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ArchivesRe: Welsh female name pronounced "COO-pee"
in reply to a message by Kate
In Welsh I'd imagine that would be spelled "cwpi." I did some Googling of cwpi and didn't find much. I guess "cwpi down" is a phrase meaning to squat down, and there seems to be a place called Ty Cwpi, but I can't find it in Google Maps. Both a modern and an archaic dictionary don't have any results for "cwpi." Did you try Googling the name of the movie to maybe find the spelling of the character's name?
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I tried googling, and found out the character was played by uncredited child actress Janette Scott. Here's the movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspirator_%281949_film%29. The character is uncredited, but a lot of websites list the character's name as Toby even though it was clearly pronounced as "COO-pee" in the movie.
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I suspect it probably is Toby, in a really mangled screen accent. I'm Welsh and a long-time collector of Welsh names, and I've never come across any name sounding like coo-pee, which as Llewella said would be 'cwpi' in Welsh. I looked it up too, and found nothing useful. Obviously without having seen and heard the film I can't be sure, but 1940s screen representations of British regional accents are not known for their accuracy.
The book by Humphrey Slater that the screenplay for the film was based on is available on Amazon (although outrageously overpriced), so it's probably possible to order it via a library and find out what the character's name was meant to be.
The book by Humphrey Slater that the screenplay for the film was based on is available on Amazon (although outrageously overpriced), so it's probably possible to order it via a library and find out what the character's name was meant to be.
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I found the movie on YouTube
It really sounds like "COO-pee" to me. Maybe the name isn't Welsh. The other characters living in Wales are Jessica, John, and Nico, and those aren't Welsh names either. It might be an unusual nickname that wasn't explained in the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q2LedzsH4Y (hear the name at 12:30)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB2rYzsiuxs (hear the name at 00:30 and several times starting at 00:50)
It really sounds like "COO-pee" to me. Maybe the name isn't Welsh. The other characters living in Wales are Jessica, John, and Nico, and those aren't Welsh names either. It might be an unusual nickname that wasn't explained in the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q2LedzsH4Y (hear the name at 12:30)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB2rYzsiuxs (hear the name at 00:30 and several times starting at 00:50)
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I got the book today
The girl's name is Cooty in the book. I don't know why it was changed to Coopy in the film. They are both very odd names!
The girl's name is Cooty in the book. I don't know why it was changed to Coopy in the film. They are both very odd names!
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Thanks for posting, it's great to have the mystery solved at last. It is a very odd name! I'm guessing that maybe the association with 'cooties' - which as a term for lice, seems to have originated in WWI - was probably general enough at that point to make the name seem a bit awkward to the script-writer for a little girl.
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Yes, I'm curious now too!
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Thank you for your suggestion. I'm so curious I requested the book via interlibrary loan. Robert Taylor was the main person pronouncing the girl's name, and he had an average American accent the entire time.
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