Miffy

[Aquagility]

"It's a little bit miffy, darling!" I know what it means, but why was it considered important?

[Quizmonster]

The only meaning of 'miffy' that I have ever come across is 'easily offended'. It has been used thus - or in the form 'mifty' - for almost three three centuries. I'm not at all sure where the 'important' element comes into it, Aqua. Care to explain the context perhaps?

[weeal]

here's the Urban Dictionary versions lol

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term =miffy

[Aquagility]

Well! What a can of worms I seem to have kicked over! But thank you both for educating this old fool in the ways of the modern world.
Much more prosaically, in my youth, between the wars, miffy meant milk in first! In "polite" drawing rooms it was considered bad form, when pouring tea, to put the milk in first "Rather miffy". And the saying extended to criticism of any breach of good manners.
After all that, my question was simply - why was this thought to be important?

[kettledrum]

Ah ! It reminds me of this verse from John Betjeman's splendid mocking poem How to Get on in Society!

Milk and then just as it comes, dear?
I'm afraid the preserve's full of stones;
Beg pardon I'm soiling the doileys
With afternoon tea-cakes and scones.

[Aquagility]

Ace, kettledrum. Thanks for the memory.

[Quizmonster]

I'd certainly heard of the acronym, MIF for 'milk in first', as being an example of non-U behaviour...the 'U' referring to 'upper class'. That was 'important' only for people, such as Hyacinth Bouquet, with ideas above their station who wanted to behave as they imagined their 'betters' did. They, of course, added milk afterwards if at all.
I'd never heard of the adjectival form.

[jno]

http://www.miffy.com.hk/img/Miffy0.gif

As to which is better:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtm l?xml=/connected/2003/06/27/ecntea25.xml&sShee t=/connected/2003/06/27/ixconn.html

[Aquagility]

Thanks jno. The porcelaine v. pottery explanation is the most plausible that I've heard.
Happy New Year to you and to all those who have taken the trouble to give answers to my question.