Green’s Dictionary of Slang

ripples n.

[‘A variant of rhyming slang strawberry ripple = cripple, but with reference to ETA Ripples, a type of potato chip, after the inmates’ way of describing such a person as “a few Ripples short of a pack”’ Loserr (2001)]

(N.Z. prison) someone who is mentally or physically handicapped.

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[NZ]D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 153/2: ripples n. a mentally deficient or hysically deformed person.