happy camper

English

Etymology

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

Noun

happy camper (plural happy campers)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see happy camper.
2. (chiefly US, informal) One who is thoroughly content or satisfied.

   I will be a happy camper when they fix the potholes on my commute.

   • 1989 April 26, Shirley Marlow, “Quayle Visits Samoa, Decides He'll Give It a Break”, in Los Angeles Times‎^[1]:

     “You all look like happy campers to me,” Dan Quayle to the people of American Samoa.

   • 1997, Roz Denny Fox, Sweet Tibby Mack‎^[2], page 132:

     "Call, but you can't fight union regulations" / "You're probably right. Still, their boss needs to know I'm not a happy camper."

   • 2008, Deepa Kumar, quoting Ron Carey, Outside the Box: Corporate Media, Globalization, and the UPS Strike, Appendix, page 194:

     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.

   Synonym: happy bunny