, like scraps that you might make a quilt out of.

It has to do with a scrap or, you know, the verb scrap when you’re fighting with somebody.

You know, to get into a scrap with someone, to get into a fight?

Yeah, or a scrape.

Or a scrape.

Yeah, and it goes back to the 19th century, late 19th century at least.

But I can see both of those meanings be valid.

Do you think of them applied to one gender or the other?

I don’t have a specific gender I think of, but I always picture a smaller person for some reason.

That they’re somehow like scrawny or that is always associated in my mind with like the underdog, the little guy fighting his way out of a situation.

Right. It reminds me of the word feisty, which has the same kind of connotation.

You know, somebody can be feisty, and that can be a positive thing if they’re really fighting against great odds, David and Goliath, like you said.

But feisty can also mean somebody who’s scrappy.

Yes, and some people actually argue that it was a condescending or kind of an annoying quality, which I can also understand if you’re kind of the little guy that constantly has to work 10 times as hard to make your way out of something that people might be frustrated with than, like, taking a shortcut or doing something that’s not fair to get what they want.

Oh, I see. I don’t have that sense of scrappy. That sounds more like a nudge to me, somebody who’s just constantly annoying you with their desire to succeed and wanting you to make it happen for them.

Yeah, when I think of somebody who’s scrappy, I think of them swinging, you know, swinging with their fists, you know, just fighting and fighting and fighting.

But I think, as Grant said, it’s all context.

It has to be context.

Where were you arguing about this?

Just with a group of friends that I have.

We all had dinner together and then got talking about the word scrappy.

And I have to say, it was a pretty heated argument.

Wow.

People very avidly feeling like, no, you don’t want to be scrappy.

And others saying, yes, absolutely, I do.

Wow, I love it.

When these arguments come up, often the problem is that people are trying to treat the word alone as if it never keeps the company of other words.

And that is almost always a mistake.

Words have meaning because of the company they keep in sentences and paragraphs and pages and larger works.

Words do not stand alone, and you cannot simply take them by their dictionary definition.

You have to look for examples in context to find the true meaning of the word and all the pragmatics and all the other connotations that go with it.

So often when these arguments happen, it’s because people are not working with enough information.

Marley, thank you so much for your call.

We really appreciate it.

Yes, thanks so much for taking the call.

I really appreciate what you guys do.

Take care.

Bye-bye.

Bye, Marley.

All right.

Bye-bye.

Do you find scrappy to be a word that you don’t want applied to you?

Do you not want to be called scrappy?

Or do you not care?

Considered an attribute that’s worthy of you. Let us know 877-929-9673 or email us words@waywordradio.org.