prepper
noun

- someone who believes that a war or disaster will happen soon, and who learns skills and collects food and equipment, in order to be ready for it

- a person who prepares something or prepares for something, specifically: a person who gathers materials and makes plans in preparation for surviving a major disaster or cataclysm (such as worldwide economic collapse or war)

The Cambridge Dictionary / Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

“Prepare” from the mid-15th century and meaning “set in order or readiness for a particular end”,  from Old French (14th century) preparer, from Latin praeparare “to make ready beforehand”, from prae “before” + parare “to make ready”.

“Prepper” in the meaning defined above first appeared in 1904.

The Boy Scouts’ motto “Be Prepared” is attested from 1911, based on the initials of the organization’s founder, Robert Baden-Powell.

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I LIKE YOUR WALK

Boy Scouts founder Robert Baden-Powell was married at the age of 51. He had seen a girl walking down Knightsbridge two years before. He had evaluated her walk with his swiftly estimating eye; it showed he thought “honesty of purpose, common sense, and a spirit of adventure”. He did not know her and did not see her again until he recognised that same free-striding walk on the deck of a ship. Baden-Powell struck up a conversation with her: “Did you, two years ago, walk down Knightsbridge with a brown spaniel?” he asked. Within a year, Miss Olave St. Clair Soames (soon to become founder of the Girl Guides) and Robert Baden-Powell were married!”

FUN FACT

“Baden-Powell was the first man to enter Buckingham Palace in shorts. He wrote to the King for permission. It was granted — a revolution in court ettiquette.”

From The Sunday Express (28th January 1934)

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SYNONYMS

- prepared for the coming of an event

all bases covered, all set, all systems go, at the ready, covered, geared up, good to go, hot to trot, in a fit state, in line, in order, in place, in position, in readiness, on full alert, on guard, on hand, on stand-to, on standby, poised, PREPPED, primed, ready, ready and waiting, ready for anything, ready to go, set-up, standing by, up for it, waiting in the wings, wired

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, relate a funny limerick:

“Researchers have created a 'shortlist' of nations most appealing to PREPPERS. The list includes Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, and surprisingly, Ireland.”

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THANKS to Michael for prompting today’s word.

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HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

and,

Paul Smith, IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40