Where did the expression "whippersnapper" come from?

Answer 1

the etymology is not completely clear, however the term "whippersnapper" was most likely developed from "whip-snapper."
One of many similar definitions:
'an unimportant but offensively presumptuous person, especially a young one'
Phrases.org posts,"A "whippersnapper" is an impertinent young person, usually a young man, whose lack of proper respect for the older generation is matched only by his laziness and lack of motivation to better himself." and goes on to explain that, "One might imagine that the term derives from the understandable temptation among more productive citizens to "snap a whip" at such sullen layabouts, but the whips in question actually belonged to the whippersnappers themselves. Such ne'er-do-wells were originally known as "whip snappers" in the 17th century, after their habit of standing around on street corners all day, idly snapping whips to pass the time. The term was been based on the already-existing phrase, "snipper-snapper," also meaning a worthless young man, but in any case, "whip snapper" became "whippersnapper" fairly rapidly."

Answer 2

Whippersnapper Etymology

Answer 3

The word whippersnapper--which, as these citations indicate, is often hyphenated--is first recorded in this sense in the late 1690s; there's an example earlier in the seventeenth century, in a book about criminals, that seems to mean 'a rogue; petty criminal'.

Whippersnapper is probably a blend of the earlier whipster and snipper-snapper, themselves first recorded in the late sixteenth century. Snipper-snapper is now obsolete or dialectal; it is based on snip-snap, a gradational compound having various parts of speech all generally referring to "snappiness," as of conversation.

Answer 4

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This use of scratch derives from a line or mark drawn or scratched into the ground to indicate a boundary or starting-point in sports, especially cricket and boxing. That meaning of scratch goes back to the late 18th century. From there it came to apply specifically to the starting point, in a handicap, of a competitor who received no odds: "Mr. Tom Sabin, of the Coventry Bicycle Club, has won, during last week, three races from scratch." (Bicycle Journal, August 18, 1878). It was later applied figuratively with the meaning "from nothing", and it was used thus by James Joyce in Ulysses (1922): "A poor foreign immigrant who started scratch as a stowaway and is now trying to turn an honest penny." Thereafter it was taking up in cooking once boxed mixes and prepared foods became widely available. Today it is a badge of honor to be able to say one made a culinary delight from scratch.

Answer 5

Old people in Kentucky and Tennessee

Answer 6

YOU LIL WHIPPERSNAPPER