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When I was growing up, it seemed everyone used the word "creep" when they said something like "There's a creep in the neighbourhood who's watching us!", or telling someone with distasteful actions who you want to avoid, "Get away from me, ya creep!".
I've just noticed that lately (maybe in the past few years), people have began to use a word "creeper" very often instead for people who give off disconcerting vibes. I often hear it with 20 or 30 year olds (eg. "There's this guy at work, who's such a creeper!".
I wonder if one is really just a modified version of the other. Did you ever notice this wording, or is it just me that thinks this is some slang change that went on?
When I was growing up, it seemed everyone used the word "creep" when they said something like "There's a creep in the neighbourhood who's watching us!", or telling someone with distasteful actions who you want to avoid, "Get away from me, ya creep!".
I've just noticed that lately (maybe in the past few years), people have began to use a word "creeper" very often instead for people who give off disconcerting vibes. I often hear it with 20 or 30 year olds (eg. "There's this guy at work, who's such a creeper!".
I wonder if one is really just a modified version of the other. Did you ever notice this wording, or is it just me that thinks this is some slang change that went on?
My daughter, now 20, started using "creeper" around 7th or 8th grade, if I recall correctly.
"Creeper" is also the platform on casters, that mechanics use to get under your car.
I've never heard it used to mean the same as the noun "creep". However, a creepy person always appears in my mental image as a person who stealthily engages in whatever creeps do, in other words creeps around. The dictionary definition of the verb creep implies stealth.
A creep in common slang, suggests to me a person who has a lot of psychological characteristics to hide, in spite of his overt intrusion into your sphere of attention. Creeper would more strongly imply a person who skulked or lurked, rather than openly approached you.
When I was growing up, it seemed everyone used the word "creep" when they said something like "There's a creep in the neighbourhood who's watching us!", or telling someone with distasteful actions who you want to avoid, "Get away from me, ya creep!".
I've just noticed that lately (maybe in the past few years), people have began to use a word "creeper" very often instead for people who give off disconcerting vibes. I often hear it with 20 or 30 year olds (eg. "There's this guy at work, who's such a creeper!".
I wonder if one is really just a modified version of the other. Did you ever notice this wording, or is it just me that thinks this is some slang change that went on?
In the current "suburban environment lingo" (my gf works with a bunch of younger gals) creeper is just a new way of saying creepy but with more of a connotation of it being in a "lurking" sort of way. (Google Pedobear for an example).
So, if you approach some gals out sunbathing and give them a bad vibe they might still call you creepy or wierdo etc. after you leave. If you hang out near a group of girls getting drunk at a club and try to squeeze in on their dance circle or brush up against them then you'll be called a creeper.
Older guys in particular would be more likely to be called a creeper. Like hanging out with a bunch of younger folks and then trying to score on the really drunk gal.
In the current "suburban environment lingo" (my gf works with a bunch of younger gals) creeper is just a new way of saying creepy but with more of a connotation of it being in a "lurking" sort of way. (Google Pedobear for an example).
So, if you approach some gals out sunbathing and give them a bad vibe they might still call you creepy or wierdo etc. after you leave. If you hang out near a group of girls getting drunk at a club and try to squeeze in on their dance circle or brush up against them then you'll be called a creeper.
Older guys in particular would be more likely to be called a creeper. Like hanging out with a bunch of younger folks and then trying to score on the really drunk gal.
I think that's probably the key to the way it's most commonly used amongst teenagers now.
Yeah, my impression of the slang does seem to be similar to what most people are saying here, used by women more than men.
I probably had not heard it before the late 2000s. Did it come into popular usage somehow from somewhere?
Or it there a reason why it is used more often now, such as there being more concerns about stalkers (perception of there being more dangerous, unsavoury characters lurking in the streets etc.)?
Yeah, my impression of the slang does seem to be similar to what most people are saying here, used by women more than men.
I probably had not heard it before the late 2000s. Did it come into popular usage somehow from somewhere?
Or it there a reason why it is used more often now, such as there being more concerns about stalkers (perception of there being more dangerous, unsavoury characters lurking in the streets etc.)?
I just took it as this particular kid-generation slang. Back when I was a teenager, things were "Excellent". In the early 80's, they became "Awesome" (though that one seems to have stuck somewhat).
As I mentioned, my daughter is now 20. She graduated from HS two years ago. Kids in her school who showed their feelings a lot were "emo". They "owned" you if you were dominated in a social situation or conversation. And people, especially adults, who looked creepy were "creepers".
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