Dictionary

happy camper en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

The Dictionary of American Slang suspects the phrase to have originated among California movie and show-business people as a reference to child clients of summer camps.

Meanings

1. (US, informal) One who is thoroughly content or satisfied.
   • “You all look like happy campers to me,” Dan Quayle to the people of American Samoa. 1989 April 26, Shirley Marlow, “Quayle Visits Samoa, Decides He'll Give It a Break”, in Los Angeles Times:
   • I had kept telling people that this company would be looking for a victim to pay for this. They would not let it go. And it wasn't just them—look at all the Mob guys I threw out of the union. They weren't happy campers. 2008, Deepa Kumar, quoting Ron Carey, Outside the Box: Corporate Media, Globalization, and the UPS Strike, Appendix, page 194:
   • "Call, but you can't fight union regulations" / "You're probably right. Still, their boss needs to know I'm not a happy camper." 1997, Roz Denny Fox, Sweet Tibby Mack, page 132:
   • I will be a happy camper when they fix the potholes on my commute.
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see happy, camper.

Forms

Synonyms

happy bunny