Yiff

Table of contents

1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.1.1 References 1.2 Usage note 1.3 Interjection 1.4 Interrogative 1.5 Verb 1.6 Noun 1.7 Adjective 1.8 Derived words 1.9 References

English

Etymology

Yiff was originally invented by LittleFox as part of a range of onomatopoetic words that form the fox-ese language of the Furry rôle-playing community: yiff, yip, yerf, yaff, yarf, growf, and growlf (in order from most positive connotations to most negative connotations). Yiff meant "yes" or an exuberant "hello!". Later, yiff adopted the meaning of a sexual proposition, a meaning that had previously been assigned to yipp (a coarse form of yip).

Other claimed etymologies include:

• onomatopoetic word for the sound of a fox mating. This etymology is unsubstantiated and appears to be apocryphal.
• Sense 3 of YIFF. This is apparently a backronym.

References

• LittleFox's own explanation of the etymology of "Yiff", Everything2, accessed on 2005-03-30

Usage note

The term is is not to be confused with the acronym YIFF, although a backronym has been created for that (sense 3) in an attempt to explain the etymology of yiff.

Interjection

yiff!

1. Representing a bark (of a fox)

Interrogative

yiff?

1. "Anyone willing/desiring to have sex?"
2. "Are you willing/desiring to have sex?"

Verb

yiff (yiffing yiffed)

1. to have sex, to mate

   quotations

   • "Monsters snicker at me, succubi refuse to be seen with me, my dog tries to yiff my leg, shopkeepers say 'No shirt, no shoes, no service'." — [1]
   • "Is mated, and not allowed to yiff without permission" — [2]
   • "And even if foxes are allowed to yiff more than once, I'd still have to wait for the vixen to come into heat." — [3]
   • "Well, i've witnessed male foxes queueing up to yiff one of my local vixens... repeatedly!" — [4]

2. (Internet) to have cybersex

   quotations

   • "Of course the inverse is possible with all these possibilities, and you can be having a yiff with a partner in the room with you and be having a pleasant non-sexual conversation with another remote player through a page-conversation." — [5]

3. (Internet) to talk, to chat in a chat room

Noun

yiff (yiffs)

1. sexual intercourse, the act of yiffing
2. a bark, a "yiff!"

Adjective

yiff (yiffer yiffest)

1. sexy, sexual, arousing
2. pornographic
3. capable of sexual intercourse
4. willing to have sexual intercourse

Derived words

• yiffy
• yiffer
• yiffable

References

• "Yiff", A Furry Glossary
• Definition of "yiff", Furtopia