Chipper (tobacco)

A chipper is an occasional tobacco smoker who isn't subject to the heavy level that is typical of addicted smokers. Such occasional users of tobacco are also dubbed social smokers which is similar in meaning to social drinker. Chippers are given as an example in The Tipping Point; if chippers begin smoking above a certain threshold (or tipping point), then they will develop regular cravings and become addicted.

The term, and indeed the concept itself, was coined by renowned psychologist Dr. Saul Shiffman, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh.