nippy

cold (weather)

TRANSLATION

nippy = sehr kalt, eiskalt

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

One day King George V and Queen Mary visited George Cadbury's chocolate factory. Cadbury gallantly led the way with the queen while his wife walked behind with the king.

Despite the very NIPPY weather, Cadbury removed his hat as a mark of respect for his royal guests. Queen Mary, however, concerned about his health, begged him to be sensible: "Mr. Cadbury, please put on your hat," she pleaded*.

When he politely refused, she repeated her request: "Please, Mr. Cadbury - or I'll ask the king to command you to do so!" Still he refused...

Finally, from behind them came the booming voice of Elizabeth Cadbury: "George, put your hat on!"

He did.


Cadbury, George (1839-1922) British Quaker, cocoa manufacturer, and social reformer

Sources: I. Poley, Friendly Anecdotes

* to plead    = bitten

Did you
know?

nippy (British idiom)

cold,

Origin: one possible explanation is that nippy comes from the verb to nip (kleiner Biss, der Kniff). Very cold weather does that to you sometimes.


We have lots of synonyms for cold, could be to do with the English climate:

arctic, below freezing, below zero, benumbed, biting, bitter, blasting, bleak, brass monkey weather, brisk, chill, chilled, chilly, cool, crisp, cutting, freezing, frigid, frosty, frozen, glacial, hyperborean, icebox, iced, icy, inclement, nipping, nippy, numbed, numbing, one-dog night, three-dog night, penetrating, piercing, polar, severe, sharp, shivery, sleety, snappy, snowy, stinging, wintry


IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:

"It's very nippy today over here in Germany, what's the weather like in London?"

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