Caspar Milquetoast, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Caspar Milquetoast n.

also caspar, Casper Milktoast/Milquetoast, milktoast, milquetoast, Mr Milquetoast

[the central character in the cartoon ‘The Timid Soul’ created by H.T. Webster, first publ. in New York World, May 1924]

1. a cowardly, weak person, also attrib.

[1924		H.T. Webster ‘Timid Soul’ in Oakland Trib. (CA) 22 Oct. 21/5: [cartoon] Telegraph office? I want to send a wire [...] Your concert coming over fine — Caspar Milquetoast] .
1927		Printer’s ink vol 141 124: Don’t smoke this brand you don't think for yourself and it's doubtful if you think at all; smoking any other brand stamps you indelibly as either a Caspar Milquetoast or a moron.
1932		L.W. Merryweather ‘Argot of an Orphans’ Home’ in AS VII:6 400: That big caspar wouldn’t know what you meant.
1938		Charleston (WV) Daily Mail 31 Oct. [cartoon caption] Mr. Milquetoast consents to pose for a photo to be used in an airliner ad. Note – the plane is on the ground.
1939		W. Winchell On Broadway 27 Oct. [synd. col.] The brass-knuckle drama critics, who look like a crew of Caspar Milquetoasts.
1941		B. Schulberg What Makes Sammy Run? (1992) 81: The other writer is a Caspar Milquetoast with an expression on his face like he’s really thinking.
1947		R.O. Boyer Dark Ship 171: He is a Casper Milquetoast no longer. He is a man.
1967		in S. Harris Hellhole 186: A marvelous atmosphere cooked up to make Caspar Milquetoasts feel like big brave explorers.
1985		K. Vacha Quiet Fire 65: Paul was a milktoast who wouldn’t say ‘shit’ if he had a mouthful.
1988		(con. 1940s) C. Bram Hold Tight (1990) 133: Don’t think I’m some pencil-pushing milquetoast.
1999		Indep. Rev. 21 Aug. 20: Ha! What a milquetoast!
2002		‘Touré’ Portable Promised Land (ms.) 156: We Words (My Favorite Things) [...] Homeboy. Homeslice. Milquetoast.
2022		A. Kirzman Giuliani 250: Giuliani, so milquetoast in the 2008 race that few could figure out whether he supported or opposed abortion rights and gun control.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1934		Oakland Trib. (CA) 10 July 38/6: The evident intelligence of the Milquetoast variety of American.
1941		B. Schulberg What Makes Sammy Run? (1992) 4: At best I was always on the Milquetoast side.
1968		G. Legman Rationale of the Dirty Joke (1972) I 317: One more example may be given, in the truer Milquetoast vein.
1972		Milner & Milner Black Players 227: At home he’s probably so passive, the Milquetoast type, you dig?
2005		Guardian G2 5 May 4: Democratic fury has been frightened into milquetoast bleating.