A lot of people use the word whelp informally in the sense of “a raised place on the skin.”
On the left side [of my face] … I had over 20 whelps (not bumps), and they were red and hot.
Recently my 12 year old daughter has been breaking out in large whelps.
I have red whelps on my arm my side and down my legs
Both the OED and Merriam-Webster acknowledge the dialect use of “whelp” to mean “welt,” but seeing the nonstandard use in a formal context is jarring, as in this example from a news item written by a reporter for a state daily:
[the husband] grabbed a broom and hit her on the back, leaving a large red whelp…
whelp: 1. The young of the dog. Now little used, superseded by puppy.
welt: a raised area, ridge, or seam on the body surface (as from scarring or a blow)
The word welt originated as a shoemaking term for a rolled over strip of leather. The meaning “ridge on the skin from a wound” is first recorded 1800.
Whelp can also be used as a verb, either transitively or intransitively:
Red Girl whelped a litter of seven puppies.
Three of the fox hounds whelped on the same day.
Whelp has, unsurprisingly, been adopted into slang. In the UK (esp. Scotland) it is used to refer to other people’s children, though not in a particularly flattering manner.
Wow. I can understand kids using “whelp” in place of “welt” but a reporter?? Good grief.
I always thought that a whelp was more of a rash, and a welt was an injury. I love learning stuff like this!
It makes me nuts to see the word “whelps” as a description of an allergic reaction – on a MEDICAL RECORD for pup’s sake! do you mean the patient has puppies on his/her skin, or is he/she birthing puppies?