Word of the Day - nippy sweetie
Gods, I love the OED
nippy sweetie, n. - A drink of spirits, esp. of whisky; whisky.’
Pronunciation: Brit. /ˌnɪpi ˈswiːti/, U.S. /ˌnɪpi ˈswidi/, Sc. /ˌnɪpi ˈswiti/
Forms: 19- nippie sweetie, 19- nippy sweetie.
Etymology: < nippy adj. + sweetie n. In sense 1 perhaps after nip n.4
It would seem likely that the word was first used in sense 3, although this is first attested slightly later.
Chiefly Sc.
1. A drink of spirits, esp. of whisky; whisky.
1974 B. Connolly Solo Concert (MS transcript of comedy routine) (O.E.D. Archive), I'm terrified of flying. And before I fly, I have four or five pints of the foaming ale, and four or five little whiskies, sometimes known as nippy sweeties.
1985 M. Munro Patter 49 How about a nippie sweetie to finish off?
1990 I. Rankin Hide & Seek 166 He..exchanged the names of local watering holes with him, making promises of a drink, a nippy sweetie some night in the future.
1999 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 9 Jan., If you're only old enough for sweeties, and not for nippie sweeties, the Aberdeen Youth Festival in August is a feast for the ears.
1999 Financial Mail (Johannesburg) (Electronic ed.) 20 Dec., Nippy sweetie price watch... In all, there are 127 brands of whisky available on the SA market.
2. A sharp-tongued or peevish person, esp. a woman.
1985 M. Munro Patter 49 Just keep out of that yin's road; she's a bit of a nippy sweetie.
1992 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 17 Feb. 18, I was informed by the clerkess, a real nippy sweetie if ever there was one, that they had doled out some 11,000 punts that day.
2001 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 10 Jan., The nippy sweetie in the AA Insurance ad, bawling the face off her wimpish husband because he asked her if she hadn't phoned them.
3. A sharp-tasting sweet, or one which makes the mouth hot. Also in extended use.
1994 Scotsman (Electronic ed.) 16 June, Latest smart thing to do for the rich young German is to suck a Fisherman's Friend. For some reason the original nippy sweetie has become a trendy accessory in the land of 1,000 types of sausage.
2000 Times (Nexis) 19 July, The emphasis on the word ‘English’ was sufficiently strong to suggest he had just swallowed a nippie sweetie and that the English..were rather distasteful.