1650s as a type of surgical instrument; 1760 as "one who removes scalps," agent noun from scalp (v.).
Meaning "person who re-sells tickets at unauthorized prices for a profit," 1869, American English; earliest reference is to theater tickets, but often used late 19c. of brokers who sold unused portions of railway tickets. [Railways charged less per mile for longer-distance tickets; therefore someone travelling from New York to Chicago could buy a ticket all the way to San Francisco, get out at Chicago and sell it to a scalper, and come away with more money than if he had simply bought a ticket to Chicago; the Chicago scalper would hold the ticket till he found someone looking for a ticket to San Francisco, then sell it to him at a slight advance, but for less than the official price.] Perhaps from scalp (v.); scalper was a generic term for "con man, cheater" in late 19c. Or perhaps the connecting sense is the bounty offered for scalps of certain destructive animals (attested in New England from 1703) and sometimes Indians (i.e., having only part of something, but still getting paid). Some, though, see a connection rather to scalpel, the surgical instrument.
双语例句
1. Another scalper said he'd charge $1000 for a $125 ticket.
另一个票贩子说125美元的票他要价1,000美元。
来自柯林斯例句
2. We can try to buy some tickets outside the stadium from a scalper.
我们可以试着在体育场外买黄牛票.
来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年1月号
3. I bought a fake ticket from a scalper last month.
我上个月从一个黄牛手里买了一张假票.
来自互联网
4. You can buy from a scalper outside the ground.
你不妨到球场外,试试买张黄牛票.
来自互联网
5. A scalper sold us tickets for seats right at near the courtside.
