Bopper

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbɒpəɹ/

Definitions

1. An individual who joyfully participates in lively dance, typically associated with energetic music and movement styles
2. Someone who moves rhythmically and spiritedly to music ; a playful item designed to bounce or strike when manipulated
3. An individual known for lively and spirited dancing actions ; a toy or object that rebounds or delivers a light blow

Etymology: The word "bopper" is about as plain as English compounds get: it is "bop" with the agent suffix "-er" added, so it means someone who bops. The suffix itself has a long pedigree, arriving through Old French "-ier" from Latin "-arius", which denoted a person connected with a job or activity, and it has been attached to English verbs and nouns for centuries (the same ending turns "baker" and "singer" into names for people who do those things). The base word "bop" is the more interesting part. It belongs to the jazz world of the 1940s, where it named the style of fast, complex improvised music associated with musicians like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and it was a short, clipped form of "bebop." Its use as a verb for dancing to lively music came later, so a bopper is literally someone who dances to bop-style music.

Synonyms: dancer, swinger, groover, mover, party-goer