Word Origins

 

*WHIPPERSNAPPER

The word itself is merely a balanced extension of whip-snapper, "one who cracks a whip." Its use is most often in the sense of "one who cracks a whip loudly to make a fearsome noise because he himself would have no attention paid to him otherwise." In other words, "an insignificant, impudent, and presumptuous nobody."

Above: When they first met, Jim Rockford thought Richie Brockelman was a young “whippersnapper” on The Rockford Files episode, The House on Willis Avenue.

*Inspired by Charles Funk (1881–1957)