Which is correct: "a real trouper" or "a real trooper"?
The persevering-through-adversity phrase came from theater, so "trouper" (with a U) was the only correct spelling until ~1970. But "trooper" surpassed it in the late 1990s.
Garner's Modern English Usage doesn't like it, but people seem to be voting with their usage for the other spelling.
WATCH: https://youtu.be/3YHP2mx27Go
READ: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/transcripts/grammar-girl/1190/
LISTEN: https://pod.link/173429229
#GrammarGirl #podcast
Mignon Fogarty
npub146…fha7e
2026-06-03 21:43:00 UTC
Author Public Key
npub146282sc495cyj3zvjvxz6ddqahrarxjw297wuq0arwsrsazrwujqnfha7eSeen on
wss://relay.ditto.pubPublished at
2026-06-03 21:43:00 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "cab5023f11da9f626fcd50ef4ba58084f03b34f173b5e3bd0830e98d95ac96ca",
"pubkey": "ae947543152d3049444c930c2d35a0edc7d19a4e517cee01fd1ba03874437724",
"created_at": 1780522980,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"t",
"grammargirl"
],
[
"t",
"podcast"
],
[
"proxy",
"https://zirk.us/users/grammargirl/statuses/116688354069547903",
"activitypub"
],
[
"client",
"Mostr",
"31990:6be38f8c63df7dbf84db7ec4a6e6fbbd8d19dca3b980efad18585c46f04b26f9:mostr",
"wss://relay.ditto.pub"
]
],
"content": "Which is correct: \"a real trouper\" or \"a real trooper\"?\n\nThe persevering-through-adversity phrase came from theater, so \"trouper\" (with a U) was the only correct spelling until ~1970. But \"trooper\" surpassed it in the late 1990s.\n\nGarner's Modern English Usage doesn't like it, but people seem to be voting with their usage for the other spelling.\n\nWATCH: https://youtu.be/3YHP2mx27Go\nREAD: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/transcripts/grammar-girl/1190/\nLISTEN: https://pod.link/173429229\n\n#GrammarGirl #podcast",
"sig": "ab31df41b5441cf18b11d68b8d5fb7cdcdf222b4c5da8441c96ee7aa6f3ed5fea9c72388c014bccd7dd3b99b87b9ec828f68638f4ae0b84868af947b08124d9a"
}