"spiffy" and "spiffing"

Judy Prince jbalizsprince at GOOGLEMAIL.COM
Fri Jan 29 20:46:34 UTC 2010


Robin (a Scot living in England) has read in (usually) novels about English
schools, the word "spiffing".

I, a USAmerican, have never read or heard "spiffing", but have often
read/heard/said "spiffy".

Robin says that "spiffing" is definitely literary.  He has never heard it
spoken, but has read it in novels for adolescent girls and boys, school
stories.

My experience with "spiffy" is that it was said by my parents, and is said
by me and my contemporaries [born in the 1940s].

Any examples, theories, histories from listmembers?

Best,

Judy

--
Frisky Moll Press:  http://judithprince.com/home.html

"I can't read my library card."  ---Jeff Hecker, Norfolk, VA

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