Date:  Mon, 7 Apr 1997 09:15:11 -0700
<br>From:  Peter McGraw  pmcgraw[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]LINFIELD.EDU 
<br>Subject: Re: tipping
<br>
<br>My AHD (the best dictionary I have handy at the moment) says "Originally a
<br>slang word meaning 'to give,' 'to pass to,' from TIP (to tap)." However,
<br>I wonder about this. I've always heard it was derived from tipple, 'to
<br>drink alcoholic beverages,' which is supported by the fact that the word
<br>means to buy the recipient a drink in other European languages: German
<br>Trinkgeld, 'drink money', French pourboire, '[money] for drinking', Czech
<br>zpropitne [acute accent over the e], 'for a drink'.
<br>
<br>Peter McGraw
<br>Linfield College
<br>McMinnville, OR
<br>
<br>On Mon, 7 Apr 1997, Greg Pulliam wrote:
<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> 
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