Meaning of Nippy | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Alternative letter-case form of Nippy.
   UK, alt-of, historical
2. A waitress in a Lyons Corner House.
   UK, historical

Equivalents

Examples

“Lyon's Corner House¶ A postwar survivor of a prewar original, when the name Lyon's was a guarantee of quality eating. The Pret A Manger, Starbucks and Maison Blanc of its day, complete with black-uniformed, white-pinnied waitresses known as nippies.”

“He reached across to the breakfast-table for the Daily Yell which was propped against the marmalade jar, and read with pursed lips a paragraph whose heavily leaded headlines had caught his eye, just before the interruption of the kipper episode. “Nippy” Found Dead in Epping Forest […] “Did the landlady mention where Bertha Gotobed was employed?” “Yes⁠—she was a waitress at the Corner House. […]””

“It was the task of the Lyons' waitress, the Nippy, groomed and trained by the management to be an efficient public servant, to mediate between patrons and the establishment as well as between different classes and tastes […]”

“The Nippy became a national icon, symbolic of the girl next door, always approachable and proper; […]”

CEFR level