Date:  Mon, 7 Apr 1997 09:15:11 -0700
From:  Peter McGraw <pmcgraw[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]LINFIELD.EDU>
Subject: Re: tipping

My AHD (the best dictionary I have handy at the moment) says "Originally a
slang word meaning 'to give,' 'to pass to,' from TIP (to tap)." However,
I wonder about this. I've always heard it was derived from tipple, 'to
drink alcoholic beverages,' which is supported by the fact that the word
means to buy the recipient a drink in other European languages: German
Trinkgeld, 'drink money', French pourboire, '[money] for drinking', Czech
zpropitne [acute accent over the e], 'for a drink'.

Peter McGraw
Linfield College
McMinnville, OR

On Mon, 7 Apr 1997, Greg Pulliam wrote:

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