Citations:nope

English citations of nope

Noun

Etymology: Probably mutated from ope (see 1823 quote) from alp;

1. (archaic except near Staffordshire, England) A bullfinch
   • 1613, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, read in The Complete Works of Michael Drayton, Now First Collected. With Introductions and Notes by Richard Hooper. Volume 2. Poly-olbion Elibron Classics (2005) , p. 146,

     To Philomell the next, the Linnet we prefer;/And by that warbling bird, the Wood-Lark place we then, /The Reed-sparrow, the Nope, the Red-breast, and the Wren, /The Yellow-pate: which though she hurt the blooming tree, /Yet scarce hath any bird a finer pipe than she.

   • 1777, Thomas Pennant, British Zoology, Class I: Quadrupeds. Class II: Birds. Division I: Land. Vol. I. Fourth Edition, Benjamin White (1818), p.461,

     (at the beginning of the section on Bulfinch in what appears to be a list of references, complete with the names the relevant authors used for the bird) Bulfinch, Alp or Nope. Wil. orn. 247.

   • 1816, Thomas Bewick, Ralph Beilby, Henry Cotes, A History of British Birds, the Figures Engraved on Wood by T. Berwick, Vol. 1, containing the History and Description of Land Birds, Thomas Bewick, p. 161

     (section title) The Bullfinch, Alp or Nope. (Loxia Pyrrhula, Lin. -- Le Bouvreil, Buff.)

   • 1823, Edward Moor, Suffolk Words and Phrases: or, An attempt to collect the lingual localisms of that county, R. Hunter, p. 255

     I may note that olp, if pronounced ope, as it sometimes is, may be the origin of nope; an ope, and a nope, differ as little as possible.

   • 1836, David Booth, An Analytical Dictionary of the English Language, in which the Words are Explained in the Order of Their Natural Affinity, Independent of Alphabetical Arrangement, p. 380

     In Natural History, 'An Eye of Pheasants' was also 'A Nye of Pheasants', and even the human Eye was written a Nye. The Bulfinch was either a Nope, or an Ope; the common Lizard, or Eft (Old English Evet) is also the Newt; the Water-Eft is the Water-Newt; and the Saxon nedder, a serpent (probably allied to Nether, as crawling on the ground) has been transformed into an Adder.

   • 1882, Abram Smythe Palmer, Folk-etymology: A Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions Or Words Perverted in Form Or Meaning, G. Bell and Sons, p. 583,

     Nope, an old name for the bullfinch used by Drayton (Wright), is a corrupt form for an ope, otherwise spelt aupe, olp, or alpe (Prompt.Parv.).

   • 1885, The Birds of Lancashire, 1885, p. 37,

     Nope, Blue Nope, Mope, Blue Mope, Tom-tit, Tit-nope, Tom-tit Nope, ...

Verb

1. To say "no" or "nope" (to).
   • 1943, Motion Picture:

     "Nope," noped the buck private. "I guess I'll just wait for Joan. Miss Lamarr and I are not the same age!"

   • 1944, The Shingle:

     "Nope," noped Jerry, "I only want one!"

2. To leave (a place, situation, etc), usually quickly, because of feelings of fear or disgust, and go to (elsewhere).
   • 2020, Mathew Henderson, Roguelike, House of Anansi (→ISBN):

     I felt their legs catching in my throat. I noped the fuck home before I choked for good, but kept playing — sunk costs; 240,000 hours ago. Now I see this world seed sucks: too RNG heavy, too pay-to-win. In the deepest part of Qud, in the jungle under the caves under the jungle,