different between quiff vs quim

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /kw?f/, [k?w??f]
• Rhymes: -?f

Etymology 1

Variant form of whiff.

Noun

quiff (plural quiffs)

1. (British dialect) A puff or whiff, especially of tobacco smoke.

Etymology 2

Origin unknown.

Noun

quiff (plural quiffs)

1. (regional, slang) A trick or ploy; a stratagem. [from 19th c.]
   • 1933, John Masefield, The Bird of Dawning:

     It was young Mr. Abbott worked that quiff on you, sir.

Etymology 3

Origin uncertain; perhaps a variant of coif.

Noun

quiff (plural quiffs)

1. (Britain) A hairstyle whereby the forelock is brushed and/or gelled upward, often associated with the styles of the 1950s. [from 19th c.]
   • 2012, Tom Lamont, The Observer, 2 Sep 2012:

     His woolly brown hair shaped into a drooping quiff, he's been sitting poolside all morning, snatching sucks on cigarettes before the waiters can tell him no, and thinking about reworking some incidental music for the band's gig tomorrow.

Translations

Verb

quiff (third-person singular simple present quiffs, present participle quiffing, simple past and past participle quiffed)

1. (Britain) To arrange (the hair) in such a manner. [from 20th c.]

Derived terms

• quiffed

Etymology 4

Probably variant of coif (“vulva”).

Noun

quiff (plural quiffs)

1. (slang) A young girl, especially as promiscuous; a prostitute. [from 20th c.]
   • 1949, John O'Hara, Rage to Live:

     How would I get an African toothache when the closest I been to a quiff in over a month is sitting next to one?

2. (slang) The vulva or vagina. [from 20th c.]
   • 2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate 2011, p. 120:

     Jane was drying herself in the bedroom, holding the bath towel behind her shoulders, her small breasts and childlike nipples flushed from the power jet, her quiff a barely visible thread.

English

Etymology 1

Origin uncertain; perhaps an alteration of queme. The English Dialect Dictionary has a citation of "quim and cosh" from 1723 which it glosses as "intimate and familiar". Compare also quaint, cunt. Derivation from Welsh cwm (“hollow”) is sometimes suggested, but the OED notes that this is "unlikely on both semantic and phonological grounds".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kw?m/
• Rhymes: -?m

Noun

quim (plural quims)

1. (vulgar, slang) The female genitalia; the vulva.
   • 1879, Anonymous, "The Wanton Lass" in The Pearl No. 1:

     For one day, when amusing herself with this whim

     The carrot it snapped, and part stuck in her quim.

   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses, page 938:

     Ho! What do I here behold? Were you brushing the cobwebs off a few quims?
2. (vulgar, derogatory) A derogatory term (see cunt).
   • 2012, Joss Whedon, The Avengers, Tom Hiddleston as "Loki":

     (to Black Widow)...In every way, [ Clint Barton ] knows your fear! And then he'll wake...to see his good work...When he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!

Translations

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Scots queem. Compare English queem.

Adjective

quim

1. (Ulster) Affectedly nice, prim.
2. (Ulster) Moving with ease and precision.

See also

• queem