TO TIFF
in the Indian sense.
Historical Citations (6)
"He hesitated, and we were interrupted by a summons to tiff at Floyer's. After tiffin Close said he should be glad to go."—Elphinstone, in Life, i. 116.
"We found a pool of excellent water, which is scarce on the hills, and laid down to tiff on a full soft bed, made by the grass of last year and this. After tiffing, I was cold and unwell."—Ibid. p. 283. Tiffing here is a participle, but its use shows how the noun tiffin would be originally formed.
[Burrawa is probably H. bhaṛuā, 'a pander.']
"I was tiffing with him one day, when the subject turned on the sagacity of elephants...."—John Shipp, ii. 267.
"Go home, Jack. I will tiff with you to-day at half-past two."—J. Lang, Wanderings in India, p. 16.
"'Look here, Randolph, don't you know,' said Sir Peel, ... 'Here you've been gallivanting through India, riding on elephants, and tiffining with Rajahs....'"—Punch, Essence of Parliament, April 25, p. 204.
From Hobson-Jobson by Yule & Burnell, 1886.