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Twerp

//twɝp// noun, slang

Definitions

Noun

1
A fool, a twit. UK, colloquial
"Now you've broken it, you twerp!"
2
someone who is regarded as contemptible wordnet
3
A small or puny person; one regarded as insignificant, contemptible. US, childish, colloquial
"Get out of my way, you little twerp!"
4
A person who can be bullied playfully, or easily teased. Sometimes used as a pet-name (often for a younger sibling). US, childish, colloquial

Etymology

Of uncertain origin; originally British slang of the 1910s. In a letter, dated 6 October 1944, J. R. R. Tolkien mentions a contemporary of his at Oxford University T.W. Earp, calling him "the original twerp"; but no corroborating evidence for this etymology has come to light. Other suggestions include: a clipping of Antwerp (“type of racing pigeon that flew between Antwerp and London”); the onomatopoeic twirp (“imitation of the sound of a bird”); a dialectal variant of dwarf (compare Middle English dwerf); Welsh twp (“a fool”).

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