# Joe Twerp Column

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-twerp-column/243>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [October 10, 1999, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-twerp-column/243 "1999-10-10T18:26:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![BigRoryG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f07891/32.png) [@BigRoryG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigRoryG)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 1999, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-twerp-column/243/1 "1999-10-10T18:26:00Z")

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I just read this column on the Classic column page. Is this the origin then of the noun twerp, used to degrade many a younger brother, or is it simply a rotten coincidence? Especialy since he played a stuttering clerk and was never more than a bit=part actor…

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If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.

If you need a graphic solution, [http:\ alk.to\Piglet](http://talk.to%5CPiglet)

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 1999, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-twerp-column/243/2 "1999-10-10T21:55:00Z")

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…And the link to the column is: [Was there really an actor named Joe Twerp?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_019a.html)

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 1999, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-twerp-column/243/3 "1999-10-10T22:13:00Z")

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The fickle hand of legacy.

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**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 1999, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-twerp-column/243/4 "1999-10-11T02:17:00Z")

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In J.R.R. Tolkien’s letters, he refers twice to a painter named **T** homas **W** ade Earp as “the original twerp.”

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**Author:** ![Jomolungma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@Jomolungma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jomolungma)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 1999, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-twerp-column/243/5 "1999-10-11T13:32:00Z")

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The great – and almost totally forgotten – irony here is that after _In Old Chicago,_ Twerp worked with director Anatol Litvak. Until Twerp made _his_ name part of the lexicon, bothersome little brothers had been known as ‘litvaks.’