Who/What is a "tearaway"?

Factual Questions
1

Heard it on BBC America. I found a lot of articles with the term, but I could not find the definition. From context, it seems that it is a teen who is a criminal or who has at least been through the court system at some time or another or it could be a troublemaking, rebellious, headstrong youth. Can a 10 year old or a 25 year old be a tearaway? Official term or slang? Term origins?

2

According to Merriam-Webster, it’s a rebellious, reckless, or unruly young person (not necessarily a criminal, it seems), and the usage dates to 1950.

3

[QUOTE=TWDuke]
According to Merriam-Webster, it’s a rebellious, reckless, or unruly young person (not necessarily a criminal, it seems), and the usage dates to 1950.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tearaway
[/QUOTE]
I need to be less Google and Wikipedia dependent!

4

Yeah. You can call a child a “tearaway”. It can be affectionate. Uncles and grandpas use it a lot.

5

[QUOTE=Mesquite-oh]
troublemaking, rebellious, headstrong youth.
[/QUOTE]

That’s pretty much it, plus the use for younger kids TheLoadedDog describes.

6

Actually, I can’t recall an instance here where the media (or adults generally) have used the term in anything but an affectionate manner. It is too affectionate to be used for, say, a teenager who is hanging out with the wrong crowd/stealing cars/using drugs etc. Well, his parents might use it in that context but the papers wouldn’t.

7

That must be a difference between Britain and Oz, then, as shown by these results from the first page of a Google News UK search for the word:

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Judge-queries-Leeds-tearaway-reprimand.3822949.jp
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231754&home=yes&more_nodeId1=231776&contentPK=19735338

8

Here’s OED, from which one can see the progression in meaning:

9

I liken it to “scallywag.”

10

[QUOTE=1920s Style “Death Ray”]
I liken it to “scallywag.”
[/QUOTE]

The hooligans are loose!
Sorry, but that had to be done.

11

[QUOTE=GorillaMan]
The hooligans are loose!
[/QUOTE]

I’m not familiar with the reference. The Simpsons or something more cerebral?

12

[QUOTE=1920s Style “Death Ray”]
The Simpsons or something more cerebral?
[/QUOTE]

Sort of. Bill Hicks. (Just the audio! 1:30 in.)

13

[QUOTE=GorillaMan]
Sort of. Bill Hicks. (Just the audio! 1:30 in.)
[/QUOTE]

Out of town and on dialup right now, will check it out when back home.