Campet (n)

Means: An annoyingly inert, slow-moving andor obtuse person

Usage: “Holly’s supposed to be here and she’s still at home in bed: what a campet!”

Most of our young charges probably don’t use words like inert, laggardly or obtuse, even if they have - and it’s doubtful, isn’t it? - the vaguest inkling of what they mean. But they do need to disapprove of fellow pupils who refuse to budge when called upon or who always move at less than snail’s pace. Among girls in Redbridge and elsewhere, the word du jour for this kind of sluggard is campet. It’s in fact a misreading or mishearing for one of the online gaming community’s most hated denizens. In multiplayer games “camping” is staying put, concealing oneself and ambushing opponents instead of moving around and fully participating. Although it’s not actually against the rules, the epithet “camper” is usually accompanied by several colourful expletives. Campet, which sounds as if “limpet” has been grafted on, is a more recent version of the insult, expanded now to apply to anyone who won’t get up and join in.