the.com/pipsqueak
An insult that sounds exactly as small as the person it describes.
means A small or unimportant person who talks big — someone you dismiss precisely because they carry no real weight.
from American slang from the early 1900s, built by mashing together 'pip' (a tiny seed, or the small spots on dice and dominoes — something trivially small) with 'squeak' (the thin, high noise a small creature makes). Put them together and you get a word that's practically onomatopoeia for insignificance — it sounds like what it means, which is a big part of why it stuck.
- origin
- blend of pip, tiny seed, and squeak, tiny noise
- first used
- early 1900s American slang
- irony
- the word itself is fun to shout
- usage
- always punches down, rarely punches back