P.L.F. Persio Jun 28, 2013:

Thank you, Lord Sugar;-) That's a very interesting piece of information, as the history of words always is. I guess in Marta's context the expression is ironic and she can have a lot of fun putting it into Italian. Good proposals from the colleagues too.

Howard Sugar Jun 28, 2013:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waif_and_stray
Waif and stray was a legal privilege commonly granted by the Crown to landowners under Anglo-Norman law. It usually appeared as part of a standard formula in charters granting privileges to estate-holders, along the lines of "with sac and soc, toll and team, infangthief and outfangthief" and so on.[1]
A waif was an item of ownerless and unclaimed property found on a landowner's territory, while a stray referred to a domestic animal that had wandered onto the same land. Both terms originated from Anglo-Norman French. A grant of waif and stray permitted the landowner to take ownership of such goods or animals if they remained unclaimed after a set period of time. In later centuries, the expression "waifs and strays" came to be used as metaphors for – and ultimately became synonymous with – abandoned or neglected children.[2]

Howard Sugar Jun 28, 2013:

waif and stray in inglese vuole dire "senza tetto" sia per la gente sia per i animali

Francesco Badolato Jun 27, 2013:

Ovviamente una volta chiarito dall'asker che si tratta di una ragazza
"trovatella".

marta07t (asker) Jun 27, 2013:

Siamo a Londra, teenagers, solito triangolo amoroso, lo dice una ragazza riferito all'altra ragazza (che è appena comparsa per la prima volta)

P.L.F. Persio Jun 27, 2013:

Maggior contesto Dovresti fornirci più contesto: chi sono i due personaggi, che succede intorno allo scambio di battute. Letteralmente significa qualcosa come orfano e derelitto, ma senza contesto si va alla cieca.