creeper

[Gordon, Matthew J.]

I don't believe I use 'creeper' but my sense is that it's not synonymous with 'creep' for its users. My definition of 'creep' is much broader than the one you provided. A 'creep' is more of a general pejorative, not a term just for someone who's creepy. It's much closer to 'jerk' for me, but then I don't think I've used 'creep' in years. If my sense of 'creep' is widespread, then the development of 'creeper' might be seen as motivated by the semantic gap left to describe a creepy person, especially a sexual predator.

-Matt Gordon


On 3/12/10 7:43 AM, "Amy West" <medievalist at W-STS.COM> wrote:

I've been noticing a term that my kids here in Worcester and their
cohorts (13 and 10 years old respectively) have been using and also
spotted in one of my student's (18-year-old freshman) papers:

They use "creeper" to mean what I would call a "creep," as in a
creepy, scary, or shady person. "He's a creeper."

I have not done my due diligence to see how widespread this is. It's
just a productive use of the -er ending to form a noun from a verb.
For them a "creeper" is someone who "creeps" around, skulking around.
There's a sense of menace in their use of "creeper" (and frankly in
my own use of "creep") that isn't captured by MW C11's definition of
"creep" (n) as "an unpleasant or obnoxious person."

[The context where I first learned the use: I was pointing out
someone at an SF con who I wanted them to avoid because he has
sexually harassed young women. "Oh, he's a creeper" was their
response, meaning if I had just said "Avoid that guy: he's a creeper"
I could have been more direct.]

---Amy West

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org