scamp

   ‘You little scamp’ would be addressed to a child in modern times, implying that he or she had been misbehaving, but that such misbehaviour was only to be expected from a young person. Parents who use the term may well be pleased that the child concerned is showing signs of liveliness. In the eighteenth century, when the word came into being, it was applied specifically to a highway robber. The latter was one who scampered away after committing his crimes. The word was quickly applied to any worthless person, then playfully applied to children.

   In The Pickwick Papers Tom is not alarmed when Bob Sawyer calls him ‘you idle young scamp’. adding ‘you vagabond’ and ‘you groveller’ for good measure. ‘Go to school, you little scamp’ says a man to a child in The House of the Seven Cables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Australian children’s classic, Seven Little Australians, by Ethel Turner, has a young stepmother addressing her children as ‘you scamps, you bad wicked imps!’