Jap
To splatter or splash. A passing car japs mud up the back of your trousers; a poured drink japs onto the counter. Almost always for liquid or semi-liquid splash, never for a deliberate throwing.
Etymology
From Scots 'jaup' (= to splash, dash water), Older Scots. Imitative in origin - the 'jp' sound suggests the small splatter. Standard English 'splatter' or 'splash' do similar work; the Scots and Ulster Scots form has a more specific feel.
In a sentence
"Mind the puddle - the bus japped me from head to toe last Wednesday."
Historical notes
Jap belongs to the small Ulster Scots family of imitative splash-words: jap, splatter, plaster. The word is especially heard about mud and rain - the small wet impacts that walking outside in an Ulster winter produces. Heard freely in everyday speech; rarely in print outside dialect writing.
Alternate spellings
jaup
Sources
- Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL), entry JAUP v. · dictionary
- Macafee, Caroline. A Concise Ulster Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 1996. · dictionary