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Ash and his friends, who are commonly referred to by Team Rocket as "twerps"

Twerp (sometimes misspelled as twirp in closed captioning) is an insult commonly used by the Team Rocket trio, usually towards people they do not like.

Usage

Originally, Team Rocket simply called Ash the boy and Misty a girl. Ash is usually the twerp, (Japanese: じゃりボーイ jari-boy) according to Jessie, James and Meowth. Collectively, Ash and his friends are the twerps (Japanese: じゃりん子 jarinko). The term can be extended to virtually anyone who associates with Ash and isn't on Team Rocket's side. They rarely refer to the twerps by their actual names. In fact, almost every time Team Rocket calls Ash and his friends by their real names is when they are in disguises or when Ash and Team Rocket are forced to work together. This seems to be more out of disrespect than not remembering the names of the twerps. Team Rocket calls Red a twerp in Pokémon Yellow.

When they want to refer to Ash individually, they will call him just "the twerp." However, if they want to refer to his friends individually, they will use a variation of this. Their nickname for Brock is "the big twerp" or "the tall twerp." Misty was called "the twerpy little red-head" in Pokémon Fashion Flash. Also, when referring to Ash's female companions from Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire onward, they will sometimes refer to them as twerpette (Japanese: じゃりガール jari-girl). They also occasionally called Max the "mini-twerp" or the "little twerp". When May and Dawn first joined Ash on his journey, they were referred to as "the new twerp." Tracey was also once called "the new twerp" and Brock "the old twerp" upon Ash's return from the Orange Islands. When May returned in Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, she was referred to as the "Hoenn region twerpette". May was also referred to as "twerp with the head handkerchief" in May's Egg-Cellent Adventure. Lillie was referred to as the "twerpette with the nice headwear" in Getting To Know You! and the "frilly twerpette" in Mission: Total Recall!. Lana was referred to as the "blue-haired twerpette" in They Might Not Be Giants!. Mallow was referred to as the "green-haired twerpette" in Mallow and the Forest Teacher!.

Paul, due to his rude and uncaring personality, is called "the rude twerp", though they have called him "the tall twerp" a couple times, possibly a reference to the fact that he, like almost all of Ash's rivals, is taller than him. In Strategy with a Smile! Meowth refers to Zoey as "the red-haired twerp". Barry is known as the "fining twerp" because of his consistent threats to fine people for various reasons. Kenny is called "the Contest twerp" in Stopped in the Name of Love! for being one of Dawn's rivals. In Yes in Dee Dee, it's Dawn, Ursula is referred to as the "twirly-haired twerpette". In Keeping In Top Forme!, Team Rocket calls Marley the "sleepy twerpette". Clemont is known as the "inventor twerp", and in The Clumsy Crier Quiets the Chaos! and Over the Mountain of Snow!, he was called the "science twerp". Bonnie is called the "tiny twerp" in Mega Revelations!, "little twerpette" in One for the Goomy!, the "fun-sized twerpette" by Meowth in So You're Having a Bad Day!, and the "mini-twerpette" in A Diamond in the Rough!. Nini is referred to the "guest twerp" in Pathways to Performance Partnering!.

Additionally, when referring to themselves as Team Rocket, they will sometimes refer to the twerps as Team Twerp in comparison. Butch and Cassidy have also called Ash and his friends twerps, and have called Ritchie the same. Attila and Hun refer to Jimmy and Marina as twerps (Japanese: ヒーロー気取りのガキども hīrō-kidori no gaki-domo). Thus, it seems to be a common insult by all members of Team Rocket.

In Getting To Know You!, James refers to Lillie as "one of the twerp troop."

In Kicking It from Here Into Tomorrow!, Jessie referred to Goh as Twerp 2.0 (pronounced two point oh) (Japanese: ジャリボーイ2号 jari-boy ni-gō).

In some instances, the term is not used in an insulting manner, such as in Pokémon the Series: Black & White when Meowth temporarily joined Ash and his Unova companions.

Trivia

In the English Chuang Yi translation of Ash & Pikachu, Team Rocket refers to Ash as "brat-boy" (direct translation of "jari-boy"), instead of "twerp".

In other languages

Twerp

Twerps

Twerpette