Strop. Here in the North of England if someone 'has a strop' it means they are being petulant and deliberately appearing angry for their own ends. "Ooooo - She's 'avin a bit of a strop. Leave 'er alone." I know this from Manchester in my youth and now more commonly in the North-East in recent years. Spread I think because there are many more regional accents on TV now compared to when I was a boy, particularly in drama. M.

Good morning from a tall-ship sailor. In the noun sense, "strop" also describes a loop of line usually spliced into a ring, although it can take several forms depending on use.
Here are instructions for laying up (building) a ring-shaped strop. Longer ones are quite useful for wrapping around objects so as to become handles; smaller ones are often used as grommets in large sails, for example. http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/B_S_M/Third_Instruction.html
This link shows a longer strop made from a short length of line with an eye splice at each end. Although the origin is indeed nautical, it has applications ashore as well, http://www.surface-tension.co.uk/product...ndle-strop.html
Finally, on wooden blocks (i.e., pullies), a strop is would around the block to give added strength to the block itself. Look at how many there are are on a traditionally-rigged tall ship next time you visit one. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:METS_2009_Double_strop_block.jpg.

Welcome, wlundycan, and thanks indeed for your very informative post. I had come across mentions of a 'strop' in a nautical context but, not being a sailor myself, had only the vaguest idea as to just what it is. This makes it very clear.

(Whoops!) - and welcome, marc, too. Yes, that meaning of 'strop is common in Lancashire, too.

Welcome wlundycan and you too Marc.

That's coming close to what strop means here. In the low lands strop specifically means the hangman's strop, the noose.
We don't hang people anymore for crimes. It is now still in use as, mostly financially, having an unexpected disappointing result.

Thanks for the link to the splicing page in the seamanship manual. I am doing some research into 19th Century ships and sailing, for a novel I hope to write about the USS Constitution, and details like this can be invaluable.