Where did the word 'Scouser' come from regarding natives to the UK city of Liverpool?

From 'Lobscouse', a Norwegian dish popular in Liverpool in the days of the Whalers

Scouse (pronounced /藞ska蕣s/) is the accent and dialect of English found in the north-western English city of Liverpool and in some adjoining urban areas of Merseyside. The Scouse accent is highly distinctive and sounds wholly different from the accents used in the neighbouring regions of Cheshire and rural Lancashire. Inhabitants of Liverpool are called Liverpudlians, but are more often described by the coloquialism Scousers.

The word Scouse was originally a variation of "lobscouse"[1], the name of a traditional dish of Scouse made with lamb stew mixed with hardtack eaten by sailors. Alternative recipes have included beef and thickened with the gelatin sauce found in cowheel or pig trotter in addition to various root vegetables. The word "lobscouse" may be of Norwegian origin ("lapskaus" in Norwegian), which is possible, considering the Viking background of the area, illustrated by the number of Merseyside place-names ending in "-by" (Formby, Crosby, Kirkby, Greasby, Pensby, Roby). Various spellings can still be traced, including "lobscows" from Wales, and some families refer to this stew as "lobby" rather than scouse, as in the Potteries (Stoke-on-Trent), where a 'bowl of lobby' is a welcome meal on a cold winter's night.[citation needed] In Leigh, between Liverpool and Manchester, there is even a "Lobby shop". The dish was traditionally the fare of the poor people, using the cheapest cuts of meat available, and indeed when no meat at all was available scouse was still made, but this "vegetarian" version was known as "blind scouse".[citation needed] The term remained a purely local word until its popularisation in the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, which some also believe to have introduced stereotypes about Liverpudlians.[2]

The roots of the accent can be traced back to the large numbers of immigrants into the Liverpool area in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries including those from the Isle of Man, Wales, Scotland and, most substantially, Ireland.[citation needed] The influence of these different speech patterns became apparent in Liverpool, distinguishing the accent of its people from those of the surrounding Lancashire and Cheshire areas. It is only recently that Scouse has been treated as a cohesive accent/dialect; for many years, Liverpool was simply seen as a melting pot of different accents with no one to call its own.[citation needed] The Survey of English Dialects ignored Liverpool completely, and the dialect researcher Ellis said that Liverpool [and Birkenhead] had "no dialect proper".[3]

The dubbing of Liverpudlians or Liverpolitans as 'scousers' is a late twentieth-century phenomenon, catching on in the late 1970s.

In the 1960s he was a 'Wacker', and in the nineteenth century he was referred to as a 'Dicky Sam'.

Scouse is actually the accent and dialect, derived from the name of the stew described by other correspondents.

Why not pop along to the most vibrant city in England and find out more?

On Saturday 29th May 2008 the University of Liverpool and National Museums Liverpool will be jointly hosting a day of lectures and discussions of the local speech of Merseyside.

See: - http://www.liv.ac.uk/08/scouse.html

I am sure that even ignorant bigots such as 'Boy Wonder' will be welcome.

Scouse is the accent and dialect of English found in the north-western English city of Liverpool and in some adjoining urban areas of Merseyside. The Scouse accent is highly distinctive and sounds wholly different from the accents used in the neighbouring regions of Cheshire and rural Lancashire. Inhabitants of Liverpool are called Liverpudlians, but are more often described by the slang term Scousers.

The word Scouse was originally a variation of lobscouse (probably from the north German sailor's dish Labskaus), the name of a traditional dish of Scouse made with lamb stew mixed with hardtack eaten by sailors. Alternative recipes have included beef and thickened with the gelatin source found in cowheel or pig trotter in addition to various root vegetables. Other sources suggest that "labskaus" is a Norwegian term ("lapskaus" in Norwegian), and considering the number of Merseyside place-names ending in "-by" (Formby, Crosby, Kirkby, Greasby, Pensby, Roby), a Viking rather than German source must be considered. Various spellings can still be traced, including "lobscows" from Wales, and some families refer to this stew as "lobby" rather than scouse. In Leigh, between Liverpool and Manchester, there is even a "Lobby shop". The dish was traditionally the fare of the poor people, using the cheapest cuts of meat available, and indeed when no meat at all was available scouse was still made, but this "vegetarian" version was known as "blind scouse" The term remained a purely local word until its popularisation in the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, which some also believe to have introduced stereotypes about Liverpudlians.

just love the scouse accent

a stew

Scouse was a form of Irish stew with very little meat or salt in it. Blind Scouse was the same with out any meat. it will have come from the migration of Irish during and after the famine. It is very similar to a Norwegian dish which was possibly also brought from poverty. To-days scouse is a far different dish and I love it with picked red cabbage.

Liverpool is in England,
The UK is England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland altogether.

Scouse is a food that's eaten in Liverpool....It's a kind of lamb and veg stew/soup.


(I have to say i nearly cried with laughter at "Boy Wonders" answer,...very horrible but also very funny!,...and I'm from Liverpool,..so i should know better!)