different between spiv vs shiv

English

Etymology

Unknown

Perhaps from spiff, spiffy.

Spiv was the nickname of Henry Bagster, a Londoner arrested a number of times in 1904-6 for activities as described below, and may have been the archetype. Also possibly from Romani spiv, a sparrow as active and opportunistic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sp?v/
• Rhymes: -?v

Noun

spiv (plural spivs)

1. (Britain) A smartly dressed person who trades in illicit, black-market or stolen goods.
2. (Britain, dated) A flashy con artist, often homeless, who lives by his wits.

   Synonyms: sharper, chiseler, wide boy; see also Thesaurus:fraudster, Thesaurus:confidence trickster

3. (Britain, dated) In Scotland Yard usage, a low and common thief.
4. (Britain, dated) A slacker; one who shirks responsibility.

Quotations

• "I make no apology for attacking spivs and gamblers who did more harm to the British economy than [transport union leader] Bob Crow could achieve in his wildest Trotskyite fantasies, while paying themselves outrageous bonuses underwritten by the taxpayer." -- Vince Cable on the banking system.

Derived terms

• spivery
• spivish
• spivvy

References

Further reading

• "spiv" at World Wide Words Michael Quinion, 2001

Anagrams

• PIVs, V.I.P.s, VIPs

English

Alternative forms

• chib, chiv (Scotland, Geordie)
• shive

Etymology

First attested 1915. From chive, chieve, chife, chiv (“knife”), from Romani chive, chiv, chivvomengro (“knife, dagger, blade”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??v/
• Rhymes: -?v

Noun

shiv (plural shivs)

1. A knife, especially a makeshift one fashioned from something not normally used as a weapon (like a plastic spoon or a toothbrush).
2. A particular woody by-product of processing flax or hemp.

Synonyms

• (improvised stabbing weapon): shank (slang)

Derived terms

• shivvy

Translations

Verb

shiv (third-person singular simple present shivs, present participle shivving, simple past and past participle shivved)

1. To stab someone with a shiv.
2. (by extension) To stab someone with anything not normally used as a stabbing weapon.

Synonyms

• shank (slang)

Translations

References

Anagrams

• IHVS, IHVs