Plural of nitwit: silly or foolish people who lack intelligence or common sense.
Compound of 'nit' (a louse egg, something small and worthless) and 'wit' (mind/intelligence). Emerged in early 20th-century slang to mean a person with the mind of a louse egg.
Insults often start with bugs and parasites—'lice,' 'vermin,' 'nitwit'—because human cultures universally associate tiny pest animals with worthlessness and disease, making them perfect material for name-calling.
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