Skiff vs Spiff - What's the difference?
skiff | spiff |
A small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern.
* , chapter=7
, title= Any of various types of boats small enough for sailing or rowing by one person.
(weather) A light wind/rain/snow, etc.
(slang) Used when referring to anyone (typically rednecks and fishermen) who has a degree of intelligence, but believes they are more than they actually are.
(uncountable) Attractiveness or charm in dress, appearance, or manner
:Without a diploma, he relies on spiff alone to climb the corporate ladder.
(countable, dated) A well-dressed man
(countable, sales jargon) A bonus or other remuneration, given for reaching a sales goal or promoting the goods of a particular manufacturer. Originally from textile retailing, a percentage given for selling off surplus or out-of-fashion stock, of which the sales person could offer part as a discount to a customer.
(countable, colloquial, Jamaica) a hand-rolled marijuana cigarette; a joint
*2000 , Leone Ross, Tasting Songs'', in ''Dark Matter (ed. Sheree R. Thomas),
*2004 , Sander L. Gilman, Xun Zhou, Smoke: A Global History of Smoking ,
(usually with up ) to make spiffy (attractive, polished, or up-to-date)
:Our productivity would surely increase if we'd just spiff up this office a bit.
to reward (a salesperson) with a spiff.
to throw.
:I spiffed the turf over the edge and it went straight through the window and hit the officer.
As nouns the difference between skiff and spiff
is that skiff is a small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern while spiff is attractiveness or charm in dress, appearance, or manner.As verbs the difference between skiff and spiff
is that skiff is to navigate in a skiff while spiff is (usually with up) to make spiffy (attractive, polished, or up-to-date.skiff
English
(wikipedia skiff)Etymology 1
From (etyl) esquif, from (etyl) . More at (l).Noun
(en noun)Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff' s rail, close to the stern.}}
Etymology 2
.spiff
English
Noun
(en noun)p76
- She rolled a spiff for us as she spoke, sifting the ganja between her fingers...
p144
- ...someone else built a spiff which he lit and gave to me...