Date:  Mon, 7 Apr 1997 00:43:42 -0600
<br>From:  Greg Pulliam  gpulliam[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CHARLIE.IIT.EDU 
<br>Subject: tipping
<br>
<br>There was a syndicated story from the Houston Chronicle in Sunday's Chicago
<br>Tribune or Sun-Times (I can find out for sure if anyone really needs to
<br>know) in which the writer noted that the term "tip" as in "tipping a
<br>waiter" came from an English inn several hundred years ago, where the
<br>innkeeper put out a box for money labelled "To Insure Promptness"--"T.I.P."
<br>The reporter simply gave this as the accepted etymology of the term, but it
<br>sounds mighty fishy to me. I don't have easy access to a decent
<br>etymological dictionary for a couple of days, so if anyone knows anything
<br>about this, I'd appreciate a short note on it.
<br>Thanks.
<br>
<br>Gregory J. Pulliam
<br>Illinois Institute of Technology
<br>Lewis Department of Humanities
<br>Chicago, IL  60616
<br>gpulliam[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]charlie.cns.iit.edu
<br>