The origin of 'twerp' is obscure and debated. One popular but unverified story links it to Oxford University slang, where it was allegedly coined to mock a fellow student named T. W. Earp. Another theory suggests it may derive from a dialectal English word. Regardless of its true source, it emerged in the early 20th century as a term of mild contempt. Its journey from an obscure slang term to a common, if old-fashioned, insult for a foolish person exemplifies how language can create durable labels from uncertain beginnings.

The word 'twerp' is considered a simplex word. Its specific origin is uncertain, though it is likely a 20th-century British slang creation with no clear, separable morphemes in modern English.