Knee biter

Posted by ESC on December 16, 2003

In Reply to: Knee biter posted by Walter Lakey on December 16, 2003

: ran across this phrase "knee biter" in one of the late Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker "trilogy". In context it was intended as an insult. It seems an odd thing to do or to be insulted by. Is this a euphemism for some less socially gracious insult? Or, is it just of Adams' silliness?
: Thanks,
: Walter

I think "knee biter" refers to a child, one in a series of terms relating to a child's stage of development: rug rat, crumb crusher, yard ape.