[Vocabulary] A stroppy lot

[patran]

Dear Teachers

What does it mean by saying "But the XXX people proved to a storppy lot"? is that different from "proved to be very stroppy"?

Please advise

Regards

Anthony

 

[shur2gal]

[h=2]Definition of stroppy (adj)[/h]bing.com · Bing Dictionary
strop·py
[ stróppee ]

• bad-tempered: bad-tempered and uncooperative

"Very" just emphasizes, so it shouldn't change the meaning of the sentence.

 

[Raymott]

Dear Teachers

What does it mean by saying "But the XXX people proved to be a stroppy lot"? is that different from "proved to be very stroppy"?

Please advise

Regards

Anthony

They mean the same - apart from the obvious quantitative difference between being "stroppy" and being "very stroppy".
In case you were wondering: "a stroppy lot" means "a stroppy lot of people", not that they were "a lot stroppy", which isn't a proper construction.
stroppy - definition of stroppy by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

 

[emsr2d2]

[STRIKE]Dear teachers[/STRIKE] Unnecessary

What does it mean by saying "But the XXX people proved to be a [STRIKE]storppy[/STRIKE] stroppy lot"? Is that different from "proved to be very stroppy"?

Please advise.

[STRIKE]Regards[/STRIKE] Unnecessary

[STRIKE]Anthony[/STRIKE] Unnecessary

I assume that you accidentally omitted "be" in the first example, because "... people proved to a stroppy lot" makes no sense.

It doesn't say they were "very stroppy" in the main sentence. If it meant that, it would have said "... proved to be a very stroppy lot". "Lot" is not used here in the same way as "a lot" meaning "many". It is a noun and it means "group of people".

The XXX people proved to be a stroppy group of people.