What it means
Means unpleasantly cold, the kind of chill that nips at your nose and makes you regret leaving the scarf. It also describes someone quick and sharp, especially in footy or at work, like a striker with a nippy turn. With dogs, nippy can mean a bit bitey, so keep your fingers to yourself.
Usage examples
"Bit nippy this morning, innit. Put a jumper on, then watched Zara do a nippy turn on the pitch and rinse their full-back."
"Proper nippy on the walk to the bus stop this morning in Glasgow, the breath came out in clouds, and the lady at the corner shop already had the kettle on for the milk delivery driver who arrives wearing only a polo shirt year round."
"Our new striker is dead nippy on the left wing, beat their full-back twice in the opening ten minutes at the Saturday match, and the manager was already on his feet shouting tactics to the bench before half time even came around."
Where it comes from
From the literal nip of cold or of a small bite, the word stretched in Edwardian Britain to cover anything quick, sharp or briskly chilly. The same root gives us nippers for children and nippy as the adjective for the sprinter, the cool morning, the lively phrase and the dog that lives mostly under the kitchen table waiting for the fish supper to land.
Other ways to say it
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