piffed

[Bushwhacker]

Someone in a castle is nicknamed as the old owl. The sentence says:

Servants piffed to hear Roderick the First so nicknamed.

I don't achieve to find the exact meaning of piffed. Are they leaning towards and tuning their hearing to better get informed about the nickname of his master?

Thanks for your help.

 

[mmasny]

Maybe it could mean that they whishted each other? It might be some kind of onomatopoeia. I've never heard of it either and I don't see it in the Webster's.

 

[Bushwhacker]

Maybe it could mean that they whishted each other? It might be some kind of onomatopoeia. I've never heard of it either and I don't see it in the Webster's.

Sorry, whishted? What do you mean?

 

[mmasny]

Shushed. But it's just a guess.

 

[Bushwhacker]

Shushed. But it's just a guess.

Hard to guess, indeed. But thank you for your kind interest anyway.

 

[BobK]

Shushed. But it's just a guess.

:up: Spot on! My impression is that in Scotland it's an exclamation and in Ireland it's a verb - commonly used in the expression 'Will you wisht?' (=Be quiet). Anyway, it's a 'Celtic fringe' thing. If any other British dialect uses it, I'd expect it to be one with a Celtic background (Welsh, Cornish, Manx...)

b