MIFFY INTELLIGENCE
ALL NANNIES and many governesses, when pouring out tea, put the milk in first. . . . Sharp children notice that this is not normally done in the drawing-room. To some this revela- tion becomes symbolic. We know a woman, far from con- ventional in other ways, who makes it her touchstone. 'Rather m.i.f., darling,' she says to convey inferior social station.
Mr. Evelyn Waugh in Encounter, December 5.
ONE FRIEND of mine, who is definitely 'very top drawer,' tells me that there is a special word used by. the aristocrat to denote a member of the middle class. It isomir or `miffy.' Believe it or not, if you put the Milk In First when you pour out tea, you are a 'mif.' It's not done in aristocratic circles.
Mr. Bromley Abbott in Sunday Dispatch, December 11.
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