AND FINALLY: In a jiffy

What does 'in a jiffy' mean?

Asked by BTN where the name of the hotel software company came from (See HiJiffy comes to London in this week's BTN) CEO Tiago Araujo explained:  “Our package does it quickly.  In a jiffy!”

According to The Phrase Finder the term originated in the 18th century meaning “in a short amount of time”.  It is certainly not sophisticated enough for Shakespeare.  And HiJiffy has nothing to do with another Portuguese company Hi Fly, the charter airline.

‘Jiffy bag’ is the name given to a protected padded envelope but the name does not appear to have been copyrighted.

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