the.com/peep
A look and a chicken-shaped marshmallow walk into the same word, somehow.
means To take a quick, often furtive look at something, or the tiny high-pitched sound a small bird (or baby chick) makes.
from Peep is one of language's little sound-mimics: the bird-cry sense comes from imitating the thin, high 'peep' chicks and small birds actually make — the word sounds like the sound. The 'quick furtive look' sense grew up alongside it, possibly influenced by 'peek,' both describing that small, careful glimpse through a crack or curtain. The marshmallow candy Peeps borrowed the bird sense directly, naming its chick- and bunny-shaped treats after the sound baby chicks make — a branding move, not a separate etymology.
- origin
- from Middle English piper, a bird's faint cry
- easter candy
- Just Born started making Peeps in 1953
- microwave fact
- stale Peeps survive microwaving without melting
- slang use
- peep that means look at that, informally