creeper

Sat Mar 13 14:24:55 UTC 2010

A_creeper_ seems to creep you out more than a creep.  In this week's Bad
Girls Club Season Finale, a BG commented,

"She just seems like a creeper. One of those people you would't want to be
alone with in your house."

JL
On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 6:10 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: creeper
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In BE, a "creeper" is a man who sneakily pursues, usually
> successfully, other men's wives or girlfriends.
>
> Cf. a verse from Midnight Mover, written by Steve Cropper and Wilson
> Pickett, sung by Wilson Pickett:
>
> "I'm a midnight _creeper_
> "All-day sleeper
> "I'm a midnight hugger
> "Stoned-soul lover"
>
> It's often the case that husbands or boyfriends have to work the
> graveyard shift. Old joke:
>
> Wife:
> Honey, while you were at work last night, a robber broke in!
> Husband:
> Whoa! Did he get anything?!
> Wife:
> Yes, but I thought it was you!
>
> -Wilson
>
> On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 11:34 AM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: creeper
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > The "creep" part sounds about right to me. There seems to be some
> > differentiation going on between "creep" and "creeper". "Creep" is
> > something one would expect to hear on NYPD Blue of Law & Order--a
> > generally negative description of a man (more often than not--but need
> > not be), someone unpleasant, particularly a suspect in a crime (in the
> > TV show context), or in a generic sense, e.g., "some creep". "Creeper"
> > is closer to "pervert" than "creep".
> >
> > There are 151 definitions in UD for "creeper", with the many
> > suggesting "older guy stalking/ogling young women". "Creep" only has
> > 49 definitions, including several for the verb and some that overlap
> > with "creeper" in the sense "pervert". But the majority seem to be
> > closer to "loser', "unpleasant", "jerk".
> >
> > Top UD entry for "creep" is "1950's word used by women to decribe an
> > undesirable man." The "1950's" bit is a touch gratuitous, but
> > generally represents a number of other entries in UD. And I have
> > little doubt that some people substitute one for the other--I suppose,
> > the real question is whether these coexist generally or if there are
> > people who exclude one in favor of the other (more specifically, if
> > they exclude "creep" in favor of "creeper"). Google is useless for
> > such a task, but here are a couple of news/blog items:
> >
> > --Stanley Tucci, definitely a creeper in The Lovely Bones.
> > --While working on a campaign to keep college women safe from assault
> > on campus, my partners referred to the would-be rapist by calling him
> > a "creeper.
> > --By now, most kids know the old creeper kidnapper trick: Attacker
> > pretends he is lost and needs a clueless child to help him find his
> > way.
> > --Awesome, right? I haven't needed to use it yet, but I'm thinking I
> > will go ahead and spray any creeper that comes too close and risk
> > going to jail.
> >
> > But, there are other uses for "creeper"--a "creeper burglar", "creeper
> > vine" and "creeper" as in "creepy or scary movie".
> >
> > VS-)
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 10:01 AM, Gordon, Matthew J.
> > <GordonMJ at missouri.edu> wrote:
> >>
> >> 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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>
>
> --
> -Wilson
> –––
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> –Mark Twain
>
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