yappy
Preserved but no longer current.
Soft, foolish; mostly applied to an over-generous person, from the fact that it originally meant one who paid for everything. YAP is back slang for pay, and often when a man is asked to pay more than he considers correct, he says, "Do you think I’m YAPPY?" do you think I’m paying mad? Thus slang begets slang.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “yappy” mean?
Soft, foolish; mostly applied to an over-generous person, from the fact that it originally meant one who paid for everything. YAP is back slang for pay, and often when a man is asked to pay more than he considers correct, he says, "Do you think I’m YAPPY?" do you think I’m paying mad? Thus slang begets slang.
Is “yappy” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.