Spot the frippet: chuff.

Spot a chuff?

Oh, yes, they're all over the place. Really.

If you're in Britain you might even be lucky enough to see someone who's well chuffed, which means very pleased indeed. A chuff can also mean a fat cheek - and it's probably fat because it's smiling.

I must admit that smiles aren't easy to spot on a Monday morning, though.

In fact it will almost certainly be easier to find another sort of chuff, which means a boor or a sullen fellow.

Hm...that might be the easiest Spot the Frippet ever.

Of course if you're VERY lucky, you might be able to hear a steam engine's chuff-chuff as it steams past.

Like this:

Shhhht-i-cff, shhhht-i-cff...

Surely no one can watch Ivor the Engine without feeling very chuffed indeed.

Word To Use Today: chuff. The word meaning the sound of a steam engine is an imitation of the sound. All the other meanings come from the obsolete word chuff, which means fat cheek.