different between jiffy vs miffy

English

Etymology

Origin unknown; said to have been thieves’ cant for “lightning”. Also formerly written "giffy", to which a connection with gliff has been proposed. As a kind of envelope, a genericization of Jiffy bag.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /?d???.fi/
• Rhymes: -?fi
• Hyphenation: jif?fy

Noun

jiffy (plural jiffies)

1. (colloquial) A very short, unspecified length of time. [from 1780.]
   • 1780, The Town and Country Magazine, vol. 12, p. 88, February 1780.

     Most of the limbs of the law do every thing in a jiffy; but ask what they mean, and they would be as much puzzled, as if you required of them the explanantion of a common act of parliament.
2. (computing) A unit of time defined by the frequency of its basic timer – historically, and by convention, 0.01 of a second, but some computer operating systems use other values.
3. (electronics) The length of an alternating current power cycle (1/60 or 1/50 of a second).
4. (physics) The time taken for light to travel a specified distance in a vacuum, usually one centimetre, but sometimes one foot or the width of a nucleon.
5. (Britain) Short for jiffy bag, a padded envelope.

Synonyms

• (short, unspecified length of time):
  • (standard): instant, minute, moment, second, trice
  • (colloquial): mo, sec, tick
• jif
• jiff

Derived terms

• Jiffy bag

Translations

References

Further reading

• Eric S[teven] Raymond, editor (29 December 2003) , “jiffy”, in The Jargon File, version 4.4.7

English

Etymology

miff +? -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?.fi/
• Rhymes: -?fi

Adjective

miffy (comparative miffier, superlative miffiest)

1. (informal) Easily irritated or offended.
2. (informal, dated) Particular; fussy.
   • 1967, Missouri Botanical Garden Bulletin (volume 55, page 42)

     "Over-watering" is not the result of putting on too much water at one time, but from watering too often. Daily sprinkling or turning the hose on root areas can be most injurious — especially to some miffy plants like rhododendrons and dogwoods.