Not limited to BE, this term is well known in e.g. Canada as well.

OED Online:
scrap paper, paper that may be repulped or used again; rough paper for casual jotting

Supported.

And for the German side:

Schmier|pa|pier, das (ugs.): vgl. Schmierheft.

Quelle: Duden - Deutsches Universalwörterbuch, 6., überarbeitete Auflage. Mannheim, Leipzig, Wien, Zürich: Dudenverlag 2007.

I didn't subscribe to the full version, so I only get the preview, but the word is at least listed in the Duden.

My impression, though I don't know how to prove this, is that 'scrap paper' is used in AE, but more for the recycling sense than the jotting sense. If others agree, I wonder if it would help to split this into two entries

scrap paper - das Altpapier
scrap paper [BE] - das Schmierpapier

and perhaps also to mark the existing entry as AE

scratch paper [AE] - das Schmierpapier

if it isn't used in BE.


I'm also wondering who, if anyone, uses 'scribbling paper,' another choice currently in LEO for Schmierpapier. It isn't exactly wrong, and it definitely explains the meaning of the German word, but to my ears it's not a very typical collocation. Even 'jotting paper' might be a little more common.

Be careful.
Scratch paper and scrap paper are mostly synonymous in AE although as far as I have experienced, scratch paper isn't used as much by the Yanks as the Brits or Ozzies.

http://www.thefrugallife.com/scratch_paper.html

http://www.thefrugallife.com/scrappaper.html

http://www.hamline.edu/~dkirchner01/personal/...

Waste paper = Altpapier

btw - I didn't mention: I support adding Schmierpapier as a translation for scrap paper

remove the [Brit] though

I am very fmiliar with "scratch paper" in AE and was going to suggest this as an additional New Entry. In math classes we always used "scratch paper". I guess because it's what we put our chicken scratches on. I'll try to find some good examples.

Sorry, I just didn't check enough before posting. "Scratch paper" is already in the dictionary. Arghh! But anyway, I still would not want it to be marked as BE. We used it in my school days in the US of A. ;-)

All right guys... it has become quite obvious that both terms are used in AE as well as BE so delete those markings and we're on the safe side.

@Cor: both terms are used in AE as well as BE so delete those markings and we're on the safe side..
I disagree. I had never heard of scratch paper before I checked the Leo entries last night. I had to look it up. The only place I can find it is in the OED (i.e. smaller BE dictionaries like Chambers or NODE don’t list it). I'd made a mental note to suggest flagging scratch paper with “AE” in a Wrong Entry.

Here's the OED entry:
scratch paper N. Amer., scribbling paper.

I'd therefore support hm's proposal in #4.

@hm--us: That OED entry might explain where “scribbling paper” comes from in the Leo entry for Schmierpapier. I find the hyphenated form “scribbling-paper” that appears in Leo (and in Langenscheidt’s Condensed, incidentally) bizarre, though. I’m not actually familiar with “scribbling paper” other than as what you'd give to small children to scribble on. The OED entry for “scribbling paper” as such is dated 1803:
“1803 Gradus ad Cantabr. 118 *Scribbling paper, an inferior sort used by the mathematicians, and in the lecture room.”
I wonder if it will even appear in the next edition of OED. It's not in the 2005 NODE.

I forgot to mention that hm's jotting paper sounds good too.

There's also rough paper (marked "BE"?). I'll dig out evidence for that when I can.

Thanks, Anne, that's helpful to know. (-:

re #10
>>it has become quite obvious that both terms are used in AE as well as BE

No, it hasn't. So far there's one link (but no citation) apparently supporting 'scrap paper' in AE. That's it.

No one has yet suggested that 'scratch paper' is used in BE, and one reliable BE native speaker (Anne) says it isn't.

The native-speaker survey so far is admittedly very small, but at least wpr, Anne, and I all seem to have the same impression.

The only votes for 'scrap paper' in the sense of Schmierpapier in AE are from Cor (unregistered, unfamiliar), and from bike_helmut, a German speaker, for CanE.

He may well be right that Canadians follow BE on this one, but it wouldn't hurt to get that confirmed by a Canadian dictionary or by RES-can, Bob C., AGB (de/can).

I'm still a bit more skeptical about AE in general, apart from Canada. It may be that some AE speakers do use 'scrap paper' to mean scratch paper, but if that's the case, I would expect there would be other regular users who could confirm that it's really widespread enough in AE to justify removing the BE tag.

@hm - us:
I am sorry, but I can't help.
I never used either of the suggestions and can't remember what the people around me use. Most of the time it seems "a piece of paper" or "can I get something to write on?"
Most probably I would have understood all of them in the right context.

Both "scrap paper" and "scratch paper" are used commonly in the United States. It is a piece of paper that is not important but is still usable to write notes or to jot down ideas (One side could be used, but the other side might still be blank). Paper that is recycled (Altpapier) can also be called "scrap paper" in AE. In AE "rough paper" or "jotting paper" are not used, at least not in my area of the United States.