Posted by David Bamford on February 14, 2009 at 23:02:36 user David.
Oh dear Ed, you're not up against Latin here! "Scarper" [to leave], is derived from "Scapa Flow" and anchorage in the Orkney Island that was [or is] popular with the Royal Navy [insert AR connection here]. It arises through the Cockney rhyming slang, so that "Scapa Flow" meant "go", and this became shortened to "scapa" and the spelling evolved to "scarper". The meaning also evolved to "Depart hastily". Thus is the world's most complex language made even more complex!
David.