A shrimp is a small shellfish with a long body and many legs, often eaten as seafood. Informally, it can also mean a very small or weak person.
“Shrimp” likely comes from Middle English “shrimpe,” possibly related to a root meaning to contract or wrinkle. It has long been associated with smallness. The figurative use for a small person grew naturally from the tiny animal.
The animal’s size is so defining that English turned ‘shrimp’ into a nickname for small people. Many languages do this—picking one famous tiny creature and using it for humans. In English, shrimp ended up competing with pipsqueak, runt, and titch in the ‘small person’ club.
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