scupper
verb

- to prevent from happening or succeeding

- to cause something such as a plan or an opportunity to fail

Collins Dictionary, Cambridge Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

The word "scupper" comes from Old French escopir or escupir, meaning "to spit out" or "to discharge." This ultimately derives from the Latin term exconspuere, which combines ex (out) and conspuere (to spit).

In nautical terminology, scuppers are openings in a ship's side that allow water on the deck to drain away. This is its original and oldest meaning, dating back to the 15th century. Scuppers were essential features on sailing vessels to prevent water accumulation during storms or when washing the decks.

The verb form "to scupper," meaning to defeat, ruin, or destroy (especially plans or hopes), emerged much later in British colloquial usage, around the late 19th to early 20th century. This figurative meaning likely developed from the image of water being drained away through scuppers—suggesting that something is being completely eliminated or disposed of.

The word has maintained its nautical origins while expanding to metaphorical usage in everyday language, particularly in British English, where "to scupper someone's plans" is a fairly common expression.

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GENTLEMAN’S SCUTTLING

In the realm of maritime insurance during the 19th and early 20th centuries, a clandestine practice known as "gentleman's scuttling" gained notoriety. This involved shipowners deliberately orchestrating the sinking of their aging vessels to capitalize on insurance payouts. As market values of ships plummeted below their insured valuations, owners could transform a depreciating asset into a substantial financial gain almost instantly.

The term "gentleman's scuttling" was coined by insurers to describe this illegal practice with a hint of irony, as it involved shipowners with surface respectability sinking their vessels under the guise of "unfortunate accidents".

To combat this, insurers established specialized investigation teams to scrutinize suspicious incidents. The telltale signs—crews mysteriously absent during sinking, valuable cargo mysteriously removed beforehand, or vessels conveniently lost in remote locations.

You could say that insurers “scuppered the scuttlers”—thus ensuring that maritime fraud didn’t leave them drowning in fraudulent claims! :-))

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

abort, ambush, annul, ax, axe, block, blow up, bring to naught, cripple, cut the ground from under, dash, deep six, destroy, disable, disrupt, do in, drive a coach and horses through something, foil, foul up, frustrate, halt, hamper, hamstring, hinder, hobble, impede, incapacitate, kibosh, knock the bottom out of, louse up, nix, nullify, obstruct, pop someone's balloon, pour cold water on, pull the plug on (the rug from under), put a spoke in someone's wheel, put an end to (out of action, out of business, out of commission, paid to, the kibosh on), quash, queer the pitch, sabotage, scotch, screw up, SCUPPER, scuttle, shoot down (in flames), sink, spike someone's guns, stonewall, stop (dead), stymie, subvert, throw a monkey wrench in the works (a spanner in the works), thwart, torpedo, trash, upset someone's apple cart, wreck, zap

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“Arriving late for the interview SCUPPERED his chances of getting the job.”

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