Where does the term "Whipper Snapper" come from?

Question

(If that's even how you spell it! ;))

Answer 1

A whippersnapper is 'an unimportant but offensively presumptuous person, especially a young one'.

A few nineteenth-century examples: "Dost thou think it's nat'ral noo, that having such a proper mun as thou to keep company wi', I'd ever tak' opp wi' such a leetle scanty whipper-snapper as yon?" (Dickens, Nicholas Nickelby); "They think I am very stiff and cool, most of them, and so I am to whippersnappers" (Louisa May Alcott, Little Women); "...had unnaturally been jealous that a young whipper-snapper of a pupil...should become a Parliament man" (Trollope, Phineas Finn).

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 2

"Whippersnapper" is a somewhat archaic term, rarely heard today outside of movies, and then usually from the mouth of a character portrayed as chronologically-challenged and hopelessly old-fashioned to boot. 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.

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.

Though "whippersnapper" originally referred to a young man with no visible ambition, the term has changed somewhat over the years, and today is more likely to be applied to a young person with an excess of both ambition and impertinence.

Answer 3

"Whippersnapper" is a somewhat archaic term, rarely heard today outside of movies, and then usually from the mouth of a character portrayed as chronologically-challenged and hopelessly old-fashioned to boot. 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.

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.

Though "whippersnapper" originally referred to a young man with no visible ambition, the term has changed somewhat over the years, and today is more likely to be applied to a youngster with an excess of both ambition and impertinence.

http://www.word-detective.com/101797.html

Answer 4

Horse and buggy days. The "whipper snapper" was the guy (or gal) driving the horse-drawn buggy. They would snap the whip to attempt to make the horse go faster - the "hot rod" drivers of their time.

Answer 5

A whippersnapper is someone who is unimportant but "cheeky" and presumptuous. 17th Century word....no info on place of origin.

Answer 6

From an old person

Answer 7

thats means that her snatch is toasted, beat up, you know....