The Rice University Neologisms Database

people A very cutesy way of referring to people. The initial syllables in both the original and new word have the same sounds. However, “peeps” for me will always have a connotation to the little sugarcoated marshmallow Easter candies, which accounts for the “cutesiness” of this word. In the above instance, I believe the professor was trying to downplay the importance of this particular book to the class in question (since many of the central ideas are the same). Alternativeely, he may have been attempting to show humility for the fact that he was the one who wrote the book.