If someone described a person as chippy, what would that mean please?

[F0XCUB7]

Thanks

I fear we're heading for a cancel the cheque thread 😂

It's not a compliment.

I’ve never heard of it outside of a carpenter or chip shop, where is it common?

Easy to take offence, snarky.

A chippy is a joiner/carpenter.

Derail, but...

If a chippy is a carpenter, and a spark(y) is an electrician, why is a plumber just a plumber and not a, um... wrench? A pipe(y)?

I agree but I think a lot of people confuse it so would query if it had been used correctly.

grumpy,
no nonsense kind of person.

or a fish and chip shop

Quick to take offence, touchy.

Chippy-defensive and quick to...not anger exactly. Irritation.

Water wizard?

I always wondered myself why plumbers didn't have an equally ... cute(?) word!

I was saying in my post that you occasionally hear it in 20th Century period dramas. Usually applied to a young working class man.

Yes, I agree that it’s often used as a class-based insult when used as an adjective and not a noun, as it has been recently to describe Brigit Phillipson, Shadow Education Minister, in leaked emails about her views on private education by those whose job it is to perpetuate it and defend it - see the PP’s link above. It’s often used to describe working-class people pejoratively but I’ve seen it used by upper-class/ wealthy middle-class people to describe people who have been state-educated and are clearly middle-class by any metric e.g. in law firms where most of the solicitor-intake are privately-educated.

Chippy - argumentative, overly defensive, a 'chip in your shoulder' type attitude

Chipper - cheery,, happy, smiley

Yes, definitely class-based insult @Wavingnotdrown1ng

Here we would say X is a bit chippy - snarky, argumentative, defensive.

A chippy is a joiner.

A chipper is a fish and chip shop.

Being chipper is having a spring in your step, a good mood.

I love all the regional variations. We’re NE Scotland.

‘Chippy’ is a derogatory term used by privileged people to patronise & disparage those from more humble backgrounds who are defensive or touchy about it.

A bit rude, snippy, easily offended

Chippy to me means difficult, argumentative, irritating - got a chip on their shoulder.

Chipper means cheery.