He’s a real trouper is the traditional spelling, with trouper from a theatrical troupe and the old stage ethic of the show must go on. Jean in Sharon, Pennsylvania, asks because she teaches theater and sees the competing trooper, which evokes soldiers instead. That spelling is now very common—apparently even more frequent in everyday use—but trouper remains the safer choice for editors who care about the distinction. Ether spelling carries the same sense of someone who gamely keeps going. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “A Real “Trooper” or a Real “Trouper”?”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi there, this is Jean Zengali. I have a question.
Hi Jean, where are you calling from?
Calling from Sharon, Pennsylvania, Penn State Shenango, where I teach theater.
Oh, fantastic.
In my mind, a theater-related question.
Okay, let’s hear it.
There’s an expression that they’re handling it like a trooper, T-R-O-U-P-E-R, in my mind, coming from like a theater troupe, T-R-O-U-P-E.
But I’ve also seen it T-R-O-O-P-E-R.
And I was just wondering, how did we get two expressions and how do they apply to each other? That sort of thing.
Yeah, it’s interesting, Jean, because they could both mean sort of the same thing, right?
Yeah, and they’ve been used interchangeably.
And in my mind, the T-R-O-O-P is like, you know, military, and the other is like an acting troop.
And I get the one, but not quite as much the other.
So it’s a real positive expression, right, if you say she’s a real trooper?
Yeah, it’s somebody who’s a real team player who gets out there and tries really hard, that kind of thing.
Right.
In fact, the thing that sticks in my mind most for the trooper, T-R-O-U-P-E-R, is Mary Martin singing, My Heart Belongs to Daddy, while her dad’s in the hospital dying.
And she muffles through with the performance and lights up the light for the audience.
So that’s what I’ve got in my mind.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. That’s a great description. It’s somebody who embodies that expression, the show must go on, right?
Absolutely.
Yeah. And traditionally, it is troupe in the sense of a theatrical troupe, right?
Okay. O-U-P, right?
Yeah.
That is the predominant then.
Yeah. Although the other one is catching up, and it makes sense because you think of somebody who’s in your troupe and somebody that’s a real good support for you.
Well, it’s not just catching up. It’s past it. It’s used by a frequency of about three to one. People spell it O-O-P instead of O-U-P.
But T-R-O-U-P-E-R is the preferred spelling still.
Yeah, traditionally.
Okay.
So it’s becoming much more common to see it written T-R-O-O-P, but the O-U is still the gold standard.
Yeah, that’s a fair way of putting it.
So, Grant, would we say that either way is okay then?
Depends if your editor is a stickler or not.
You’re safe with T-R-O-U-P-E-R.
For sure.
Almost nobody except a copy editor will notice if you spell it T-R-O-O-P-E-R.
And there’s no meaning lost if you spell it the other way either.
It still does exactly the same job in a sentence.
Okay.
Thanks, Jean.
Jean, thanks for calling.
Bye-bye.
All right.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
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