yard ape

English

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Noun

yard ape (plural yard apes)

1. (slang, derogatory) An unruly child.
   • 1981, Beverly Cleary, Ramona Quimby, Age 8:

     "Yard apes!" yelled Ramona, her name for the sort of boys who always got the best balls, who were always first on the playground, and who chased their soccer balls through other people's hopscotch games.

   • 2007, Sandra Chastain, Debra Leigh Smith, Martha L. Crockett, On Grandma's Porch:

     “Get outta my clean kitchen with those dirty feet, you yard apes!” Yard apes were unruly children.

   • 2008, Teresa C. Smith, Raising Warrior Queens, page 18:

     I went to Donna's little girl's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese and had to listen to those screaming yard apes for an hour.

2. (slang, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) A black person.
   • 1997, Lewis R. Gordon, Existence in Black:

     Crude American racists often refer to blacks as "niggers," "coons," "porch monkeys," "jungle bunnies," and "yard apes."

   • 1997, Sum1 Sumwhere, “Why Africa cannot afford to be Weak”, in alt.politics.nationalism.black (Usenet):

     Can't you yard apes think of anything original to cry about?