Piffy ???!!!!

[cudgie]

Has any one heard of 'I've been standing here like Piffy?' if so, what on earth does it mean and who on earth is Piffy?

[Greedyfly]

Never in my life have I heard this!

[smudge]

P'raps they meant they were piffed off?

[Numbers]

Are you in the North West, cudgie? Possible explanation here.

[boognish76]

I come from the North West and I've heard this expression often. My mother used to say it all the time but I asked her and she doesn't know who piffy is either!

[Hippy]

Me too. My mum would often say, "And there was I, standing like Piffy on a monument." meaning being let down and feeling insignificant. I never got an answer from her either. So, I looked it up and discovered that PIFF was an acronym used for a member of the Punjab Inadia Frontier Force, a military unit formed in 1849 to police the North-West Frontier of India. I can't see the connection there, but "piffle" means to act or talk in a feeble way. Now, that seems more like it. Piffy would be the most piffling person imaginable. Hmm QM any further suggestions?

[Gigi]

I found this board by looking up "Piffy" on Google. I was curious about it, because I had a dog named Piffy when I was growing up, and I wondered where the name came from. My Dad brought him home from the pound, and he was already named. That was 40 years ago. I had no idea he was such an enigma! He's the only Piffy I've ever known. However, I doubt all this fuss was started by my Pomeranian. Does anyone know where this name came from? Long ago, I remember hearing someone else refer to a doggie kiss as a "Piffy Kiss." I was startled, because I thought that was peculiar to our family, because of our dog. Has anyone else heard that expression, and does anyone else have a clue about the name? I'm in the U.S.

[JillP]

I think that the phrases involving Piffy are Northern ones. 'Standing there like piffy on a rock bun' I take to mean standing there doing nothing. The same as standing there like chips.

[frankiesymes]

In the North East we said ' standing like a piffy' which I always thought was a corruption of 'like a pouffe', i.e. a bit of furniture that just sits there and does nothing most of the time.